– KT, Adamstown, PA, via e-mail

ANSWER: Mention Rin Tin Tin and the first image that comes to my mind is “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin,” a 166-episode television show that aired on ABC between Oct. 15, 1954 and May 8, 1959. The show starred Lee Aeker as Rusty and James Brown as Lt. Ripley “Rip” Masters. “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin” was ABC’s answer to CBS’s “Lassie.”

Rin Tin Tin’s history begins near the end of World War I. Lee Duncan, an American serviceman, found a litter of shell-shocked five-day old German shepherd pups in a bombed-out dog kennel in Lorraine, France on Sept. 15, 1918. Betty des Flandres was the mother, Fritz de la Chasse Royale was the father. Duncan adopted a male and female, naming them Rintintin and Nanette after children’s puppets.

Duncan received permission to bring the dogs to the United States. Nanette became ill during the ocean voyage and died shortly after arrival. In February 1922, following an unsanctioned two-day Shepherd Dog Club of America show, Charles Jones made a film of Rin Tin Tin, which he then sold to the Novograph Picture Company. The company offered Duncan $350 to shoot a second film. Duncan’s initial attempts to locate a studio to star Rin Tin Tin in feature films failed. Eventually, he encountered a Warner Brothers crew trying to shoot a scene with a very uncooperative wolf. Duncan convinced them to use Rin Tin Tin instead. When Rin Tin Tin died on August 10, 1932, he had appeared in 26 pictures. At his peak, he received 10,000 fan letters a week. Rin Tin Tin silent films, such as “Where the North Begins” (1923), “Shadows of the North” (1923), “Clash of the Wolves” (1925), “A Dog of the Regiment” (1927), and “Tiger Rose” (1929) received worldwide distribution, including Germany.

TRIVA QUIZ: Rin Tin Tin is reputed to have died in the arms of what famous Hollywood actress? (answer below)

Duncan toured during the 1930s with Rin Tin Tin Junior. During World War II, he and Rin Tin Tin III worked with the U.S. Army at Camp Hahn to train German shepherds for wartime use. After the war, Duncan worked to untrain the dogs and return them to civilian life. The Rin Tin Tin bloodline survives today thanks to the efforts of Lee Duncan, Jannettia Brodsgaard Propps and Daphne Hereford.

The Russians captured Vienna in a fierce battle in the first half of April 1945. Following the war, Austria was declared a “neutral” country. Displaced person camps were created in Austria, Great Britain and West Germany for WWII refugees, primarily from Eastern Europe, and many of whom were Jewish.

I have handled dozens of prisoner-of war-artifacts, some dating as early as the Napoleonic War, during my career. My favorites are from the WWII German POW camps that were scattered along the West Coast and throughout the Southwestern and Midwest U.S.

POWs and displaced persons had plenty of leisure time. Many traded handmade products, paintings and artwork for cigarettes, food and other supplies. Chances of identifying the carver of your plaque are miniscule. Based on your description, the individual was talented. Hence, your plaque is not the only one that he made. How it came to the United States is and likely will remain a mystery.

There are multiple buyers for your plaque. Its value to a German shepherd or a WWII displaced person artwork collector is between $35 and $45. Add another 10 to 15 dollars if sold to a folk-art collector. A Rin Tin Tin collector would pay $50 or more, but only if facing strong competition from another collector.

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QUESTION: We own a 1910 Coca-Cola advertising poster showing a young lady wearing a duster and sitting at the wheel of a car with a bottle of Coca-Cola in her right hand. “Drink the Best” is printed across the top. Printed in the lower left corner is a diamond-shaped advertisement for Goldelle Ginger Ale, another Coca-Cola product. Our research only uncovered reproductions. We believe our example is period, coming out of a box of belongings bought near Kutztown, Pa. It is beautiful, but is it worth keeping, especially if it is a reproduction?

– D&RO, Anderson, CA, via e-mail

ANSWER: Early 20th-century Coca-Cola posters were lithographs, i.e., printed by layering one color on top of another. Using a five- to ten-power loupe, examine the image. If it breaks into dots, it is a reproduction. If the colors are solid, it is a lithograph, albeit not necessarily period. The lithograph printing process is still used today.

