Within the almost 700 lots of Heritage’s movie posters auction on July 25-26, 2020 are rarities that have never been seen or never been sold.
“This job is exciting every day,” Grey Smith, Heritage’s Director of Vintage Posters, said. “When a new rarity comes in, it’s thrilling. That’s what makes this such a wonderful hobby. Anyone who says they’ve seen it all in movie posters isn’t telling you the truth. There is always material out there that’s exciting.”
The Sunrise one-sheet was made for the 1927 movie that is considered among the greatest silent films. It’s the only known one-sheet for the landmark movie that won three Academy Awards. The auction also includes lobby and window cards from the movie.
A regular facet of Heritage’s valuable movie poster auctions comes from Universal horror movies and this one has two scarce examples. One is a highly coveted teaser for 1933’s The Invisible Man, which is one of only a handful known to exist. The French poster for Frankenstein by Jacques Faria is the only known copy and has never bene offered at Heritage.
“I was tickled to get that,” said Smith. “It’s the original release – and really, really scarce.”
Rarities include The Master Mystery chapter 10 one-sheet, in which illusionist Harry Houdini makes his on-screen debut and the original Soviet art advertising Sergei Eisenstein and Grigoriy Aleksandrov’s 1928 recreation of the Russian Revolution, October 1917: Ten Days that Shook the World.
Another poster thought to be lost is The Lost Squadron three-sheet for the 1932 movie about World War I aces. Smith said just one or two copies are known to exist and this is the first to come to Heritage in his 20 years with the auction house.
The same can be said for The Walking Dead one-sheet for the 1936 movie starring Boris Karloff.
“Our auctions are a great opportunity for collectors to find the rarest material and to have a real shot at it,” Smith said.
Additional highlights in the auction include posters for Metropolis, M, Casablanca (with several posters), The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, and James Bond movies.
“This hobby still is in its infancy,” said Smith. “In years to come, these will be hanging in museums, and people will say, ‘You could have purchased some of these posters for relatively inexpensive prices once upon a time at auction.’ Who won’t know something like Frankenstein 300 years from now? Film is our cultural heritage.”
