hi mopo,
i have had the opportunity to email a few times with tim landry, the
guy who is currently selling his CREATURE poster on ebay.. he's a
talented graphics and CG guy, who also works in film post production
and only recently had the poster backed and lightly restored because
of it's fragility.
he sent me this email and said i could forward it on to the group, as
there has been discussion in light of the recent events over the
Universal horror fakes and forgeries.
best.
jeff
I'm the guy with the Ebay /Creature From the Black Lagoon/ one sheet.
I was made aware by a couple of guys on this list of the discussion
about me and my Gill Man.
Nice to be talked about...mostly. As to who I am, you can check me
out here: http://www.timlandry.com or on the imdb. Among other
things I serve on the board of directors of the Visual Effects
Society and my day job is at Walt Disney Imagineering.
I'm not going to bother joining the MoPo mailing list as I already
get too much email. But I thought I'd tell you a few things and
you can post them if you wish.
Someone was wondering about the whitish area in the upper left edge
of the poster before restoration. When I saw it posted, I wondered
myself. So I dug up some closer photos that I took at the same
time as the one posted. Sure enough there's a white area. And
there's a matching one on the other side. The closer photos reveal
that the area is not lily white. It has a small amount of
yellowing, similar to after the restoration. I have some theories
about these white spots. They both seem to be tape related because
of the shape. And there seems to be some residual adhesive around
the edges of these white areas. The last time I remember hanging it
on the wall was in a Hollywood apartment about 1978-79. It stayed
up for about a year but not in a sunny spot. Either the tape
masked the UV (but as Bruce points out that doesn't make sense with
the reds) or it masked smog deposits or lifted them off when
removed. In any event after the restore they are gone, a good
argument for the dirt theory. Still it's terrible to think that the
air was /that/ dirty.
For what it's worth I remember the name of the Antique store in
Manitou as being "Green Acre Antiques". My wife and I used to shop
there for fun. (Picked up a bunch of "Soundies" at the same
time.) I very vaguely recall asking the proprietor where the
posters came from and was told that a local projectionist had
squirreled them away. Anyway they went out of business years ago.
(And small wonder since the price that was penciled on the back of
the Creature poster was $5.00.) I also got an African Queen and
a Quo Vadis as well as Destination Moon there.
Diane Jeffreys almost remembers me correctly. I brought her two
posters to restore. The other was Destination Moon.
I sincerely hope she can avoid any of the scandals that are going
around as I got a really good vibe and really good service from them.
I suppose I can understand some of the suspicion and ill will going
around these horror pieces. It's too bad, but I guess that's what
happens when money is involved.
I even got a raving lunatic piece of semi-hate mail at ebay from
one "universalhorrorart" who, ironically, I note has been listed
as a seller to avoid in someone else's posting.
Bottom line is my /Creature/ is the real deal. You can doubt all
you want but there is not a hint of doubt in my mind of its
authenticity since I've owned it forever. As to me forging it...I
make a living making illusions, but there is no way I could fake
this one if I wanted to, though I'm honored if you want to believe
I have that much skill. Anyone is welcome to examine the Gill Man
in person as rigorously as they wish. Also I have fairly good
photo documentation both before and after the restore. For the
record, I DID post it un-linen-backed numerous times six months ago
or so. I had no takers, plus I wanted to arrest the
deterioration. Now it's linen backed. I have no regrets even if
nobody else wants it. It's a thing of beauty now and preserved for
the ages.
And finally: The only five foot pole I would like you guys to
touch me with is Roman Polanski...so I can slap him.
Cheers,
Tim
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