The colors need to be extremely bright. Early lithograph dyes retain their period colors. If there is mellowing, it must be very slight. The lines between colors need to be sharp and distinct. If the lines are fuzzy (one color blending into another) or there is an overall softness to the print, this is a negative.

I checked the reproductions, most of which dated from the 1970s and 1980s. While I found the image, I did not find an exact reproduction of your poster. This is a good sign. The image on your poster first appeared as a postcard sometime between 1911 and 1913. Again, the postcards did not contain the “Drink the Best” slogan. Collectors refer to the image as the Duster/Motor Girl.

I researched the slogan “Drink the Best.” The phrase was part of a longer slogan in 1913. However, I did not find the exact phrase listed on any Coca-Cola advertising slogan website or home page. This is troubling. In the good news department, I did not find it on any of the reproductions, either. I found a few references to Godelle Ginger Ale, but would have been happier had I found more.

An article in “Antiques and the Arts” reporting on Randy Inman’s Oct. 12-14, 2001 auction notes:

“a very rare 1913 soft drink ad jointly promoting Coca-Cola and Goldelle Ginger Ale took $7,700, a fine result for a paper roll-down sign.”

This example was in fine condition. The photographs attached to your e-mail indicate your example has water stains, especially noticeable along the bottom portion of the left and right edges. As a result, it is in fair condition at best.

I e-mailed the photograph of your poster William Bateman and Randy Schaeffer, two Coca-Cola collectors who live near Kutztown. Bill responded: “It appears to be period, but of course, damaged significantly. As you know condition means a lot in today’s market. We have one of the Duster Girl posters without the ginger ale marking in near perfect shape. Allan Petretti puts posters in mint condition from that time period from $4,000 to $7,000. With the damage, I could cut that number by half or more.”

Assuming it stands the test I have given you and turns out to be period, it certainly is worth keeping. Given its value, consider taking it to a paper conservator to see if you can have the water stains lessened. Make certain the paper conservator is a member of American Institute of Conservators. Ask to see credentials and examples of work completed.

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QUESTION: Is it safe to eat off collector plates? I relish the idea of eating off these tacky items.

– BM, via e-mail

ANSWER: Collector plates, also known as collection edition plates, were manufactured for display purposes. I do not recall in advertising or the literature that accompanied them the suggestion that they also had a functional use as dinnerware.

Here are three considerations before adopting a “why not” approach. First, they may not be dishwasher safe. Manufacturers expected them to be dusted not washed. Second, modern knife blades, especially those with serrated edges, may damage the glaze. Third, the glaze most likely has a high lead content, albeit I have no proof.

Your proposal has a sense of practicality and humor. After all, a plate is a plate is a plate. Functionally, there is no reason why you cannot use them for eating purposes. The thought of cutting a medium rare steak resting on top of Vivien Leigh or another “Gone with the Wind” series collector plate has appeal.

When confronted with a collector plate at an appraisal clinic, my stock questions is: “Do you like to play Frisbee?” Now I will start saying: “If all else fails, you always can eat off of it.”

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QUESTION: I have my aunt’s collection of old plaster food productions, ranging from meats, such as steaks and bacon, to milk bottles and cartoons of eggs. They are at least 50 years old. I have no idea how she acquired them, but suspect they were used as display items for some food related businesses. What are they worth?

– PS, via e-mail

ANSWER: You have fake (faux) food props, a business which is alive, well and thriving. Do a Google “fake food props” search.

Fake food props are used in interior design displays, film, television, theater, trade shows, restaurants, stores and dozens of other areas. Just Dough It! offers artificial food that “looks good enough to eat” in categories such as breads and cheeses, breakfast foods and beverages, cakes, cupcakes and tarts, Christmas specials, cookies and donuts, fruits and vegetables, ice cream, popcorn, specials, spills and novelties, tea and others beverages, and wine, beers and mixed drinks.

Your examples are primitive compared to modern day examples. Yet, their very crudeness makes them fun. Value for individual pieces will range from $4-$5 to $12-$15, the higher values for those pieces with the greatest conversation/fun value.

