Goodbye Mr. Science Fiction,
Dr. Acula and the Sci-Fi Man

By Allan Maurer

Way back in 1957, at the advanced age of 10, I bought a 35-cent magazine at a small town drugstore’s magazine rack called Famous Monsters of Filmland, the second issue, edited by Forrest J. Ackerman, who died Dec. 4, 2008.

That magazine changed my life in more ways than one.

It replayed an incident in Ackerman’s own life, which he often retold. When about the same age as I was discovering FM, Forry saw an early copy of the world’s first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, on the newsstand in 1926. He described the moment this way: “It said take me home, little boy; you’ll love me.” And he did.

Forry became science fiction’s number-one fan, winning a Hugo (science fiction’s highest award) the first year they were presented as just that, the number-one fan. He coined the term “sci-fi,” which many people in the science fiction community dislike for its connotation of junky fantasy that is nothing like literary SF. But it caught on with the general public and press to such an extent that it’s firmly implanted now.

He called himself FJA and Dr. Acula, and others called him Mr. Science Fiction. He played cameo roles in films such as “The Howling,” and “The Time Travelers,” among many others.
Ackerman’s pun-crazed articles about horror and science fiction movies and their stars in FM were on the juvenile side, to say the least, but he illustrated them with an amazing assortment of stills, posters and artifacts from his own vast, 300,000-item collection. It sparked my own lust for movie memorabilia.

While I never did it for money, at least not for decades (I collect as an investment now as well as for pleasure), I never lost a penny on movie memorabilia. Even when I sold items for a tenth of what they would bring now, I made 10 times my own initial investment.

I recently bid on and won a linen-backed glossy still from Forry’s own collection, much of which he auctioned to pay legal and medical bills. It’s from Anne Bancroft’s only foray into the horror movie genre, “Gorilla at Large,” showing her held by said gorilla and has “Oh Forry, you tickle so,” written in Forry’s own hand (and also came with two other stills and his very own file folder). I paid $60 for it, and it was one of the less expensive items the dealer sold in that auction of stills from Forry’s files.

I particularly like it because it unites my substantial Anne Bancroft collection with my equally substantial collection of science fiction and horror movie collectibles, which range from posters, lobby cards and stills, to toys and assorted odds and ends. Not only that, I remember seeing that still in FM so many years ago, not least because of the adolescent excitement Bancroft’s figure stirred in me.

The connection to Ackerman’s FM, which as much as anything is responsible for my collecting in the first place, is equally pleasing to me. I met him several times at science fiction conventions over the years, shaking his hand, on which he wore one of his most prized collectibles, the Dracula ring that Bela Lugosi wore portraying the vampiric count. Forry’s legacy lives on in the work of many people in the science fiction, fantasy, and film worlds.

Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, John Landis and many, many others loved his magazine and freely admitted Forry’s influence, and they’re only a few among thousands. I started my professional writing career publishing short stories in science fiction pulp magazines (Fantastic) and magazines about SF films (Starlog), and even when I moved up in the world to major national slick magazines, I published most often in OMNI, which ran both leading edge science stories and science fiction. Even my work for non-genre publications often covers SF subjects, from film and book reviews to assorted related topics.

Many of the obituaries of Ackerman note that he died without heirs. That’s not true. He had many thousands of heirs. I know, because I’m one.

Some links about Forry:

L.A. Times blog

The Wikipedia entry on Ackerman

His My Space Page

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.

A number of artists best known for their work in other fields also did at least some movie posters.

Today, Charles Addams is best known for creating the “Addams Family,” as familiar to us now through the two movies and the television show as through the dark humor of his weird New Yorker cartoons.

Addams’ bizarre sense of humor is perhaps best caught in his cartoon of the entire Addams’ Family on the roof of their Gothic home, getting ready to pour boiling oil on a group of Christmas carolers below. The characters never had names until the TV sitcom, when Addams fleshed them out a bit, so to speak and now we know them as Gomez, Morticia, Lurch, Pugsley, Wednesday and Uncle Fester.

