HERITAGE VINTAGE MOVIE POSTERS SIGNATURE AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS The Heritage Vintage Movie Poster Signature Auction<http://www.ha.com/MoviePosters> is just around the corner (July 11 & 12, in Dallas, Texas and online at www.HA.com<http://www.HA.com>), and we want to take this opportunity to draw your attention to a few outstanding pieces. These are posters that we feel definitely deserve your attention, as they would make important additions to any collection. As always, your comments on these selections are more than welcome.
Monkey Business<http://www.ha.com/694*28510&type=prte-pr070108a> (Paramount, 1931). Lobby Card (11" X 14"): ESTIMATE: $4,000 - $8,000 One of the greatest comedy teams ever assembled, The Marx Brothers - Julius (Groucho), Adolph [later Arthur] (Harpo), Leonard (Chico), and Herbert (Zeppo) - made some of their greatest movies during their brief stay at Paramount in the early 1930s. All of their films made during this period were based on successful stage plays, so the humor had been worked out and refined before a live audience, resulting in tightly plotted pictures that kept the laughs coming from beginning to end. Monkey Business, the Brother's third picture, was no exception. We're pleased to offer the best lobby card from the set for this film, the highly desirable "barrel" card, showing all four of the brothers standing in kippered herring barrels, their home away from home as stowaways aboard a cruise ship. Additionally, we're offering great cards from other Marx Brothers classics, including Animal Crackers (1930), Horse Feathers (1932), Duck Soup (1933) - again, the very best card in the set, picturing all four brothers - and A Night at the Opera (1935) - a card showcasing the classic "stateroom" scene. No devoted Marxist will want to miss this exceptional offering. The Three Stooges in "Calling All Curs"<http://www.ha.com/694*28528&type=prte-pr070108a> (Columbia, 1939). One Sheet (27" X 41"): ESTIMATE: $10,000 - $15,000 Every bit as popular and influential as the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges - in this case, Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Jerome "Curly" Howard - were one of the leading comedy teams of the twentieth century. Starting out as - literally - stooges for comedian Ted Healy, the group eventually branched out on their own and made a number of classic shorts. Paper from these early efforts is extremely scarce and highly desirable, especially for those sheets featuring Curly, who left the team for health reasons in 1946, to be replaced by his brother, Shemp. In this classic, the Stooges are veterinarians running a pet hospital who become entangled in a plot to kidnap a priceless poodle left in their care. Don't be a stooge by missing out on this rare classic and do not miss out on the number of other great Stooges one sheets in the auction! Godzilla<http://www.ha.com/694*28576&type=prte-pr070108a> (Toho, 1954). Japanese B2 (20" X 28.5"): ESTIMATE: $12,000 - $15,000 One of the greatest monsters ever brought to the screen; Godzilla was originally created as a metaphor for the horrors of the atomic bomb. A dark and chilling nuclear fable, the original movie was inspired not only by the bombing of Hiroshima, but by the real-life incident of the Daigo Fukuryu Maru, a Japanese fishing boat irradiated by fallout from the first hydrogen bomb detonation over the Bikini Atoll. Although the picture was the most expensive Toho Studios had ever undertaken - costing more than twice as much as Akira Kurosawa's samurai epic, The Seven Samurai, filmed in the same year - it was a massive international success, spawning a host of sequels and inaugurating the most successful franchise in film history. We're proud to present the very rare, original country-of-origin B2 for this landmark film, a poster that is rarely offered for public sale. Rendered in the collage style that is typical of Japanese posters, this beauty features a wonderful image of "the Big G," as well as stars Akira Takarada, Momoko Kishi, Akihiko Hirata, and Takashi Shimura. If you're looking for the ultimate Godzilla poster, look no further. This is it. Napoleon<http://www.ha.com/694*28856&type=prte-pr070108a> (MGM, 1927). Title Lobby Card (11" X 14"): ESTIMATE: $5,000 - $10,000 An incredible epic documenting the early life and career of Napoleon Bonaparte, this astounding film by director Abel Gance was intended to have been the first part of a much larger work. However, the realities of time and budget soon dictated that this would be a stand-alone effort. Nevertheless, it is Gance's masterpiece, and was hailed both in Europe and America as a cinematic triumph. Shot on the battlefields of World War I, it was the first motion picture to graphically depict the horrors of war. Additionally, Gance shot the picture in a unique, and at the time unprecedented, wide-screen format, and even filmed several sequences in an early 3-D process. Unfortunately, it underwent extensive cuts and editing when it was shown in America, drastically altering the director's vision and leading to its commercial failure here in the States. It remains, however, a unique and important achievement in film, rightly hailed as a true classic. This title card is a highly desirable piece from the American release of this exquisite film. Also offered in this auction is an American lobby card and a rare French, country-of-origin lobby card as well. Flying Down to Rio<http://www.ha.com/694*28947&type=prte-pr070108a> (RKO, 1933). Two Sheet (41" X 54"): ESTIMATE: $12,000 - $24,000 An early RKO musical, this charming picture is particularly memorable as the first time that the legendary team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced together on screen in their show-stealing number, "The Carioca." The poster offered here, with its colorful Art Deco design, is a rare two sheet. Also known as a subway sheet, these 41" X 54" posters were printed specifically for subway displays in New York City and the surrounding areas. Due to their limited use, they were produced in relatively small quantities and consequently few survive. This particular example - which hails from the personal collection of Harold Seroy, the artist who designed the poster - is thought to be the only surviving example of its type. Also offered in this auction are two sheets for Hoopla (1933) with Clara Bow, Design for Living (1933), starring Frederic March, Gary Cooper, and Miriam Hopkins, and Midnight Club (1933), featuring George Raft. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
