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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Universal Horror: The Wolf Man

By Allan Maurer

The “Wolf Man,” stars Lon Chaney, Jr. as doomed Larry Talbot, who, bitten by a werewolf, turns into a beast every full moon and kills. Chaney portrayed the tortured Talbot not only in the 1941 film that introduced the character, but also in the Frankenstein series, including “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man,” “House of Frankenstein,” “House of Dracula,” and finally, “Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein.”

My favorite of all these sequels is “House of Frankenstein,” which starred Karloff as a mad scientist rather than the monster (who is played by Glenn Strange), the Wolf Man, played by Lon Chaney, Jr., a hunchback (J. Carrol Nash), and Dracula (John Carradine).

Touches of poetry run through the script, including this bit of verse about the Wolf Man: “Even a man who is pure at heart and says his prayers at night, can become a wolf, when the wolf bane blooms and the moon is full and bright.”

A set of lobby cards from “The Wolf Man,” sold for from $80 to $2,300 each (the later for a title card) in 2004. A set of eight went for $3,450 back in 1997. An insert sold for $3,000 in 2004. Prices have not gone down since then.

A single still from “House of Frankenstein” sold for $168 this year (2008), while a title card (lobby card) went for $4,000 four years ago, and an insert for more than $6,000 the same year.

It was a Saturday afternoon, back in the days of my youth, and I can still remember handing over my ten cents to the man behind the glass window, then getting a ticket to the greatest afternoon ever. I waltzed right through the theater doors and up to the refreshment stand and handed over my nickel for a Coke. If I was plush with money, I splurged on a five cent bag of popcorn. Scurrying on over to the room where the best afternoon ever would take place, I found a seat in the middle, about halfway back. There I sat, eagerly awaiting the beginning of a Disney film. I knew that real soon, the characters would be dancing before my eyes across the silver screen.

I must have seen all the Disney Cartoon Movies. I particularly remember Peter Pan flying through the air and Donald Duck chasing the children while his uncle threw his money around. What could’ve been better than that? I didn’t know I was poor. In fact, when I was able to attend the movies, I thought I was King.

In the heyday of the cartoon movie, there were hundreds of artists producing drawings and cels for movie producers, and the people who worked at the studios would often take these drawings and cels home by the handful, thinking they would some day be very valuable. Well, they were right. Today I wish some of my relatives would have worked for Disney and brought me home a hundred or so of these cels and drawings.

Drawings and Cels from the classic films can bring in the tens of thousands of dollars today. I don’t know the record high, and if anyone else does please let me know, but I’m guessing it would have to be in the hundreds of thousands.

Pieces from the 50’s or earlier will bring the greatest reward. I don’t think I have to tell you to be on the look out for these animated drawings, but be careful. There are drawings and cels being produced today by machine, and these have little value. There were several cartoon producers, but the greatest producer of these films was the Walt Disney Studios.

Let’s take a look at how the older cels were made. First, the artist would sketch the drawings and then these were photographed on to celluloid. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of these celluloid “pages” called “cels” for each feature length film. Each movement a character made had to be drawn, so that when they were put in sequence, you could see the action. This was a lengthy process, and even in the early days, it was an expensive process. Both the drawings and the cels are in great demand today.

The great thing about this merchandise is that most people wouldn’t know a machine made piece from an original. This is where you come in. Find a place where you can familiarize yourself with the originals, and when the time comes to find the treasure that others miss, you’ll have the knowledge to recognize it. If you’re on vacation in a large city, look for galleries that specialize in Animated Art, and don’t leave until you ask every question you can think of and have received an answer you can understand. This knowledge can mean big bucks to you in the future. Believe it or not, some of the best pieces I’ve ever bought were from auctions where everyone in attendance thought these items were new.

How things have changed since the time I paid my five cents for a movie. At the age of nine or ten, I picked up cola bottles and sold them as a way to pay for a special day at the movies. I walked to the movie house because my folks didn’t even own a car until I was twelve. I don’t think it even occurred to me to ask for money to see a movie, not to mention a ride to the movie house.

Movies were a real treat back then, while today, my 9-year-old son has numerous discs he can just pop in the television and have a movie whenever he wants one. Yes, I think people my age yearn for those olden days, the days when things seemed to have more value. Maybe this is one of the problems today — a lack of appreciation. Sitting there in that theater and watching a feature movie and a couple of cartoons made my afternoon one of the most memorable days of the year. I wonder what makes our kids’ days memorable.

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