Rare "Public Enemy," "Frankenstein" and "Gilda" Movie Posters Headline Heritage Auctions March Sale
DALLAS - The only known Style A one sheet from the 1931 classic Warner Brothers gangster film The Public Enemy (estimate: $40,000+), the movie that made James Cagney a star and created the modern template for the gangster saga, will cross the auction block in Dallas as the centerpiece of Heritage’s March 26-27, 2016 Vintage Movie Posters Signature® Auction.
“As both a landmark film and as a resounding cultural touchstone, the importance of The Public Enemy cannot be overstated,” said Grey Smith, Director of Vintage Movie Poster Auctions at Heritage. “For a film of this great magnitude, however, posters have been frustratingly absent from the marketplace. This exceedingly rare style A one sheet is the only copy to ever surface.”
A Style B one sheet for the 1946 Columbia Pictures Film Noir classic Gilda (estimate: $20,000+) presents a stunning example of the most consistently coveted movie posters in existence, featuring the smoldering image of Rita Hayworth as the ultimate femme fatale.
A 1932 Universal Pictures first release Spanish One Sheet for Frankenstein (estimate: $20,000+) offers what may be the most dramatic of all the posters released for this much revered film, joined by what is a heart-stopping find for collectors of classic horror film posters: an uncut 1935 12-page pressbook and Ad Mats from Universal Pictures for the original release of The Bride of Frankenstein (estimate: $10,000+). The chance to acquire publicity material such as this is a monumental opportunity.
Also included in the treasure trove of horror greats is a very rare title lobby card to the 1927 Lon Chaney masterpiece, London after Midnight (estimate: $15,000+), the film for which Heritage set the all-time world’s record price for a poster sold in auction in 2014.
A special trove of 67 important and rare animation movie posters are also featured in Heritage Auctions’ March 26-27, 2016 auction, including a 1929 poster for Mickey Mouse in The Barn Dance (estimate: $20,000+) - one of very few known Disney posters from the period when Disney shorts were released by Columbia Pictures, that mentions Disney’s earliest collaborator, Ub Iwerks.
A one sheet poster for Trader Mickey (United Artists, 1932) (estimate: $10,000+) provides a glorious bookend to the 1929 Mickey poster, coming as it does from the summer that marked Walt’s transition from Columbia to United Artists, while the only know large format silkscreen poster copy (40” x 60”) of Mickey Mouse in His 8th Birthday Celebration (United Artists, 1936) (estimate: $10,000+) offers another tantalizing early Disney treat.
Other classic film posters include a large format three sheet to The Maltese Falcon (1941) (estimate: $10,000+) starring Humphrey Bogart as well as a beautiful large French poster to King Kong (1933) (estimate: $15,000+).
Further highlights include, but are certainly not limited to:
La Dolce Vita (Cineriz, 1959) Italian 4 - Fogli: Estimate $18,000+.
Halloween by Robert Gleason (Compass International, 1978), Original Acrylic Painting: Estimate $15,000+.
Anna Christie (MGM, 1930) One Sheet: Estimate $20,000+.
It Happened One Night (Columbia, R-1937) One Sheet Style B: Estimate $15,000+.
Shopworn (Columbia, 1932) One Sheet Style A from the Ritz Theater Collection: Estimate $8,000+.
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $850 million, and 950,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.
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