Collecting Film Posters 102

Collecting Film Posters 102

When I last left off about collecting film posters I was discussing the basics of selecting a film poster, Now we are going to go into the nitty gritty of film poster collecting. Which is essentially where to buy them, how to spot real ones from fakes or restrikes, and other hidden costs. As you might have noticed last article I was listing some of the costs of original theatrical film posters underneath the poster like the $9,000 Breakfast at Tiffany's poster.

Like in any business when there is big money to be made you will have forgers out there trying to sell fakes to make good money, but at the same time sellers without alot of knowledge of posters possibly selling restrikes. So you need to know where to buy real ones at and signs to look for to spot originals.

NSS Stamp on back of Psycho poster

 Posters from the mid 80s back were printed by the National Screen Service in the United States and other countries studios had similar arrangements. Sure some studios later would print their own posters, but there are some stuff to look for. I am going to focus mostly on US Theatrical posters.

The NSS posters would have certain marks on them to look for. Keep in mind the marks are different depending on the year the  poster was printed. For instance in the 60's you could like at the backside of the poster and see the stamp. On the front side at the bottom you may see printer marks that have different meanings.
Below are some very common examples you will find

NSS Property Warning Label

You will see a small paragraph like this on most older posters. It's essentially telling you to return or destroy poster when done screeing film

 GAU is the printing label on most US posters until early 1983. This is usually a very small label you will see at the bottom of posters in the middle. Keep in mind the GAU logo changed a few times throughout the years. So make sure any pre 1983 film has this logo I will explain more in a minute.

The GCIU label film posters from 1983 onward had this label on them at the bottom. Don't buy any pre 1983 films with this logo on them at the bottom chances are you just bought a poster made for the video release or a re-release for the film. I've made this mistake, but you don't have to.

77/2 Rocky - Now this is another common thing to look for in a sense this number on the left is a serial number. The number on the left is symbolizing that Rocky was released in the year 1977 and was the second film to be released in that year. So what this number will tell you with film posters was this film poster for an original release or a re release say like a Gone With the Wind with RR68??.

Not every film poster is going to have these marks if the studios printed the posters themselves, but in most posters' cases they do from the mid 80s back. Now that you are armed with some knowledge now the time has come to buy your poster. Let me tell you not every seller is honest out there

You need to find some reputable dealers out there. The best place to find a reputable dealer is on learnaboutmovieposters.com or simply for short a LAMP approved dealer. A LAMP approved dealer has met the strong standards of LAMP and only sells original posters unless specified in the poster's description. You can also search their database and the database will let you know which approved dealers have the poster in stock to buy.

Some of these dealers have shops on Ebay as well to buy from. Keep in mind EBay does have alot of fake poster sellers out there as well. Thing to keep in mind is some of these sellers are expensive to buy from since they are approved by LAMP, but that does not mean you cannot approach them to see if you can get a better deal on a poster.

To get better deals from sellers on posters, email the sellers and see if they are willing to work with you. There may be some damage on the poster that may require some clean up by a professional to be done. Maybe the color has faded some. There are all sorts of reasons out there deals can be made to obtain the poster of your choice.

In the end run your end goal is to hang the poster on your wall. Sometimes you just have to go with a damaged poster if you just can't afford a pristine copy. Do not let that stop you from buying a poster, I saved hundreds on my Batman the Movie poster by buying a damaged one that needed some work.

The poster was badly faded and had holes throughout the poster. Through painstaking work the restorer was able to breath life back into the poster.

Yes all posters are going to have some form of damage especially from the 80's back because most of them were folded. Which meant every time you unfolded and folded the poster more was being done to the fold lines and that is inevitable.

You are just not going to get around this damage and to some of you that may make 80's and back posters that are folded unappealing. You might not be able to stand the folds. Most posters before GCIU took over were folded. That is why I would be hesitant on buying any poster from 1982 back unfolded from the U.S.. There is a good chance that poster is a fake and not worth taking the risk.

The other thing to remember when taking a risk on a film poster that the older they get the more likely a film poster is to have acid burning going on. Essentially the film posters were made on cheap print and overtime can become discolored and a browning or blackening to the poster will occur. What this means is the chemicals are harming the poster and if you put that poster next to another poster then the burning can start happening to another poster. This is a buy at your own risk deal. I have no problem buying these posters, but also realize I could be putting another 150 to 350 into repair of the poster.

