NONFICTION - Dec. 25, 1994

MGM POSTERS The Golden Years. Text by Frank Miller. (Turner Publishing Inc.: $24.95; 192 pp.). Of film poster books there is apparently no end, but more than a reasonable price adds special interest to this lively and colorful collection. Because all the work emanates from one studio, and MGM at that, the most prosperous and prestigious of the lot, it offers the opportunity for different kinds of visual comparisons. It is fascinating to examine the campaign book for the great “Camille,” for example, and see the different looks the studio offered. And while some notable films got posters to match (“Hallelujah’s” Russian constructivist look is a beauty), it is also interesting to note the ordinary art attached to things such as “The Wizard of Oz,” none of whose posters truly scintillates.