The fact that hardly anything survives on this film - so yes the rarity makes it valuable.
The film is unseen and is an icon of the silent horror films - having read the recent "recreation" in book form it's a bit cheesy - not quite up to Dracula but it certainly trawls along with those silent Horror's of the time - perhaps not as good as Nosferatu but certainly it has iconic images of Lon Chaney. The poster surely drops into the same vein as the Universal Monsters that reach very high prices - how many of those posters are available? How man London After Midnight? As we all know Horror and Sci Fi are the big parts of this hobby that grab the attention of collectors - Metropolis, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Dracula, and even the more common titles Forbidden Planet, Day the Earth Stood Still - all are innovative films and stand tall in cinema history. Perhaps that is the main reason London After Midnight is worth so much - I should add that the price paid for this poster is what the buyer wanted to pay and it is that valuable to him and possibly the underbidder - an item like this will garner such attention but it comes down to what the buyer wants to pay - if it were a King Kong three sheet or Outlaw six sheet that there are enough in circulation to have a going rate. London After Midnight is one poster that will reach it's own level of value. So is it such an innovative film to garner this much value? Probably. I would say that is the main reason this poster is this valuable = or the buyer decided he would pay this much for the poster because it is an innovative film and it is extremely rare. It is an interesting question that you raise John - because I would ask why certain posters have become so valuable - not quite in the same vein but why is Attack of the 50ft Woman got such a price tag? And why has Breakfast at Tiffany's got such a price tag? 50ft Woman has a great cheesy image but the film is not innovative, it has to be one of the worst movies of the sci fi era yet the poster has a high price tag compared to say Invaders from Mars or The Astounding She Monster. And Brealfast at Tiffany's we all know is the ladies favorite and presents Audrey Hepburn in the little black number by Dior yet it is relatively common - I have had this discussion with good friends within the business and hobby and we are of the opinion that some posters reach prices that they shouldn't - yes those of us lucky enough to be selling such posters are happy but the question I ask is why are such posters tagged with a high price? No one can say these two films are innovative - a 50ft Woman wandering about the country and a film about a sophisticated call girl (if it were the book of Tiffany's with Miss Golightly the fragile creature who has a wing or two down then I can understand but the film is not that great - in my opinion). This Never Happened to the Other Fella.... Adrian Cowdry [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: JOHN REID Vintage Movie Memorabilia <[email protected]> To: MoPo-L <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 0:26 Subject: [MOPO] What makes London After Midnight so valuable? I would be interested in your opinions as to what makes London After Midnight such a valuable poster. Obviously, it’s rarity is a factor and the artwork is impressive but there are plenty of other rare posters from that era for truly great films that wouldn’t go for even a fraction of the price that was achieved on the weekend. The interesting thing to me is that the film has not been seen by anyone for at least 75 years. I know it was “recreated” some years ago from a collection of stills but the recreation might well be far removed from the original version. Just curious about your thoughts. JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA www.moviemem.com PO Box 92 Elanora Qld 4221 Australia To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 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.
