Rare iconic movie posters to be auctioned in US

LONDON: Dozens of rare posters from some of the 20th century´s most iconic films will go under the hammer this month as an American collector relinquishes some of his most precious possessions.

The 500 posters and lobby cards from classic films such as “King Kong”, “Casablanca” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” have been exhibited in recent weeks in London, New York and Chicago.

Collected over half a century by real estate agent Dwight Cleveland, they are to be auctioned by Heritage showrooms in Dallas on March 27 and 28. “I cherish every single one of them because every one of them was hand-picked,” Cleveland, 65, told AFP.

“These are commercial art. They were intended to grab us by the lapels and yank us into a movie theatre and say, ´See this film´.” But this was also “important art” that went beyond just advertising, he argued.

The posters and cards, which would have been displayed in cinema foyers, span around 125 years of film history. Many of the images date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But after 50 years “it´s getting harder and harder to find anything to add to the collection”, said Cleveland.

“I don´t feel like there´s anything else I can do and give to this hobby,” he added. Some of the posters will do better at auction than others, he said, including the one for the 1933 version of “King Kong” showing actor Fay Wray in the grip of the beast.