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TRIVIA QUIZ ANSWER: Jean Harlow.

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Rinker Enterprises and Harry L. Rinker are on the Internet. Check out his Web site.

You can listen and participate in “WHATCHA GOT?,” Harry’s antiques-and-collectibles radio call-in show on Sunday mornings between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Eastern Time. It streams live on the Genesis Communications Network.

“SELL, KEEP OR TOSS? HOW TO DOWNSIZE A HOME, SETTLE AN ESTATE, AND APPRAISE PERSONAL PROPERTY” (House of Collectibles, an imprint of the Random House Information Group), Harry’s latest book, is available at your favorite bookstore and via Harry’s Web site: http://www.harryrinker.com

Harry L. Rinker welcomes questions from readers about collectibles, those mass-produced items from the 20th century. Selected letters will be answered on this site. Harry cannot provide personal answers. Photos and other material submitted cannot be returned. Send your questions to: Rinker on Collectibles, 5093 Vera Cruz Road, Emmaus, PA 18049. You also can e-mail your questions to harrylrinker@aol.com. Only e-mails containing a full name and mailing address will be considered. Please indicate that these are questions for WorthPoint.

Copyright © Rinker Enterprises, Inc. 2009

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“Wings”
The 1927 Paramount release starring Clara Bow—the “It” girl—received the award for Best Production at the first Academy Award ceremony in 1929. The Academy itself possesses one of only two known original Style A one sheets for “Wings.” When a post-awards 1929 reissue came up for auction in 2006 it brought in more than $18,000, while a unique 26″ X 40.25″ Style D, the only one known to exist, auctioned for more than $86,000 in 2005.

“All Quiet on the Western Front”
This powerful anti-war film was named Best Picture at the third annual Academy Awards in 1930. (Two Academy Award ceremonies were held in 1930—one in April, and a second in November.) A very rare 22″ X 28″ half sheet featuring a shell-shocked Lew Ayres brought more than $6,500 at auction in 2008.

“Cimarron”
The 1931 RKO release was the first Western to win an Oscar. An 11″ X 14″ lobby card of stars Richard Dix and Irene Dunne auctioned for more than $3,000 in 2007.

“Grand Hotel”
MGM’s star-studded feature took the 1932 Best Picture award. The extremely rare one sheet (27″ X 41″) sold for $48,000 in 2006.

“It Happened One Night”
The Frank Capra classic starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert was the first film to sweep the five major Oscars, including Best Actor, Actress, Picture, Director and Screenplay. The only known 3 sheet (41″ X 81″) Style B sold for $35,850 in 2008.

“Mutiny on the Bounty”
The 1935 Best Picture winner was the only film to ever have three different actors nominated for Best Actor: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, and Franchot Tone. Paper from this movie has not fetched huge prices in the past, but is on the increase. A one sheet (27″ X 41″) sold for better than $2,500 in 2002, while a 14″ X 36″ insert sold for nearly $3,000 in 2008.

“Gone With the Wind”
The 1939 Oscar winner is one of the most beloved movies of all time—and its paper fetches some of the highest prices in the marketplace. An original Style C one sheet showing Scarlet running through a burning Atlanta sold for $20,700 in 2006, and a rare “plume” style CF 27″ X 41″ one sheet sold for better than $8,000 in 2008.

“Mrs. Miniver”
Greer Garson won Best Actress for this 1942 MGM hit, which also took Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and Supporting Actress (Teresa Wright). One sheets are rare for this film but 22″ X 28″ half sheets are selling in the $3-5,000 range.

“Casablanca”
Original posters from the 1943 Best Picture winner consistently bring some of the highest prices in the marketplace. An original release one sheet (27″ X 41″) brought $25,300 in 2005, while a Style B half sheet (22″ X 28″), a rare version showing all the film’s main characters, sold for nearly $39,000 last year.

“Lawrence of Arabia”
One sheets (27″ X 41″) of the “camel” Style A with art by Howard Terpning—the most sought after poster of the 1962 Best Picture winner—brought $11,000 and $14,000 at two auctions in 2008.

