So, the reason I knew it was my Singin' in the Rain one sheet is that it was rolled and I had never seen one. It was obtained from the MGM auction back in the 70's. It had come with some other posters out of the Art Directors office. It had some crinkles so I had it linenbacked. I had it for over 25 years framed until I started to think "how long can I keep all these posters" and I sold it to a collector in New York with some other titles that he bought from an ad I ran in Movie Collector World. He decided to get out of movie posters and increase his comic book collection and put the poster up for sale at auction, I think Heritage. All of a sudden one day, Ira walks in and says look what I just got and it was my copy. That's the scoop.
Now, my first poster story is kind of funny. When I was growing up I would always stand in the lobby or by the ticket window and stare at the posters never thinking I could actually own one. Flash forward many years and I am in college in the early 1970's. My best friend went to USC and he was an Engineering major. I went to visit him in his dorm room and there on the wall was a Chinatown poster. His roommate was a film major and I was blown away. I asked him where he got it and he told me about Larry Edmunds bookstore on Hollywood Blvd. I was in school in San Diego but the following weekend I drove up to Hollywood and waited for Larry Edmunds to open up and went in to the back of the store and asked for a Chinatown one sheet. It was $6. The roommate was working on the first Filmex to be held in Century City and he was working with Rosalind Russell who was the chairwoman of the event. Funny Lady, the sequel to Funny Girl was to be premiered there on the opening night gala. He had invited me to come up and work on the event and come to the opening night. So, I figured I buy Funny Lady while I was in the store as well. I had $20 I had allotted myself to spend. Funny Lady was $6 as well. When the guy asked me any other titles, I said Spellbound and out came a box and there were 2 copies in the box, both $6 each. I only took one copy (regretted that for years). So, my first purchase was 3 one sheets and a few black and white stills. That whole period is tied in with the Filmex event in my mind now....I went to the opening night and the front of the theater was decorated with hundreds of yellow roses, a signature of the character's in the film. There were so many celebrities there and it was jam packed. When they opened the door to go in, there was a push to get in the doors. I had invited my best friend to come along and we got separated by the push. Somebody was pushing on my left shoulder and somebody else was pushing on my right shoulder. Now, I'm pretty short so when I looked up to see who it was, Gene Kelly was on one shoulder and Fred Astaire was on the other. I remember thinking to myself at the time, I could die now a happy girl!! So, everytime I would look at one of those 3 posters, that's the memory associated with them... Sue Hollywood Poster Frames ________________________________ From: MoPo List <[email protected]> on behalf of Ira Rubenstein <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2020 6:53 PM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [MOPO] First Poster Stories OK - I will jump in. I was interning for 20th Century Fox theatrical Marketing and Distribution. I was spending one week out at the Branch office in Sherman Oaks. They gave the intern the fun job to clean out the closet. Well, I came across some Return of The Jedi posters and other FOX films and I asked if I could take them home. YES! And that's what started it. From my internship I joined Fox in exhibitor relations and of course my job was sending out posters. And of course I got to keep a copy or two. Then one year I asked NSS people for some posters as a present for my wife. Winnie The Pooh and some Star Wars. Came in the mail. That really kicked it into high gear. My first significant purchase was a SINGIN IN THE RAIN one sheet. A co-worker told me about these auctions you could buy older posters. Again, my wife's favorite film. Got the poster. Took it to Sue to frame. She looked it at it and said. Hey, this was once mine. Never folded version that hung at MGM in the Art Director's office. __ And Sue and I have been friends ever since. And I now have over 1100 posters in my collection. And no more wall space. Ira On 3/18/20, 1:52 PM, "MoPo List on behalf of Alan Adler" <[email protected] on behalf of [email protected]> wrote: Okay - We’ve got all this time - We’ve got this great forum. Let’s crank it up a bit. Every one of us has a story about the first poster we ever scored and changed our life. Will start it off - I was nine years old - it was 1957 - Asheboro, North Carolina - the Carolina Theater - Would take a cab from elementary school to go to the movies before walking down the street to my parents dress shop and ride home with them. Saw I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF and was instantly transformed beyond my ears into a frothing teenager. Begged the manager of the theater for that poster. He said they always have to send them back - they cost money - (maybe 35 cents pack then?) - Begged the manager even more. He caved and gave me the insert from Teenage Werewolf. I was never the same. Cobalt ink began to run through my veins. Would stop to go through the garbage cans behind the theater before I went to the movies. Ah, the days of trash picking. Oddly enough, when I started the Fox Archives - Started going through the studio trash. My wife began to call me an executive dumpster diver. Eventually I curated the Fox Museum - THE HALL OF COOL STUFF - in Australia. It contained nearly six million dollars worth of trash I salvaged and stopped from being tossed. Trash these days just isn’t what it was! Alan Adler Museum of Mom and Pop Culture Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.proofpoint.com%2Fv2%2Furl%3Fu%3Dhttp-3A__www.filmfan.com%26d%3DDwIFaQ%26c%3DQX2OfGk7aRC3kh1nmtbeQQ%26r%3D1ABCRTqq8ZKdvyai6WoqCObnYf2li9myHFS5WHeM88A%26m%3DcPwoRzQt95eK554q-guCea8A21CTJ41hUYaP_kA6cb8%26s%3Dn97V7Jont2f-32h5RkNgPbjbRQhA31P44VcLzNH21Jk%26e&data=02%7C01%7C%7C455be86c2eba4bd2d0fe08d7cb6d9d36%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637201543954367213&sdata=7Rsg%2FBgVdFd%2B2yLJM4ezt606H03fVvNvjIjcrM70FwU%3D&reserved=0= ___________________________________________________________________ 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. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at https://eur05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=www.filmfan.com&data=02%7C01%7C%7C455be86c2eba4bd2d0fe08d7cb6d9d36%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637201543954367213&sdata=VIa4sWNr564aMrUP%2B1harGLlZDTAiPxFsWf9LH74bCg%3D&reserved=0 ___________________________________________________________________ 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. 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.
