I have some important additional information concerning the hundreds of
British Quads I am currently auctioning which date from the 1940s, 1950s,
and 1960s. *IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY BIDDING ON ANY OF THESE QUADS (or intend to
bid on the 5th or the 7th, when the Quads close), PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING
VERY CAREFULLY!*
I originally listed all of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s quads as all being
from the original release (unless I had a compelling reason to list one as a
re-release).
Soon after they first went on, I received an e-mail from a very
knowledgeable collector telling me that he believes that the 1940s, 1950s,
and 1960s quads that do not have a printer name in the bottom border are
re-releases, and he gave me specific examples of ones he thought were
re-releases.
I then went ahead and changed those exact titles to read "R50s" (he said
that he thought the re-releases were almost as scarce as the originals, and
in fact very few people cancelled their bids that they placed before I
marked them as re-releases, indicating that many of them did not care or
already knew about the re-release possibility).
But a day later I have received *ANOTHER* e-mail from a different
knowledgeable collector, and he gives the exact opposite point of view! He
wrote:
"I saw that you'd noted on a few quads that you believe them to be 50s
re-releases because of the lack of printer's name, following info from a
knowledgeable collector. I don't think this can be applied as a strict rule,
as lots of quads from this period (and the 60s) don't have a printer tag.
"If true, several other posters you are auctioning fit into this
category, not currently marked as re-release, e.g. '6-5 Special', 'Delavine
Affair', 'Hot Rod Gang', 'Lucky Jim', 'So Lovely So Deadly' etc. Most often
the common factor is that they are low-budget and/or small British
distributors, most likely going to small printers for cheap print runs.
African Queen could be a good indicator of this - not in your sale but
examples on Heritage site - a movie produced in the UK by Romulus-Horizon
(producer Sam Spiegel blacklisted by McCarthy in the US at the time) and
distributed by IFD in the UK (United Artists did US distribution). African
Queen quad has no printer details. Similarly, I've seen many Anglo
Amalgamated posters lacking the printer.
"Yes, I would agree lack of printer info on *major* studio title could
denote re-release, but less likely for small-release movies (or movies not
expected to be big). The Queen of Outer Space poster for one looks too
colourful for a B-movie re-release, and then there's a big question-mark
over whether some of these movies would have been popular enough to be
re-released anyway. Objectively speaking, most are not very good movies, and
I'm sure titles such as Attack Of the 50 Ft Woman are much better-known now
than they were at the time - thanks partly to the posters!
"However, this is just my opinion based on other posters I've either
owned or seen. Perhaps the person who contacted you knows something that I
don't. Have you tried confirming with other major Quad experts?"
Here I had two long-time collectors with opposite points of view! What did
that mean I should do as far as the auctions go? I immediately e-mailed the
six people I believe have more knowledge of older British quads than anyone
else I know, asking to give me your best opinion on the originality of any
or all of these quads. I asked each of them to please separate what they
know as absolute fact from what is their "best guess".
>From all the information we've received, we understand that no concrete
conclusions can be drawn from the lack or inclusion of a printer's name
except that there are definite exceptions to this "rule of no printer
names". It would be nice if it worked (indeed, it would make things far
simpler!), but it is really shaky ground trying to make broad sweeping
statements about British quads. However, the "experts" basically all agree
that the quads from the lesser studios are likely from the very first
release even when there is no printer name, so in essence they completely
agree with the second collector who e-mailed me. They definitely all agree
that the older quads listed are almost never offered for sale!
I also heard back from the first collector who e-mailed me, and he said
that he realizes now that he was likely mistaken, and that he had
mis-remembered the "rule" for determining originality of older quads, and
that he too, after further thought, now agrees with the second person who
e-mailed me.
So I have now changed the handful of posters I changed to re-releases back
to first release, and I ask all bidders to know that the best information I
currently can obtain says that *ALL* of the 1940s, 1950s and 1950s British
Quads I am currently auctioning are from the first English release of that
movie (unless otherwise noted). But all bidders can easily see for
themselves (using our super-sized images) which of these posters have
printer information at the bottom, and they can decide for themselves
whether or not this should play a role in how much they bid, in case they
disagree with the experts we consulted.
*IMPORTANT UPDATE!* We have just now heard from "Sim Branaghan, author of
"British Film Posters - An Illustrated History"" and that he went over *
EVERY* quad and he says that *ONLY* the following are re-releases:
Cat People (late 50s-early 60s)
Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (probably early-mid 60s)
Diamonds Are Forever/From Russia With Love (c.1972)
For A Few Dollars More (late 60s)
Dracula (c.1963)
Kes (c.1970)
Rope (late 50s-early 60s)
Quo Vadis (we have both the original and the re-release, but we have these
the WRONG WAY ROUND - the white lettering is the ORIGINAL, the yellow
lettering [with WE Berry credit] the reissue, probably late-50s)
Some of these we already had correct, and the rest will be corrected as
soon as we get to work in a few hours.
*MOST IMPORTANTLY, SIM CONCLUDES: "Everything else (including stuff
like Queen of Outer Space and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman etc etc etc) is
from the original release."!*
Best of luck to everyone bidding on these British Quads, which end both on
the 5th and the 7th. Please make every effort to be at your computer as
these end, because if you miss these auctions, it may well be many years
before even a small number of these older quads again come to the auction
block!
Bruce Hershenson and the eMoviePoster.com team
P.O. Box 874
West Plains, MO 65775
Phone: 417-256-9616 (hours: Mon-Fri 9 to 5 except from 12 to 1 when we take
lunch)
website: http://www.emovieposter.com e-mail: [email protected]
our auctions on our own site: http://auctions.emovieposter.com
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
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