Addams did movie poster art for “Murder by Death,” (1976) and “How to Murder a Rich Uncle,” (1957), among other films.

“Murder By Death,” written by Neil Simon, author of the “Odd Couple,” starred writer Truman Capote in a farce about five famous literary detectives and their sidekicks invited to a mansion bizarre enough to have appeared in one of Addams cartoons to solve a mystery.

The IMBD listing for “Murder by Death” is here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074937. Wikipedia’s entry on Addams is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Addams

Pam Grier told an audience at Winston Salem’s 2008 Riverrun International Film Festival that when she went to meet director Quentin Tarantino, he told her he had written a movie with her in mind.

She also discovered that he “has the posters from all my movies,” she said. “I don’t even have them. They’re worth thousands of dollars.”

We don’t know how many Tarantino actually owns, but he would need a few for them to add up to thousands of dollars worth, not that the director of “Pulp Fiction,” would have a hard time coming up with the money. Tarantino is known to collect movies in just about every format and movie memorabilia such as posters as well (more about that in a coming post).

Grier starred in 1970s action films such as “Coffy,” (1973), in which she played nurse battling
drug dealers. She also played tough roles in black action films such as Foxy Brown (1974), Sheba, Baby (1975), Friday Foster (1975) and Greased Lightning (1975), among others. She appeared in many other genre films, from westerns to the Blackula sequel.

Since 2004, she has been a regular on Showtime’s “The L Word.”

Tarantino starred her in “Jackie Brown,” (1997), which he wrote because of his fondness for Grier’s work in those action films. Those, she said she did primarily for the money.

Her movie memorabilia does attract buyers.

One-sheets from “Coffy” in very good to fine condition sold at from $192 to $229 in 2006, according to one auction house listing of poster sales results, and from $227 to $36 in a variety of conditions more recently. Oddly enough, one lesser condition “Coffy” sold for $224, while one described as “good” sold for $36–which just goes to prove, you can find bargains or pay way too much in auctions.

A pressbook—the advertising book movie PR folks used to send to theaters with every film—went for $36 and an 8 by 10 gloss still for a bit over $30.

By comparison, a one-sheet from “Jackie Brown” (advance, showing Grier), sold for about $20 recently.

It’s not unusual to discover movie poster collectibles in unlikely locations. This time, the Phantom was hanging out in a sub shop.

Movie paper from Chaney’s films is rare and highly prized, regardless of type. The linen-backed six-sheet shown above from the original silent “Phantom of the Opera,” (1925) starring the legendary Lon Chaney, Sr. hung on the wall of an Italian restaurant, “The Classic Sub Shop,” in Philadelphia, PA, from 1963 to 1974. A Christie’s auction catalog from 1995 offered it for sale at $60,000 to $80,000. It sold at $57, 500.

Why the poster was valuable

Why was it so valuable? For one thing, it is the only known copy of the poster. A six-sheet is 81 inches by 81 inches. Linen-backing generally increases the value of movie posters, helping to preserve them and making them easier to frame properly. It is itself an expensive process and an exception to the general rule that collector’s want unrestored items.

Meanwhile, a one-sheet from Chaney’s “Phantom” in fine condition sold for $24,000 plus in 1993. A single still from the film sold for $290 in 2007.

Although Chaney is best remembered for his handful of horror films, he turned in numerous performances as a character actor in a variety of genres, including a role as a tough Marine drill sergeant and several turns as a gangster.

Chaney collectibles becoming more valuable

The Turner Classic Movie Channel has gone a long way to restoring recognition to this master of make-up known as “The Man of A Thousand Faces,” with its retrospective showing of his films and a documentary about him. Chaney’s work as a makeup artist led to him writing the article about it for the 11th Edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

James Cagney starred in a biopic (a movie biography) about Chaney (”A Man of A Thousand Faces”) that took great liberties with his story. The poster, which of course sells for much less than originals from Lon’s films, includes sketches of Cagney re-enacting Lon’s most famous parts, such as the “Phantom” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

Years ago, in 1954, when I was 7 or 8, I saw a little film called “The Rocket Man,” at the Columbia Theatre in the small town where I grew up. I was about the same age as the young boy, played by George “Foghorn” Winslow, known for his gravelly voice.

