Movie Art

Collecting Basics, Part 3: Condition

This is Part Three in a series by Kirby McDaniel of MovieArt for Jon Warren’s “Movie Poster Guide”. It is reproduced here as a service to collectors with Jon’s permission. Click here for Part Four.

Condition and Returns

Questions of condition are basic to movie poster collecting. People describe condition differently. I’m not going to try to define labels like “very fine”, “good”, “near mint” etc. The fact is: What is very fine to one person may be only very good to another. A poster described casually as being in good condition may be very fine to you.  The best way to assure that the poster is in the condition you require is to see it. The second best way to deal with someone who has a reputation for being fair. A fair person knows that condition is a factor. Ask the person to describe a poster to you in detail. Is there any paper loss? Are there any tears or fold separations? Are there stains or watermarks? Are there any marks or writing or imprintations on the poster? Is the paper brittle? These are the issues to discuss to assure getting a poster in a condition that you can live with.  If you order a poster by mail-order,  you should be able to return it within a reasonable period if the condition doesn’t satisfy you. If the seller says he won’t tolerate a return, you have no one but yourself to blame if you don’t like the condition of a poster when you get it.  MovieArt has a reasonable and fair return policy. You should expect the same from anyone from whom you buy a poster.  Many concerns about condition can be alleviated by simply dealing with someone who understands your requirements and offers you full money back satisfaction.  MovieArt does not generally refund out of pocket postage charges.  Shipping has become expensive and we feel that offering a full refund of the poster price is fair.

Restorations

An entire article longer than this one could be written about poster restoration. Restoration is the attempt to upgrade and improve the condition of a poster through paper conservancy techniques. A good paper conservator is a skilled worker, an artisan. He attempts to extend the life of a poster by:

• washing and removing acids and pollutants from the paper.
• strengthening and improving the appearance of the paper through special mounting techniques.
• if needed, cosmetizing defects in a poster by overpainting areas which may be missing.

Restoration can improve the looks of most posters, but there are limits to what can be achieved. If a poster has a hole in it, it has a hole it. You can cosmetize that defect, but but only by paper replacement.  If a poster has border tears, separations, or holes where the paper has been bent back, so that, in effect, there is a semicircular tear, a restoration is possible. There are some great posters of which the only known copy or copies have restorations. Thus there is a legitimate time and place for restoration, but, restoration is costly – and thus restoring a poster should be cost-effective to be considered. A word of warning: not everyone who says he does paper conservation is necessarily good at it. You usually get what you pay for, and fees for restoration can run from the bargain-basement to very, very, expensive. Never entrust a valuable poster to anyone for restoration unless you have satisfied yourself that the restorer is experienced, has a good reputation and can give you a realistic estimate as to what the restoration will cost.  Undoing a bad restoration can triple the cost and is sometimes impossible. Get some knowledge yourself and get a good recommendation. This is where knowing a reliable dealer can help, because dealers are often valued clients of restorers.

Notes on scarcity

Considering all the films ever made, there are perhaps a few million movie posters extant.   Narrowing this field to specific titles or actors, the field shrinks considerably. In relation to the potential market for them, they are scarce.  There is a limited number of original authentic real movie posters for a particular film.  For some films this may be in the hundreds or even thousands.  For others only a few or maybe even only one copy exists.  What is it that makes them collectible?

Movie posters were never intended for distribution to the general public. They were intended to go the exhibitors where the general public would see them and be moved to see the films they advertised. Their desirability as collector’s items has ever been enhanced by this one simple fact: they were not printed and sold to the public at large. Unlike many other areas of paper collectibles which were originally intended for mass consumption, movie posters were not. A limited number were printed.

Exactly how many one sheets? How many three sheets, etc?  It is impossible to say, with absolute accuracy. This would have varied with the film and its anticipated distribution. In general, there were fewer of the larger posters printed than smaller ones. (This gives birth to the theory that a three sheet should be worth so many times the value of a one sheet, and a six sheet twice the value of a three sheet etc. This is a theory to which I do not personally subscribe- certainly not in every case. You may take this into account, but I think we must look more to the merits of a given poster in a given size to determine it’s desirability. Not merely it’s size and not it’s scarcity. Factors such as these will contribute to driving the desirability and value (and thus the price) of a poster, but not determine them.) Printing runs for every size poster were, indeed, limited. A specified number of posters in each size were ordered to be printed for the exchanges when a film was readied for it’s initial release. Rarely were posters reprinted unless a film was reissued.