Allan Maurer is a Worthologist who specializes in Hollywood and movie memorabilia.

WorthPoint—Discover Your Hidden Wealth

The Style A poster for the 1968 Stanley Kubrick movie “2001: A Space Odyssey,” done in different sizes, depicts the wheel-shaped Space Station One, is the most common.

Science fiction superstar Isaac Asimov once called Bob McCall “the nearest thing we have to an artist-in-residence in outer space.”

Starting off with a love of aviation and a desire to draw, McCall has become one of the foremost illustrators of the history of aviation, documenting space missions, designing commemorative stamps and patches for space shuttle crews.

If you have been to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, you probably recall his magnificent six-story tall mural depicting man’s conquest of the Moon that dominates one wall of the main floor.

McCall excelled at painting the future. As a young commercial illustrator, his work appeared in leading magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post and Popular Science. Then, in the early ’60s, Life asked him to illustrate an article on future spacecraft.

His visionary work on this project led to an invitation from Stanley Kubrick to come to England to paint advertising posters for the film “2001: A Space Odyssey” (MGM, 1968). The posters he produced for Kubrick, depicting the technology of the future, are highly collectible today. Three different one sheets are in circulation.

The Style B poster from “2001: A Space Odyssey” shows men working on the Moon.

Style A, done in different sizes, depicting the wheel shaped Space Station One, is the most common. An authentic 1968 poster in excellent condition sold for about $650 at auction last year. A similar poster was used for the 1980 rerelease of the film, and a version was adapted for the 2001 rerelease.

A French version of the 1968 one sheet (a one sheet is usually 27” by 41” vertical, the most common style of poster today) sold for $131.

Other sizes of this poster are even more desirable. A three sheet (a vertical poster 41” by 81”) of Style A sold for nearly $1,200 in 2008. A six sheet measuring 81 x 81 brought nearly $800.

A one sheet of Style B, showing men working on the Moon, sold this year for about $700, while a copy autographed by actors Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood brought about $950.

Style C, depicting the Centrifuge, is the rarest and most valuable of the McCall “2001” posters. It was designed specifically for the Cinerama version and was sent only to theaters equipped with the wide screen technology. A Style C one sheet sold at auction for over $4,000 in 2007.

The rarest of “2001: A Space Odyssey” posters is the Style C, depicting the Centrifuge. It was designed specifically for the Cinerama version and was sent only to theaters equipped with the wide screen technology.

One aspect of McCall’s work is its almost photographic quality. The Style C is an excellent example. Although it looks like a photograph or still from the film, it is in fact an illustration. McCall’s printed signature appears in the lower left corner.

A variety of other artwork McCall created for Kubrick’s epic is occasionally seen, including standees, banners, counter displays, insert posters (vertical, 14” by 36”, a format no longer seen, including some controversial “minty white” versions), lenticulars, lobby cards (11” by 14”), window cards, pressbooks (which contain stories, art, and posters available for advertising), movie stills and large format 40 x 60 glossy posters—all highly collectible.

A half sheet (horizontal, 22” by 28”) with McCall’s artwork recently brought nearly $800 at auction.

None of McCall’s “2001” artwork comes close in value to another “2001” movie poster, called “The Eye,” created for the 1969 launch of the 70mm version of the film. The psychedelic Eye, used primarily for “wild” posting on building sites and bulletin boards, was printed in far smaller quantities than any of the other posters, and typically brings upwards of $9,500 when one appears at auction.

McCall also created illustrated posters for the films “Ice Station Zebra” (MGM, 1968), “Tora! Tora! Tora!” (20th Century Fox, 1970), and “Juggernaut” (United Artists, 1974).

“The Eye,” created for the 1969 launch of the 70mm version of “2001” features the psychedelic Eye, used primarily for “wild” posting on building sites and bulletin boards.

Posters from “Juggernaut” can be found for as little as $16, while “Ice Station Zebra” posters bring from $35-$85, depending on condition. McCall’s posters for “Tora! Tora! Tora!” go for around $100; a set of eight lobby cards, mostly illustrations, sold for $262 in 2008.