Winslow’s most famous film is probably “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” in 1953. He made “The Rocket Man” a year later.

In “The Rocket Man,” Winslow, wearing a space suit and helmet I very much coveted, discovers a weapon accidentally left behind by a real spaceman. When pointed at someone, it makes them tell the truth.

Now if that existed, it really would be a weapon. Think about how much politicians would pay to keep it out of our hands. In the movie, Winslow uses it to defeat the wiles of local politicians and bad guys.

Although TCM has shown “The Rocket Man” on very rare occasions, I have yet to see a commercially released version in any format. Posters or other movie paper from the film shows up in auctions now and then. I paid a mere $20 for the Insert shown above.

The Lenny Bruce connection

“The Rocket Man” is the only movie scripted by the so-called “sick comic” of the 1960s, Lenny Bruce, who mentions it briefly in his autobiography. Bruce was a tragic figure, brilliant, but addicted to heroin and hounded by local law enforcement coast to coast for his act, which many thought obscene. Compared to what can be heard in many nightclubs or on cable TV today, his act would be considered relatively mild.

Later, Dustin Hoffman would play Bruce in “Lenny,” directed by Bob Fosse. I collect lobby cards and posters from Fosse’s movies, which include “Cabaret” and “All That Jazz.”

Cliff Gorman, who did Bruce in a play about Lenny on Broadway in the 1970s, portrays Hoffman playing Lenny in Fosse’s autobiographical “All That Jazz,” which is enough to make you dizzy if you think about it.

Prices are still reasonable on many Fosse items. I recently bought a set of 8 lobby cards from “All That Jazz” for under $50.

One of the most amazing American collections of movie memorabilia known has sold to an as-yet unnamed foreign buyer.

Leonard Schrader, screenwriter and older brother of director Paul Schrader, died in November 2006. Nine months later, his friend and collaborator David Weisman discovered that Schrader had kept a secret from his friends, his brother and even his wife. He had amassed a collection of 8,642 vintage lobby cards and 5,000 additional movie stills, fan magazines, and heralds.

He kept the collection preserved in large photographer’s binders in his home in the Hollywood hills, although many were well hidden, says Weisman.

Quite possibly the largest and most important collection of lobby cards in existence, rivaling or surpassing those in museum hands, it includes such treasures as 189 Buster Keaton cards in pristine condition.

It also includes seven binders dedicated to John Ford films, six with Fritz Lang items, and many others dedicated to directors, stars and more.

No one knows exactly why Schrader kept the extent of his hobby hidden.

Two national magazines, “Moving Pictures,” and the literary magazine “The Believer” dedicated pages to the Schrader collection in recent months.

In an email to us, Weisman says:

“The collection has been sold, as a whole, and will be soon shipped abroad. The transaction is in final stages of conclusion and the buyer intends to make his own announcement soon, so that is all I can say right now.

“Suffice to say no one in this country had the vision or resources to compete. But the Schrader collection appears to have found the home it deserves – one that’s very much in keeping with the current zeitgeist.”

We’ll let you know when the buyer is revealed.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that a movie memorbilia collection some say is second only to that of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be auctioned off in mid-December of this year.

At that time, The Collector’s Book Store on Hollywood Blvd. will sell its stock, which includes a million film studio publicity stills, 50,000 original movie posters and 20,000 vintage fan magazines, 150,000 original negatives, 50,000 color slides, scripts and contracts signed by stars such as Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor (and her parents).

Retired collectibles dealer Malcolm Willits assembled the massive collection during a 43-year-period. When he opened the store in 1965, the studio system disintegrated and many were just throwing away publicity materials such as stills, posters, and press kits. The store acquired much of that material.

Also, stars would sell the store their entire personal collections of material. Some, such as Mae West, would come into the store, yank unflattering pix from the bins and offer to replace them with better shots, which she did.