So what I am essentially saying is you better be buying a valuable poster to justify putting the money into the poster to save it or you are going to being spending more than necessary. You should skip buying any rolled poster from about 1983 forward if extensive damage is done. Unlike the 82 posters and back alot of the posters from 83 forward started to be printed double sided. So in a sense buying a double sided poster requiring some work means that you could be hiding some of the identifying marks if at some point you try to resell making it hard to tell if the article is genuine.

Now that you have some tools to tell real from fakes and how to buy films posters from reputable dealers. Go out and have fun. I'll be finishing my last article next week on film posters restoration and framing.

As far as next film I am going to review it is a toss up between a few that were sent to me, but will either be Fassbinder's World on a Wire or will be Gangster VIP. If I go Gangster VIP that will mean a month of gangster film reviews and if I go World on a Wire that will mean a month of science fiction reviews.

Dracula A.D. 1972

Dracula A.D. 1972

Director: Alan Gibson
Writers: Don Houghton
Stars: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Stephanie Beachum, Christopher Neame, and Caroline Munro
Music: Mike Vickers

Opening Thoughts:
When it comes to horror in film two studios come to mind Universal Pictures and Hammer Film Productions. In fact, Hammer sometimes gets the reputation of only having released horror films. Which is simply just not the case. Hammer went into other genres such as science fiction with Quatermass and the Pit and comedy with On the Buses. The latter film, On the Buses, was the second highest grossing film in the U.K. in 1971.

That being said in 1971, Hammer was still trying to ride off the success of their earlier horror films from the 1950's. Pick up a copy of Horror of Dracula, what you will see is British romanticism mixed in with brilliant set designs, colors, and an almost always fall like in the Victorian period. Absolutely breath taking back then.

As we all know times change and in order to sell well in the 1960's, Hammer started combining their Gothic style films with more violence and nudity. Sure that method sold well to overseas markets, but when you limit yourself to one area for so long then it is time for a change.

What change can you make is the question? You can drop the horror element altogether, but then that means you might lose the talent of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. You might try a reboot to the series very common today by switching actors. Just one last thought how about moving the characters to the modern age and making a film around that.

In 1972, that is what Hammer just did they wanted to modernize their Dracula films by putting him into a present day situation. On the surface, if a friend said they were doing this today I might tell that friend Hammer is just trying to run their property into the ground. What we ended up getting was Dracula A.D. 1972. Was the film a success in change or just a low-point in Hammer history.

One thing is for sure you either love this film or hate this film. Roger Ebert gave this film one star when first released, while both Kim Newman and Tim Burton consider this film among their favorites. Myself in 1992, when I first saw this film I loved it, but has my feelings changed 25 years later.

Plot: 
 
We open up in the year 1872, Lawrence Van Helsing and Dracula are having their final confrontation on top of a stagecoach. The stagecoach crashes and Van Helsing wins at the cost of his own life. At this time a mysterious man (Christopher Neame) walks in and collects some of the ashes of Dracula.

All of a sudden plane flies out of nowhere and we are in the year 1972. With Mike Vickers score playing to the opening credits. After the credits roll, we find ourselves at a birthday party with the band Stoneground playing. The parents are going crazy because the party has been crashed by a group of anti-socials, aka hippies and beatniks.

What becomes clear fast is that this group of anti-socials, seems to get off on testing everything to the limits. The group knows the police are being called, but they do not care. Instead, the group decides to play a betting a game on how soon the police will show up. This group clearly gets their kicks from this type of behavior.

The group shortly after this incident, meet up at a bar called the Cavern in Chelsea. Laughing and having a good time about what they just did. They want to know what the next thrill ride stunt they can pull is. Johnny Alucard, the mysterious man at the beginning of the film, a member of this group suggests they call on the dead and that he needs the help of the group to pull it off.


The group meets up the next day, but clearly has no clue to what Alucard has in mind. One thing is for sure, Alucard has a special interest in Jessica Van Helsing, Stephanie Beacham. Alucard wants Jessica to be the special fake sacrifice to call on the dead. Jessica hesistates and her friend Laura Bellows, Caroline Munro, takes her place. Alucard's plan works to call on the dead, but unfortunately for the rest of the group they do not realize they called upon Dracula. Even more unfortunate, Laura is Dracula's first victim.

