JULIE TURNOCK
The only thing missing from Julie Turnock’s Gregory Hall office is a big tub of hot buttered popcorn.
With classic movie posters filling every open wall space, Turnock, a professor in the College of Media’s cinema studies department, has made the office the perfect reflection of her academic specialty – studying the silver screen.
“None of these posters are valuable, but they are all original,” she said. “I looked for things that were big, colorful and not so expensive. I haven’t seen all of the movies, but I’ve seen most of them.”
Most of the full-size (and larger) posters are of movies that achieved only marginal popularity, though many still have recognizable actors’ names, like the one with Robert Mitchum and Ava Gardner in their only film together, “My Forbidden Past.”
Turnock’s office collection began shortly after her arrival at the U. of I. four years ago. After spending a year in a temporary space, she claimed a high-ceilinged office on the third floor that features a large wood-framed window providing plenty of natural light.
“I liked it because it has all of this wonderful wall space,” she said.
The office also contains more than a fair amount of books – academic-themed and some just for entertainment – all stacked upon numerous shelves affixed to one of the walls.
But it’s the posters, with their era-inspired graphics and audacious promotional statements like “the suspense of a lifetime,” that draw one’s attention.
“I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out,” she said, adding the posters are great conversation pieces for students and other office visitors.
The “good stuff” in her poster collection, which includes a rare 1967 “Point Blank” (starring Lee Marvin) poster, is kept at home.
She picks up most of the posters through an online auction service and occasionally finds herself browsing its movie poster collection for new ideas or that elusive “Lolita” poster she thinks would nicely round out her home collection.
“At this point, the walls of my home are pretty full,” she said. “I do most of my writing at home, but it’s nice to have a space on campus that’s mine and makes me and my visitors feel comfortable.”
Turnock does not consider herself a serious move-poster collector – at least not the kind who regularly would throw down thousands of dollars for a rare piece.
In fact, all of her office-based posters have wrinkles or dings that take them out of the “immaculate” condition hard-core enthusiasts demand.
“Most of these I won at auction for just a dollar or two,” she said. “I don’t need a pristine version – I picked them because I liked how they looked. The striking image trumped the fame of the movie.”
While it’s not her specialty, Turnock said there are scholars who include movie posters in their research of movie publicity and marketing.
Turnock’s academic specialty is film special effects, especially from the 1970s, a topic she delves into in a book planned for release in February titled “Plastic Reality.”
Despite her interest in movie special effects, which obviously includes the large science fiction genre, none of her office posters are of Star Wars or any other fantasy theme.
“It’s not that I wouldn’t like to have them,” she said, “but science fiction movie posters are among the most collectible and, therefore, the most expensive.”
This is the fourth installment of the Inside Illinois summer series, “Home Away From Home,” which features some of the more interestingly decorated offices on campus. Other installments can be viewed by issue date: June 5, June 19, July 3 and Aug. 7.