Originals, reissues, reproductions, fakes

A poster is said to be an original poster for a film when it is known to have been printed and distributed concurrent with the first release of the film. A poster will often have a National Screen Service service number in the right (usually) bottom border area of the poster. Such a number might read, for example, 57-128. This configuration of numbers means that the poster was made for distribution in the year 1957 and that in that year said poster was for the 128th film that NSS had serviced for the studios. A poster which has a number configured like this may reasonably be construed to be an original poster from a film released in the year 1957, although rarely you will find films copyrighted in the year previous or following the year on the poster screen service number. Keep in mind that these numbers were not invented for the convenience of poster collectors but to assist in the day to day operations of what was a working business. So this numbering system may be regarded as generally correct, but not absolutely correct. Some posters may have no date at all printed on them. If you are concerned about the originality of a poster and there is no date, remember a pressbook for the film will probably show the poster, if you can find one. Or ask for the advice of a dealer or a trusted collector.

Roadshow or limited engagement films often had posters which were printed and distributed specially, not coming to the exhibitors from the normal National Screen Service channels, but directly from the studios or other subcontractors. These are posters for films which were popular in the heyday of reserved seat engagements from 1952 – 1967: This is Cinerama, Around the World in Eighty Days, Oklahoma!, Ben Hur, Spartacus, Cleopatra, My Fair Lady, and The Sound of Music, just to name a few. These roadshow posters are becoming increasingly collected and are considered the most original posters on these titles.

Films which were thought to have residual life in them at the boxoffice were sometimes re-released by the studios years after their first release. Certain films were re-released or reissued several times. Posters for films which were re-released were printed and they are referred to as reissue posters. These reissue posters are real movie posters in every sense, but they are simply made for the re-release, not original release of a film. They were usually marked with a “r” in the lower border area near the National Screen Service service number. For example, a reissue poster for West Side Story , re-released in 1968 will have R 68 on the poster. These posters may have used the same designs as the original posters or entirely new ones, but the r” designation indicates that the poster was intended for a film that was being re-released. That is why such posters will sometimes have copy to the effect that the film may be enjoyed again and again, or will, in some way clue the public that the film is not a new one. This was essentially a truth in advertising technique; after all, films were as ubiquitous as TV programs and the established producers did want to be seen as passing off old films as new ones to an unsuspecting public.

A reissue poster is not to be confused with a reproduction poster. A reproduction poster is merely a reproduction of a real poster, usually an original. Some movie posters have been reproduced by poster manufacturers for mass marketing.

A poster producer merely takes a photograph of an old poster and reproduces it on poster stock. Several reproductions of posters from the thirties were done in the big nostalgia crazes of the sixties and seventies. These reproduction posters are not now all that common, and they usually are of films like The Wizard of Oz or Casablanca , where there is a mass market appeal. Reproduction posters rarely adhere to the standard movie poster sizes and their offsize nature and the presence of the name of the poster printer, such as Portal Publications, etc., will be easy clues that the poster is a reproduction. Of the tens of thousands of films made in the twentieth century, only small few have ever had their posters reproduced for mass marketing. There have been and are a few concerns that have printed high grade photographic reproductions of lobby cards and posters, but these concerns advertise their products as such, and collectors will have little trouble in mistaking these posters for the real thing. Very occasionally printers may have been given access to the original plates for a poster but this is rare.

Forgeries and counterfeits are not unknown, but the incidents of this are, in my opinion, uncommon enough not to present a significant worry. Where there is money there can also be chicanery. Beware of what is too good to be true. If you have doubts about an item, you should seek the advice of a good dealer or a trusted collector. They should be able to tell you if a poster is original, reissue, a reproduction or a phony.