Certain rare, high value items in the collection such as stills shot by well-known glamor photographers will sell apart from the bulk of the collection.

The rest will go in large lots, folders of publicity stills sold by the filing cabinet letter, each drawer containing 5,000 photos, for instance. Out of my league, but we may all end up buying material from the collection second hand from other auctions and dealers, I’m guesing.

Profiles in History will hold the auction in Calabasas, CA.

Quite a few movies about invading aliens scared us during the collision of the Atomic Era with the Space Age in the 1950s.

Only one, however, transforms like some space creature to fit the zeitgeist of each new generation. Several of those original 50s films about aliens have been remade once.

The original 1956 “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” directed by Don Seigel, who would later do the first Dirty Harry film with Clint Eastwood, demonstrated a certain plastic ability to fit the viewers perceptions right away. Some saw the unfeeling pod people as commentary on the regimented thinking expected of communists, while others saw it as commentary on the regimented thinking of McCarthyism.

Many film buffs still think this is the best of the films. Its collectibles certainly bring the highest prices, with lobby cards in good condition selling for $150 and more each and one-sheets going for more than $1,000. I bought one 20 years ago for $30 and a couple of lobby cards I still have in absolutely perfect condition for about $5 each then.

Phil Kauffman’s “Body Snatchers”

In 1978, Phil Kauffman, who also directed “The Right Stuff,” another film I like quite a lot, helmed the second version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” It parodied the psycho-babble of the era, San Francisco acceptance of wonkiness, and political paranoia left over from the Nixon years .

Personally, I think this version is the best (so far). Its collectibles sell for decent if not excessive prices. I recently bought a French set of lobby cards from this version for under $30. I buy almost anything from this version and have American color stills, a German lobby card set, a pressbook and the one-sheet. Altogether they did not cost more than about $100.

”Body Snatchers” for the 90s and beyond

The 1993 version takes on the Army and paranoia about environmental pollution. It’s well directed by Abel Ferrara and delivers more than a few chills. I picked up the one-sheet from this version for $20 plus postage.

The latest version, starring the Queen of the Remakes, Nicole Kidman (who is often the best thing about them), is, Roger Ebert correctly opines, least of the lot. It focuses on paranoia about an out-of-control epidemic. The one-sheet, a nice shot of Kidman, remains inexpensive.

Tbe going rate for most recent posters such as this one still hover in the $20 to $25 range for really desirable items.You won’t get a poster from the most recent version of “Blade Runner” at that price, though.

The box office tally isn’t the whole story of a film’s profit margin – “It’s the merchandise, silly.” So says Mel Brooks in his 1987 science fiction parody Spaceballs, as his character displays merchandise from the film – within the film – including bed sheets and a cereal box. George Lucas gave Brooks permission to make the Star Wars spoof on the condition that there would be no merchandise from the film. Merchandise is quite important to a film’s fans and makes for a lasting collectible for years to come.

One of the great collectibles of Generation X is Star Wars memorabilia. Original-issue figurines, fighter planes, trading cards, and weapons are the foundation of a collection. Original film cells, autographed photos, Underoos, and lunch boxes are also popular items. An original one sheet movie poster from 1977 (style D) is valued at $1,500, another (style E) at $3,000, while a third (style A, a rerelease) is priced at $250. The pricing is determined by rarity and condition. A complete set of miniature figurines from 1977 go for $300 on Ebay.

Star Wars isn’t the only movie with a long and prosperous merchandising history. Tim Burton films have sparked interesting collections – especially for Nightmare Before Christmas toys and other items which continue to sell well the world over. Jack and the bunch make for great collecting, though because the toys, figurines, and school supplies remain in-stock and for sale to the public, building a collection that might become rare and valued for resale is a long term investment.

Movie t-shirts and posters can be found in many households and, more recently, unusual items as merchandise have gained in popularity. The reissued “Mr. T In Your Pocket” – a push button key ring with voice samples of Mr T catch-phrases like “I pity the fool” – pictured here, is an example of a specialty item that can pick up steam when childhood fans become grown ups who appreciate their nostalgic value.