    The rest of the group flee the abandon church and Alucard spends the rest of the film slowly trying everything he can to get Jessica to go out with him so he can trap her for Dracula. It's essentially a game of cat mouse to where one victim after another keeps dying as Alucard keeps failing his mission. After one too many failures Drucala finally gives Alucard the power of the vampires to trap Jessica.

Meanwhile the deaths keep piling up and perplexed by the strangeness of the deaths, inspector Murray, Michael Coles, from Scotland Yard pays Lorrimer Van Helsing, Peter Cushing, a visit. The strangeness and mixed in that Van Helsing's granddaughter is apart of the group Murray hopes that both Van Helsing's can give an answer to clear up what is going on. Lorrimer right away knows he is dealing with a vampire and maybe something much more dangerous than that.

While doing his homework, Lorrimer, quickly discovers he is probably dealing with Dracula. Which leads him to place a rosary around Jessica's neck to protect her.

What happens next is a rollercoaster of events leading Jessica to get captured. Van Helsing racing all throughout the city in a chase trying to find Alucard and save his grandaughter. Battle sequences between Van Helsing and vampires. A preparation scene for the final showdown between Van Helsing and Dracula to try and save his bloodline.

Initial Thoughts after watching the film 25 years later:

A lot of stuff is happening in this film that is not normal for a Hammer Dracula film. One thing is not everyone who dies turns into a vampire. Dracula will choose to kill you in this film or turn you into a vampire if he wants you to have the powers. Which I actually like that idea simply drinking the blood is not enough to turn you into a vampire. Unfortunately for us, that means Caroline Munro gets very little screen time.

 Hammer is still using  running water as one way to kill a vampire. I get that notion, but find that to be a very anticlimactic way to kill a vampire. Christopher Lee gets very little screen time and feels like he does not even want to be in the role. Lee in fact would only do one more Dracula role for Hammer after this film.

This film may not have been a failure others make it out to be. There are alot of sequences the 1987 film Lost Boys seems to borrow for their ideas. Like antisocial kids, setting up for a final showdown, and a rollercoaster of events. Even Buffy the Vampire Slayer, seems to borrow from this film a lot. Maybe the film was just too far ahead of it's time to be liked by alot of people.

I think the issue here is much more complex than that and more has to do with the kids seeming they were like hippies, treatment of certain age groups in stereotypical ways, and continuity errors that plague this film throughout the entire thing. To some people, they couldn't even look past Mike Vicker's, Manfred Mann, musical score of jazz influenced rock sound in the back. While I think that score is one of thing's that make this film special.

Continuity Errors:
In the long run what makes this film suffer more than anything else is just continuity errors. The film takes place in 1972, but opens in 1872. Supposedly that makes Lorrimer at least 99 years old. Certain characters like Bob turn into vampires out of nowhere. Other characters who were supposedly important enough to be in the film just disappear like Inspector Murray. In all honesty this film needed about 20 minutes more to stop the continuity errors.

Final Thoughts:
Despite the huge glaring errors and a lackluster performance from Christopher Lee. Peter Cushing puts on a stellar performance. Christopher Neame also shines through in his role and is believable as one of the villain. Neame could have even possibly replaced Malcolm McDowell in a Clockwork Orange based on his performance in this film.

To be honest despite my love for the Gothic horror Hammer films, even I by this point in the series I was getting tired of watching the Dracula films. I understand to some people breaking from this tradition is sin, but to me it brought the series some fresh needed new blood. Houghton the writer, Inferno for Doctor Who, delivered what could have been the start to a modern day Van Helsing movie series investigating the abnormal with the Scotland Yard. Despite the bad reviews from critics, the concept worked enough for a direct sequel to be made for this film.

In the long run, this film has no business being as good as it is. The concept, mixed with Mike Vickers's score, and superb performances from Cushing and Neame put this film over the top for me as easily the second best Dracula film Christopher Lee is in the Hammer series and feels the least dated out of the bunch.

Solid score of a 7/10 for me   

Collecting Film Posters 101

British Quad by artist Tom Chantrell Price Tag $500

Like any theater the Oak Street Cinema was no exception of having film posters hang from their walls, but instead of new films they would be posters from older films

A home with no decoration can look like a bleak place. Like most people, I decorate my place to liven the mood up a little bit. Sure you may see things like framed comics hanging on the wall, but what you are most likely to recognize in my humble home is film posters hanging everywhere. That is because I simply just love film of all types, but I end up getting asked a lot of questions on how to choose the right film poster, where to buy, and more.