A very short history lesson

Original movie posters have for some years interested collectors. These collectors were often people, usually men (but now we are seeing a healthy interest from women, too), who were big movie fans. Many had worked in the exhibition business, as ad men, theater owners, projectionists, distributors. They had a nostalgia for this material and a knowledge of where these posters could be found: in the old National Screen Service branches and the independently run poster exchanges which existed around the country. They formed the nexus of poster collecting. Some acquired posters in bulk and rewarehoused them. Others simply approached the exchanges and asked if they might buy this or that. They begin to trade with each other. Soon they were getting together at shows and confabs, trading in both posters and actual films. The early conventions happened in the later sixties, but by the seventies, film and posters conventions or shows , were common in the big cities. Stores which specialized in selling movie posters, books and memorabilia began to spring up across the country. Collector’s magazines, like The Big Reel and Movie Collector’s World began to publish, and it was through publications like these that collectors began to know each other, correspond, and trade. The moment that the first movie poster was sold for a profit, the movie poster dealer was born. The mail order dealer became the chief outlet for much of the trading that was done for many years. Some of the dealers that were there in the beginning are still in business. One publication, The Movie Poster Price Database, lists almost one hundred such dealers in the U.S. alone. In the late 1980s, major auctions of film posters began to be common. When the major auctioneers like Christie’s and Sotheby’s have made time in their schedules for film poster auctions, it indicates a wider acceptance of these posters as legitimate collectibles. A record of auction prices realized is published by the several auction houses themselves and in such publications as this one and The Movie Poster Price Database. New publications and fanzines come onto the market every year.

This is Part Three in a series by Kirby McDaniel of MovieArt for Jon Warren’s “Movie Poster Guide”. It is reproduced here as a service to collectors with Jon’s permission. Click here for Part Four.

Collecting Basics, Part 2: More Sizes

This is Part Two in a series by Kirby McDaniel of MovieArt for Jon Warren’s “Movie Poster Guide”. It is reproduced here as a service to collectors with Jon’s permission. Click here for Part Three.

U.S. 30 X 40 and 40 X 60 inch posters

These posters are printed on card stock, generally, and are scarcer than the smaller sizes. These might be folded, but more often than not they have been stored flat or rolled. Because they are bulky, these may be difficult to find in better condition. Both sizes are oriented vertically. Occasionally more than one style is found on a given title. Most examples are offset lithography, but silkscreen examples exist as well. Like all larger posters, framing is more expensive because of the oversized glass or plexiglass that is required as well as more running-feet of of material for the frame etc. Homemade frames may be very cost-effective for larger posters.

U.S. Three-sheet (41 x 81 inches)

The three-sheet poster is printed on paper stock and is three times larger, in square inches, than a one sheet. Its dimensions are 41 inches wide by 81 inches high usually. Usually two separate panels are joined to make one poster. Its orientation is vertical and often shares a design with the insert card, which is proportional. More modern three sheets are almost always offset lithography, but stone lithographs exist for ealier titles. Three sheets are generally scarcer than smaller posters on the same title. Like all larger formats, fewer of them were printed originally and even fewer have survived. Because it is large, preparation of the poster for display is more expensive than for a smaller poster. But if you have the space to display one, or even if you are simply in love with larger images, three-sheets are great. They may show a larger image of the same art used on one or more of the smaller posters on a title, or they may offer an image that is different altogether from any other poster. The most successful three-sheets are ones which are designed to best utilize the vertical scheme. Occasionally a three sheet may have slightly smaller or slightly larger dimensions.

U.S. Six-sheet (81 x 81)

The six-sheet poster is six times larger, in square inches, than a one-sheet and twice as large as a three- sheet. Normally a six-sheet measures 81 inches wide by 81 inches high: it is the only movie poster that is a perfect square. There are six sheets that are slightly larger or slightly smaller than these dimensions but these are not the rule. By any definition this poster is BIG. Three and six-sheets were usually used in the big, downtown movie palaces, and, so they are especially evocative of the grandest era of movie exhibition. The six-sheet is usually printed on four separate panels which are joined to make one poster.

