Clockwork Orange 'top film poster'

It may be more than 30 years old, but the poster which launched Stanley Kubrick’s cult film A Clockwork Orange is still the best ever, according to movie fans.

Kubrick withdrew his 1971 film – a nightmarish vision of Britain’s youth culture – from UK circulation a year after it was released following its controversial reception.

The poster for the violent classic shows anti-hero Alex (Malcolm McDowell) holding up a dagger while sneering with sinister intent.

A Clockwork Orange beat the 1975 Steven Spielberg thriller Jaws, whose poster shows a shark heading towards a swimmer in the ocean, into second place.

The poster for Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam film Apocalypse Now, which depicts a blood red sunset, came third.

The famous ET image, a lone bicycle flying through the sky, came fourth, followed by the Star Wars poster.

The image for the 1961 classic Breakfast At Tiffany’s, showing Audrey Hepburn in a black cocktail dress and smoking a cigarette, is the sixth favourite and the oldest film in the top 10.

The poster for Donnie Darko came seventh, followed by that for The Shining, another Kubrick film, which shows Jack Nicholson’s deranged face smiling through a beaten-down door.

Trainspotting came ninth followed by Pulp Fiction at number 10.

The poll was carried out among Odeon staff in 97 cinemas across the country.

Odeon marketing manager Richard Storton said: “Film posters are really important. They have to grab your attention and draw you into the cinema.”