Other films that show McCall’s vision of future spacecraft and technology include the Disney film “The Black Hole” (1979), on which he served as art director, and “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (Paramount, 1979). Some of his illustrations were used on the lobby cards for these films, which average $250-$300 for a mint-condition 8-piece “Star Trek” set and $35-$65 for “The Black Hole” set. Examples of McCall’s original illustrations for these films can be seen online at www.mccallstudios.com.

Allan Maurer is a Worthologist who specializes in movie memorabilia.

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Talk about life imitating art, or art imitating work, Dan Borsey was able to talk with film director and screenwriter Chris McCallion about his newest feature film, ‘Mothballs,’ depicting the glamorous and wondrous dealings of antique and collectibles dealers at Brimfield, Mass..

“I wanted to make an independent film, so I thought a great way of making the money to finance an independent film was to buy and sell antiques. So, I started buying and selling antiques and I said, hey, wait a minute, this could be a film in itself,” McCallion remembers. “I made this independent film about these two guys who decide to go into the antique business and they go to Brimfield. I shot multiple days here (in Brimfield) with my full cast. Then I also shot on my property. I set up 18 tents to make it look like Brimfield,” McCallion says.

There are quite a few characters in this full-length comedy that all antique dealers must deal with at one time or another. You know, the highly charged and fussy customer who is particularly looking for a bargain below the normal bargain and is willing to put the dealer through the ringer to get it. “I’m waiting,” he says with a singsong sigh and an expectant look, not being particularly subtle about it.

Another character may sound familiar, too, but he is the dealer who is rather succinct on how he prices items at his booth, “Always look at their shoes,” the character says. “That’ll tell you what the people are and what they’re going to buy. If they have nice leather shoes on I put the price up a bit, but if they got a poor set of shoes on, then I don’t charge them quite as much, but I sell them a whole lot of dollar stuff.” There is also a roving magic kangaroo that either you see or you don’t, and the odyssey of how one antique item changes hands many times throughout the film.

Sometimes, people come from all over to Brimfield, sometimes it’s from around the world and sometimes from outer space, or sometimes even from over the rainbow, according to a podcast done with McCallion.

The film premiered in January 2008 at the Southern Fried Flicks in Augusta, Georgia, where it took second place, and at the Trail Dance film festival in Oklahoma, where it won best featured comedy. The film has also been featured in Toronto, San Francisco and other film festivals across the country. In 2009, the film will return to Brimfield for its 50th Anniversary celebration for the dealers and the collectors to see it again.

While this comedy is a work of fiction, I can’t help thinking that it hits pretty close to home. I also can’t help but wonder if I can recognize anyone in it. I’ll see you at the movies when “Mothballs” comes to Brimfield. You bring the popcorn and I’ll bring other movie memorabilia to sell or trade.

Watch a video with Dan Borsey talking to Chris McCallion about “Mothballs” here.

Tom Carrier is a general Worthologist, with an expertise in a wide variety of subjects.

WorthPoint: Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles.

This is not the first time that Pickford’s possessions have been up for sale. The December 2006 sale by Julien’s offered more than 200 items from the legendary actress’ collection, which featured a collection of personal correspondence from Douglas Fairbanks to Pickford that sold for more than $28,000.

Saturday and Sunday’s auction, too, had some standouts. The auction sales, under the expert auctioneering skills of Kathleen Guzman, started slow with a great portion of the continental furniture going way below estimates, and the trend continued throughout the first and second sessions. However, Lot 268, the 103-piece dinner service by Capo di Monte exceeded its estimate of $8,000 to $10,000, selling for $13,000.

The silver for the most part made a poor showing with the exception of the Victorian-era Elkington Epergne centerpiece, Lot 272, which sold within its $1,500 to $2,500 estimate for $2,000.

Session three, which included expected heavy hitters, saw more activity and higher bidding. Lot 411, the Mercier portrait of three children in a landscape, did not meet its estimate of $25,000 to $35,000, instead selling for $15,000. Next up were the Paul de Longpre oil-on-canvas botanicals, Lots 412 and 413, that sold, again below or just touching their estimates at $17,000 and $20,000, respectively.

