Whether Victorian furniture or 18th-century salt-and-pepper shakers intrigue you, you’re bound to find something you like among the auctions’ array. Look through the catalogs (click here for May 16, here for May 17). If you can’t wait for the live online auction, place an absentee ballot after registering. (All bidders must register.)

To whet your interest, take a peek at just a few items up for bids.

Lot 2512594 (May16 auction) is a Spanish National cash register. What a wow, this circa 1908 to 1916 complex and intricate machine was designed to be used by nine different clerks or keep track of nine separate departments. It was also the most expensive machine produced at the time, with prices from $315 to $555, possibly much more if a floor stand or other options were added. It is in very good condition and carries an estimate of $1,700 to $2,200.

Antique Spanish National cash register

Lot 2512749 (May 16 auction), a sheet poster of the movie “Woman of Rome” with Gina Lollobrigida. La Lollo, once deemed the most beautiful woman in the world, starred in this Luigi Zampa flick. “Love was her profession . . . men her career!” the poster proclaimed. Pretty racy for 1956. In very good condition, it’s estimated at $275 to $400.

"Woman of Rome" poster

Lot 2513471 (May 17 auction), “Army of the Future,” a book by Charles de Gaulle. Charles de Gaulle, a World War I hero, fell out of favor with the French military brass after writing this book in 1934. He made a case for a small, highly mechanized, quick-moving army, arguing that the old theories of warfare that produced the Maginot Line, erected to stop the Germans should they decide to invade, would no longer work. He proved, tragically, correct. When the Germans did invade in 1940, they used new tactics, went around the Maginot Line and quickly added France to their list of conquests. In good condition for its age, it’s estimated at $35 to $65.

"Army of the Future" by Charles de Gaulle

Lot 2512634 (May 16 auction) is a splendid example of 19th-century craftsmanship. This writing desk and étagère comes from the workshop of John Jelliff (1813-1893), a renowned New Jersey cabinetmaker. From 1836 to 1890, John Jelliff and Co. produced what is considered some of America’s finest, handcrafted furniture. Made from fine rosewood, the desk measures approximately 64.5 inches high by 36.75 inches wide and 23.75 inches deep. Condition: Very good. Estimate: $7,750 to $9,000.

Antique Victorian American desk

Lot 2513444 (May 17 auction), a circa 1850 rose medallion reticulated basket in good condition. This Chinese Export chestnut basket, sometimes called a fruit basket, is 10.75 inches by 10 inches with a height of 4.25 inches. There is no underplate. It is estimated at $950 to $1,200.

Circa 1850, rose medallion reticulated basket

All these items are subject to a reserve price.

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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.

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.