Vintage film posters preserved in the tube - London Underground unearths 1950s trove

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Vintage film posters dating from 1959 discovered in a disused passageway of Notting Hill Gate tube station. Photos by Mike Ashworth of London Underground.

A time capsule of vintage 1950s posters has come to light in a disused passageway in Notting Hill Gate tube station.

OK. It’s not quite the same as the opening of Tutankhamen’s tomb, but for me London Underground has unearthed a visual treasure trove.

Discovered in an old lift passageway during recent modernisation work on the station, the 50-year-old posters include advertisements for the Ideal Home Exhibition and Pepsodent toothpaste, and a clutch of evocative film posters, including these striking designs promoting two British comedies released in 1959.

Vintage film poster for British comedy Too Many Crooks. Photo taken in a disused passageway of Notting Hill Gate station by Mike Ashworth of London Underground.

Too Many Crooks: A bungling gang of inept crooks kidnaps a millionaire's wife (Brenda de Banzie), but when husband Terry-Thomas refuses to pay the ransom, she throws in her lot with the crooks.

Vintage film poster for 1950s British satirical comedy The Horse’s Mouth. Photo taken in a disused passageway of Notting Hill Gate station by Mike Ashworth of London Underground.

The Horse’s Mouth: Chosen for the 1959 Royal Film Performance, this satirical comedy based on the novel by Joyce Cary stars Alec Guinness as a roguish painter newly released from prison.

The posters are inaccessible to the public, but you can see a selection of the posters on this flickr set uploaded by Mike Ashworth, London Underground’s Design and Heritage Manager.

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Jason Best
Jason Best

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.