Hollywood Museums in Vietnam and Ohio

By Allan Maurer

The interest in movie memorabilia stretches from Cleveland, Ohio to Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam.

We ran across two interesting items about museums with mouth-watering collections. Thirty years ago, Nguyen Thanh Liem worked at a Beverly Hills beauty parlor and had a steady clientele of movie stars from the silent era to western and action films popular in movie heyday.
Liem collected about 2,000 signed photos of Hollywood stars, many from the silent era, as well as 40,000 costumes, more than 1,000 pairs of shoes that once belonged to famous singers and Hollywood stars, as well as some of their love letters.

The collection includes many other pop cultural items, including documents about John F. Kennedy and other signatures from United State presidents and vice presidents, mementos of Muhammad Ali, and memorabilia focused on Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Madonna.

For the full story “A hair-dresser turns curator with a personal collection of Hollywood memorabilia,” click here.

A Christmas Story Museum

“You’ll shoot your eye out!” says Ralphie Parker’s mother about his dream of having Santa deliver a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas in the holiday favorite movie “A Christmas Story.”
This Thanksgiving, a number of the original cast members, including Scott Schwartz, who, as Flick, got his tongue frozen to the flagpole, and Ian Petrella, the actor who played Raphie’s little brother, will celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary at the plain clapboard house in Cleveland, Ohio, used to shoot all the exterior shots in the film.

The house is now a museum that displays props, costumes, memorabilia and photos from the movie, which fan Brian Jones opened in 2006. The museum draws about 35,000 visitors a year. Across the street, at the gift shop, you can buy a talking Ralphie doll.

To visit the “A Christmas Story” Museum website, click here.

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.

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles

Antiques, fine and decorative Art, furniture, collectibles and memorabilia are on offer at this glamorous and stylish auction of Pickfair, the estate of Mary Pickford.

The auction is being held by Julien’s Auction at the Beverly Hills Hilton Nov. 22 and 23. Auction Network will broadcast live streaming video of the sale and provide viewers with real-time, interactive bidding. I will be there to add color and commentary on some of my picks, best buys and best investments during the auction.

In the golden age of silent movies, Mary Pickford, “America’s Sweetheart,” captured the hearts of the moviegoing world. In addition to her illustrious film career, her achievements in the Hollywood movie industry include being co-founder of United Artist Studios, co- founder of the Academy of Arts and Science and the first hand and footprints in front of the famous Grauman’s theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

She and husband Douglas Fairbanks Sr. were Hollywood royalty and during their marriage, created Pickfair, the legendary house and grounds that served as host for dignitaries, foreign heads of state and all the leading stars of the day.

Many of the items featured in this sale have at one time throughout the years been featured in press releases and magazines such as Architectural Digest, House and Garden and the Los Angeles Times. Of the more than 700 items for sale, many will garner high bids. Here is a sampling of my picks.

Lot 268, a 103-piece porcelain dinner-service collection of the Napoleon and Josephine pattern made by Capo di Monte. It’s exquisitely over-the-top and includes decorative devices such as raised allegorical figures, gilding, latticework and central coat of arms with a blue underglaze mark. Made in the early-20th century, its estimate is $8,000 to $10,000. This service will appeal to the serious porcelain-designer collector.

Lot 652, a Continental silver, gold, enamel and garnet-studded jewel casket, gifted to Mary Pickford by Grand Duchess Maria of Russia, has dual appeal—celeb and royalty. Designed and crafted by Luigi Pallotti, this will far surpass its $3,000 to $4,000 estimate.

Lots 412 and 413, two paintings by Paul de Longpre (1855-1911). Longpre is known for his botanical paintings, particularly roses. French by birth, Longpre relocated to New York and established himself as a successful artist. In the late-19th century, he moved to Los Angeles and became the city’s first major still-life painter. It is likely that he is the first Southern California painter to earn major national reputation.

In 2007, Bonham’s and Butterfield, in their sale of California and American paintings and sculpture, sold a Longpre oil on canvas titled, “Bouquet of Pink and White Peonies,” for $144,000. The estimates of $20,000 to $30,000 each are conservative at best.

Lot 417 is a landscape by American Hudson Valley artist Asher Durand (1796-1886). This impressive oil-on-board depicting an expansive vista of trees, lake and a sailboat is typical of the lush style of the Hudson River School. Signed Durand A, the 21¼-by-35-inch painting is a fine example of Durand’s work.

It does not have the same draw as the “Kindred Spirit,” a painting he did that featured artists Thomas Cole and William Cullen Bryant positioned in a natural setting in the Catskills. That painting sold at the 2005 Sotheby’s auction for $35 million, which set the mark for the highest-selling painting of an American artist at the time.

It’s anyone’s guess what this painting will go for with an estimate of $25,000 to $30,000. I suggest that it will cap at around $45,000.

Lot 433, a group of three 19th-century needlework samples is a sleeper at $1,200 to $1,800. These three, polychrome needlework on homespun textile feature alphabets, flowers, biblical verse and animals. The market for American needlework holds its own and continues to sell well. It’s a curious homespun addition to the sale when stacked against the European furniture and decorative items. I think these three will walk home at a good price.

Note: Most, if not all, the still shots, film memorabilia and letters of Pickford, Fairbanks and Buddy Rogers, Pickford’s third husband, are going up with low estimates.

Items that consistently sell much higher than the posted estimates are personal diaries, appointment books and guest books of celebrities.

