Rare Movie Posters Expected to Fetch $250,000
Rare movie posters found in the attic of a movie house are expected to fetch over $250,000 for their lucky owner.
The posters include original images from "The Public Enemy," "Dracula," and "The Front Page." The owner originally purchased them from an auction house for $30,000. At the time they were in horrible condition, stuck together with wallpaper paste, but Heritage House decided they were worth saving and worked tirelessly to restore the images.
"As we started to peel them apart, it was one of the greatest treasure troves from a beautiful period of poster printing," Grey Smith of Heritage Auctions told AP. "A number of them were in very, very nice shape. The colors had not seen the light of day in 80 years."
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Now, after restoration, the posters are being put up for sale on March 23. If history repeats itself, they will bring in a considerable amount for the Heritage House. In 2009, an original poster of "Dracula" sold for $310,000.
"They were purely a product to be disposed of," Smith said of the posters. "They're not something anyone would have thought to save."
Bram Stoker's "Dracula" was an instant hit and spawned the stage production, and later the 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi.
Part of the thrill of finding the posters is what they represent: a completely different era. Since "Dracula" was produced in 1931, it was not subjected to the Production Code of 1934, which prohibited the use of profanity, drugs, sex, and making fun of religion.
"Dracula," as well as "The Public Enemy" and "The Front Page" are all from the pre-Production Code, which makes them even more rare. Plus, the images are all originals that were only released for a limited time before being taken down and re-issued.