The collection of Rodin-style watercolors, discovered to be the works of the infamous forger Ernst Durig with an estimate of $8,000 to $10,000, crashed at $1,000. The landscape attributed to Asher Durand with an estimate of $25,000 to $35,000 made a poor showing at $5,000. This was one of my picks, but upon personal close examination of the painting, it was clear that this was not a Durand. The painting lacked the luminosity and depth of detail attributed to his works.

Haseltine horse is a winner

There was no surprise that Lot 423, the Herbert Haseltine sculpture of a Percheron horse exceeded its estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. A New York dealer purchased it for $34,000. Haseltine’s works, which consisted largely of equestrian statues and were commissioned throughout his career by the rich and famous, hold their value, and it’s possible that this piece was purchased for immediate sale to a client.

The show wrapped up with the excitement of session four’s sale of the autograph book, Lot 749, which had an estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. This impressive collection of personalized autographs from 1926 through 1981 included the luminaries of the century such as Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, Pearl Buck, Lillian Gish, Mussolini, George Bernard Shaw, Jonas Salk, FDR, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and hundreds more. To a serious collector of autographs, this collection would be at the center and a jewel to own. It went for $19,000.

– By Christopher Kent, a member of the WorthPoint board of advisers and director of evaluations for WorthPoint. He is also an antiques and collectibles generalist, fine-arts broker and president of CTK Design.

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Poster Artists: Alvan “Hap” Hadley

By Allan Maurer

Born in Illinois in 1895, Alvan Cordell Hadley, known to history as “Hap,” created posters for some of the best-loved silent movies, as well as some early talkies. The few original examples that have survived bring astronomical prices at auction, while the reproductions of these classics are some of the best-sellers in the marketplace.

The best known of Hap’s work are his posters of Buster Keaton’s 1927 classics, “The General” and “College,” and Charlie Chaplin’s 1928 Oscar-winning film, “The Circus.” Christie’s East sold the only known surviving original of the three sheet for “The General” at auction in 1994 for $46,000. A restored one sheet of the “blue style” poster for “The Circus” recently sold at auction for better than $13,000.

Hadley’s soulful depiction of the Little Tramp reflected his background as a caricaturist and cartoonist. He began his career during World War I working as an official artist for the Marine Corps, producing propaganda-laden cartoon strips. After the war, he settled in New York City where he dabbled in acting, appearing in the review “Greenwich Village Follies of 1920,” as well as a silent feature directed by George Irving, “Floodgates” (Lowell Films, 1924). His advertising agency developed a reputation for designing the covers of sheet music, including “Show Me the Way to Go Home,” a popular hit in 1925.

Hap’s first known movie poster is a depiction of Clara Bow as the female boxer in “Rough House Rosie” (Paramount Famous Laskey Productions, 1927), surrounded by cartoon faces, all with black eyes. His career continued for some 30 years, during which time he produced movie posters and film titles for all the major studios in Hollywood, especially MGM.

During the 1930s, Hadley produced posters for a number of Howard Hughes films, including “Hell’s Angels” (1930), starring Jean Harlow, and the controversial “Cock of the Air” (1932). Paper from these productions occasionally still shows up at auction. The only known original poster from “Cock of the Air” recently sold for $5,600 at Christie’s London, while a window card from “Hell’s Angels” brought about the same price this year.

Other Hadley posters from less high-profile productions fetch more modest prices. A window card from “Laff It Off,” a 1928 Broadway stage production, recently auctioned for $96. A one sheet of Hadley’s poster for “Reform Girl” (Tower, 1933), featuring rather grim-faced images of Noel Francis and “Skeets” Gallagher brought just $215, while the slightly more attractive poster for “Cheating Blondes” (Equitable, 1933) sold for over $800.

In the 1940s, Hadley created the huge likeness of Roy Rogers seen on billboards during the Republic Productions Roy Rogers publicity campaign and widely reproduced in rodeo magazines.

Hap Hadley died in Los Angeles in 1976.