These are not very easy questions to answer, because a lot of factors should go into making your determination of which film poster to buy, where, and etc.. That being said I am willing to pass on my knowledge onto others. I’ll cover the basics in each area in a separate blog. The first blog will focus on poster selection.

Ultimately when selecting the right film poster to buy, you first need to ask yourself some questions. 1. Why I am buying this poster? 2. Can I afford this poster?

Breakfast at Tiffany's One Sheet Price Tag $9,000

 

 

1.      Why am I buying this poster? This is really what you should be thinking about first when selecting a poster. Are you buying the film poster because you want to show your love of a certain movie? Do you want to show your love for a certain genre? Maybe you are trying to show your love for your favorite actor or actress.

As long as you are not limiting yourself too much when answering these questions you should be able to find a poster that can fit perfectly for you wall. If you limit yourself too much, maybe to just a certain film that you absolutely. You might just find out you are not going to find that certain film poster you want to buy to hang on your wall.

What I mean by that is simple; you might hate the artwork on the poster. Or maybe the poster for that film is so expensive that you just can’t afford the poster. In the long run, you are going to end up putting this poster on your wall and you are going to have to look at the poster every day. 

Rocky One Sheet $650 without the signature

For example, the poster I look at when I first open my eyes is my autographed Rocky poster. The Rocky poster was selected as a constant reminder to myself that underdogs win as they long as they can take the hits life brings stand up and keep moving forward. No one character in film, has affected my life more than Rocky. Honestly I want that inspirational message to be the first thing I see when I wake up.

However not every poster in my collection was chosen for this reason. Sometimes a poster was chosen to show my love for certain genres or studios. For instance, in the 50’s and 60’s a lot of great posters were being made for the science fiction genre. Some of the artwork done is just jaw dropping. Tom Chantrell, Bill Wiggins, and Vic Flair made are amazing artists from this era. If you go this route then you ultimately leave yourself a lot more wiggle room to selecting an affordable poster.

Vampire Circus by Vic Flair Price Tag $690

To me that is what you should leave yourself with is plenty of options to choose from. Don’t just limit yourself to United States posters. If you like the artwork on the British Quad then go with the British Quad. Here are some examples of poster differences from other countries compared to the U.S.

Nightmare On Elm Street US One Sheet VS the Nightmare on Elm Street British Quad

 

My framed Dr. Who & The Daleks

The last thing to remember for affordability is size and restoration. Just because you love the artwork on a poster sometimes size needs to be taken into consideration. Posters vary in sizes from the common U.S. 27x41 or 27x40 to Six Sheet Poster 81x81 and yes they even get bigger.

 Do you have the space for an 81 x 81? If you do can you afford to frame the poster.

A few years back I framed a 3 sheet poster by myself. I had the frame custom cut, ordered the plexiglass, and art care foam board then assembled the poster. After I was done I spent close to 500 dollars to accomplish this project. If I had gone to a professional framer I would have spent over 3 grand having the poster framed.

That said the poster is the crowning achievement of my collection, but leaves little room for other posters. It is also the reason why I will only other frame one more 3 sheet poster because there are very few places in my house to hang this poster.

To learn more about movie posters and the different artwork that has appeared on some of them visit the Movie Poster Database at: http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/newsite/MOVIES/MPDB.asp

Come back later for my next article on where to buy posters, hidden costs, and hot to spot a repro from a real poster. Do you have an original poster or is yours from the video release?

As for first film that I am going to review we are going to travel back to 1972 and watch Dracula A.D. 1972 directed by Alan Gibson and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

The Phantom of the Oak Street Cinema

The Oak Street Cinema was a small, single-screen movie theater in Minneapolis, MN. The theater played both first-run independent films and repertory showings, including retrospectives of such filmmakers as Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa as well as genre-based retrospectives. It had also been home to several local film festivals.

The Oak was where I first experienced some of my favorite foriegn films on the big screen. Not to mention some of the classics from all eras in which rarely seen a screening. One thing was for sure the theater was a favorite for many avid film goers like myself.

To honor the Oak Street Cinema I am going to do a weekly blog reviewing older films from the 1980's and back. Each month will have a special theme. At times I will also take an in-depth look at collecting memorabilia such as posters and autographs from the films and stars of yesteryear.