Lot 749 is going in with an estimate of $6,000 to $8,000, which will be blasted out of the water. Autographs include notables such as FDR, Marconi, Mussolini, Thomas Edison, George Bernard Shaw, Henry Ford, Grand Duke Alexander Mikailovich of Russia, Pearl S Buck, Lillian Gish, Amelia Earhart, H.G. Wells, etc. etc.

– 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.

WorthPoint—Get the Most from Your Antiques & Collectibles

Lot 268

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.

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.

Abbott & Costello Meet the Monsters

By Allan Maurer

There are those who felt the series of Abbott & Costello meet the monsters films that began with “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” in 1948 and continuing through “Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy” in 1955 were an inglorious end to the Universal Studios monster series.

The first, in which they encounter the Frankenstein monster (played again by Glenn Strange, who never quite gets the pathos Karloff brought to the part), Dracula (Bela Lugosi), the Wolf Man, (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and at the end, the Invisible Man, is the best. “Pulp Fiction” director Quentin Tarantino, has more than once expressed his admiration for it, and I agree that it’s both funny and scary.

There is nothing funny about the prices posters from their meet the monster films bring, though. Movie paper (posters, stills, etc.) from the series, which includes “Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Boris Karloff); and “Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man,” regularly draw auction prices in the hundreds of dollars or much more for single items.

A linen-backed 1-sheet from “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” sold for $5,400 at auction this year. An unbacked original sold for $3,700 and a Spanish version of the poster for $675.00. An 8×10 still form the film went for $275.

By way of contrast, 1-sheets from “Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy” sold for from $1,300 to $546 from 2000 to 2005.

Curse of the B Horror Movie

By Allan Maurer

Back in the 1942, RKO studios gave producer Val Lewton a piddling $150,000 and a title, “The Cat People.” Lewton made up for the lack of a decent special effects budget by keeping all the suspense scenes wrapped in shadows.

“The Cat People” is famous for its creepy swimming pool scene, which stills sends shivers up my spine with its creative use of sound and suggestion. The film also introduced what would later be called “The Bus,” in which a woman who believes she is being followed by… something, is startled by the air brakes of a bus stopping at a corner. Even when you know it’s coming, if you watch it in the dark, you’ll jump.

Many horror film directors still use a version of “The Bus” today, making us jump at loud sounds that are red herrings.

Lewton would make nine more films for RKO, including “Curse of the Cat People,” which was really a sweet story about a little girl with an imaginary friend and not a horror story at all, and three films that gave Boris Karloff two of the best roles of his career in “Bedlam,” and “Body Snatcher,” which also starred Bela Lugosi.

The poster from “Curse of the Cat People” is often used as an example of how misleading film art can be regarding the actual content of a film.

Lewton’s other films included “The Ghost Ship,” “Isle of the Dead,” “The Seventh Victim,” “The Leopard Man,” and “I Walked With a Zombie,” all notable for their ability to conjure fear from shadows and sound and nearly nonexistent budgets.

Lewton hired directors who would later achieve fame and acclaim, including Jacques Tourneur, Mark Robson, and Robert Wise.

Always appreciated by critics such as James Agee, novelist, film critic and author of the script for John Huston’s “The African Queen,” Lewton was the topic of a recent new documentary narrated by Martin Scorsese, shown repeatedly on Turner Movie Channel and available as an extra in the Val Lewton DVD set.

Posters from the Lewton films took another leap in value the last few years, partly as a result of increased attention, but also just due to growing appreciation for how well these spooky films hold up today.

Many 1-sheets, half-sheets, and lobby cards from Lewton’s films sell for several hundred dollars each, and I noticed prices on the rise this year.

An insert from “The Cat People” sold for $1,250 in 2004 and a 1-sheet sold for $675 as far back as 1997. It’s still possible to pick up some less desirable (image-wise) lobby cards for under $50.

One-sheets from “Body Snatcher,” starring Karloff and Lugosi, sold for $1,200 to $1,500 this year. Almost anything with either Karloff or Lugosi generally brings higher prices for any type of movie paper, including original stills.

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.

Anytime there is an economic downturn, you can grab some collectibles at bargain-basement prices. This includes collectibles from the movie world.

The very best movie memorabilia pieces, items in perfect condition, well cared-for and preserved and representing a star, film or director of note, tend to maintain their value in all economic conditions.

But when cash is scarce, many items of lesser value go for prices you’ll never see again for quite a while after the economy recovers. Basically, that means if you have some cash right now, check out the movie poster auction sites.

This is speculative, at best. The cash crunch could make cheap buys not such a good idea if your own cash might run out or an economic downturn is prolonged.

If you have a bit to spend, however, buying movie memorabilia, particularly posters, may be an excellent investment.

I recently snagged nine half sheet movie posters for an average of $10 each that included a fine “McCabe and Mrs. Miller,” directed by Robert Altman and starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie (not to mention Leonard Cohen’s moody ballads), and a superb “Theatre of Blood” half sheet showing Vincent Price framed by red theatre curtains and two daggers.

I found a very nice half sheet from “The Last Hurrah,” directed by John Ford and starring Spencer Tracy, for under $10. I can’t remember ever seeing posters from a film directed by Ford go that inexpensively in an auction. I’ve bid higher for the same item in similar condition and lost.

I haven’t seen prices like that for decent–if not perfect posters–for decades. Some of these items I’ve been buying have significant edgewear, tears, missing pieces, wrinkles. Few fail to sell. Movie paper sells in all conditions. But most are in very good condition.

Fixed-priced vendors still charge high end retail prices, but if you are willing to look, you might build the basis of a collection now for much less than it will likely cost when the economy recovers.