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Hand drawn movie posters

By Allan Maurer

The magazine Architectural Digest has an interesting piece about the hand-drawn chalk and paint movie posters by staff artists Charles Reese Collier and Sid Smith for Loew’s Grand Theatre on Peachtree Street in Atlanta.

Lowe’s, which showed primarily MGM films, hosted one of grandest premieres in movie history, that of “Gone With the Wind,” on Dec. 15, 1939. With the theatre exterior transformed into a replica of Ashley Wilkes’ Twelve Oaks Plantation, 30,000 Atlanta citizens greeted star including Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Leslie Howard and others.

Herb Bridges, who collects memorabilia associated with both the book and the film, one day received a call from the owner of about 70 of the original handmade Lowe’s movie posters, which had been in storage for more than 60 years.

The collection include posters from “Lady of Burlesque,” the 1943 film based on stripper Gypsy Rose Lee’s novel, “G-String Murders,” from “The Outlaw,” the notorious Howard Hughes-produced western introducing Jane Russell and her equally notorious bosom, and from “The Yearling,” among others.

For art from the collection see, click here.

Experts Say James Bond Memorabilia Value is Rising

By Allan Maurer

Reuters reports that the value of James Bond memorabilia has “shot up.”

“There is a high level of collector interest in original Bond movie posters,” Astrid Zweynert writes.

While posters from the first James Bond film sold for around $100 British pounds ($164.47) a decade ago, now they sell for as much as 7,500 pounds (a whopping $12,336.76).

You can read the report here here.

100 Horror Film Posters

By Allan Maurer

Now here’s a treat. Andrew Lindstrom’s blog “Well Medicated” displays 100 horror film posters.

My favorites include “Tarantula,” “Planet of the Vampires,” “Day of the Dead,” “Nosferatu,” the rare “Dracula” poster, “Robinson Crusoe on Mars,” and the unusual “Invaders From Mars” poster. The 1950s original version of “Invaders From Mars” was consciously designed to reflect a child’s nightmare vision of the world. Sure did work on me. I had nightmares for months after seeing it, despite the clearly visible zippers on the costumes the Martians wore.

Lindstrom includes lots of other posters, classic and modern.

This is an unusual collection, not the run-of-the-mill posters usually seen from any of the films he includes. You’ll surely have your own favorites.

Go take a look, but don’t droll on your keyboard…

Universal Horror: The Bride of Frankenstein

By Allan Maurer

Beginning in the silent era with “Phantom of the Opera” and “Hunchback of Notre Dame” with Lon Chaney, Sr., Universal Pictures made a series of classic horror films starring the Frankenstein monster, Dracula, the Werewolf, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man that ran through the 1940s.

Posters, lobby cards, glossy stills, banners—just about any memorabilia from these films—pull top-of-the-line prices that range from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars. While the original 1931 “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” are creaky, as well as creepy now, collectibles from either bring very high prices in good condition.

All of the Universal horror films featured excellent special effects for their time, relying solely on makeup, camera trickery and the occasional animation. All also had a certain spooky poetry that makes them standout even on repeated viewing today.

“Bride of Frankenstein,” (BOF) directed by James Whale and the first sequel to his “Frankenstein,” is considered by most critics and most fans, by far the best of these horror masterpieces. It’s the one in which the monster talks and meets the old blind man in the woods; a scene parodied to laugh-out-loud perfection in Mel Brooks “Young Frankenstein” in 1974.

BOF included a stirring score by Franz Waxman, memorable performances from Karloff as the monster and Elsa Lancaster as his scream queen bride.

Ernest Thesinger played a campy mad scientist who has created a tiny King, Queen, ballet dancer and other miniature people he keeps in jars. He shares a cigar with the monster saying, “It’s my only vice…”

The creation of the bride during a thunderstorm exceeds even the original monster-comes-alive scene in the original, Waxman’s music lending it all a grandeur seldom matched since.

Even stills in “lesser” condition from BOF sold for more than $70 each recently, and an insert sold for $33,000, while many other items ranged from a few hundred dollars to $3,000 or more for almost any poster or card in decent shape. A single lobby card sold for more than $12,000.