Normally the six-sheet is scarcer, than, for example, a three-sheet on the same title. This is logical because fewer sixes than threes -and fewer threes than ones – were printed initially. And because larger posters were often viewed as too large to frame, in the early years of collecting they were often discarded, further reducing their numbers. Six-sheets may be offset lithography or they may be stone lithographs; they are printed on normal paper stocks. They are even more expensive to prepare for display than a three sheet. When they work well, however, they can be very impressive indeed. Obviously, they dominate even a large room.

U.S. Twenty four-sheet

The twenty four-sheet was used as an exterior billboard. They were sometimes called poster panels by the studios. Twenty four-sheets can vary in size, but most are printed on sixteen or more different panels which are joined to make a poster which is 9 feet high by 20 feet wide. These are easily the scarcest of any poster size. They are therefore normally the rarest poster on any given title; in fact on most titles no twenty four-sheets at all are known to exist. While this can be true for any size poster on a particular title, it is especially true for larger sizes and special sizes. Twenty four-sheets were intended to be used only in the initial, first-run release of a film. A exterior billboard signage had to be rented from an advertising display company. Usually the budget for this type of exploitation existed only for a film’s first engagements. Once a film had moved our of first-run houses and into second-run neighborhood theaters, twenty four-sheets were seldom used. These giants were the only posters that were largely destroyed whenever they were in fact used. Most posters were used by the exhibitors and then returned to warehouses or poster exchanges from which they had been leased. A twenty four-sheet was purchased by the exhibitor, pasted up, displayed, and soon pasted over with another billboard as soon as the advertising need arose. When a film was finished with first-run distribution, the surplus copies were discarded from the exchange shelves. They were bulky and took up valuable space. So relatively few survived.

Who acquires these behemoth billboards? They are sometimes used in huge decorating jobs or are sold to the completist collector who is interested in every single poster for a particular film.

Pressbooks

Pressbooks are not posters. They are pressbooks for short, but they are also called Exhibitor’s Campaign Manuals. They were produced by the studios and distributed primarily to the exhibitors to help them market the film in their respective areas. The pressbook contained articles and other text, targeted for the local newspapers, with information and publicity about the film and its stars. This ad copy was often regurgitated by local arts writers or simply lifted intact and published for local publicity. The pressbook contained advertising slicks or mats, ideas for marketing schemes, product tie-ins, and, most importantly for contemporary poster collectors, images of the posters and other campaign items intended for the exhibitor exploitation. Pressbooks are themselves collected as artifacts of a movie’s production and marketing. They are most valued when they are completely intact and nothing has been excised from them. Pressbooks were made in varying sizes and formats. In later years, pressbooks gave way to press kits, which were folders including press releases and stills.

Special sizes

It is not unusual to find posters of special sizes and purposes. There are silk and paper banners. There are posters intended for subway posting. There are vertical door panels. There are free standing poster displays called lobby standees and also counter standees. No one knows all of what was made for each film because sometimes different items were made for distribution to different localities. Most of the posters we have discussed here were made for national distribution, but sometimes local exhibitors would make their own posters and display material. Occasionally these oddball kinds of items are seen.

Posters foreign and domestic

All of the sizes that have been discussed above are all for posters of U.S. origin. Film posters were, of course, manufactured and distributed in England, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Poland, Russia, Argentina, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, China, Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania, the former Czechoslovakia, India, Australia and other countries. There were films made in these respective countries and films imported into them from any number of other countries. If you consider this for a minute, you begin to get an idea of the permutations and huge numbers of posters for films. A Belgian poster for an Italian film. A French poster for an American film. An Australian poster for an American film. An American poster for a British film. And so on. Every country has posters in its own and various sizes. And there are original and re-release posters in foreign posters just as in US posters. Developing a knowledgeable working overview of other-country posters is one of the difficult challenges for poster collectors worldwide.

Certainly the French, Italian, and Belgian posters have been popular with poster collectors in the United States for years. But British, Mexican, Polish and Japanese film posters are very well known in the U.S. Several years ago there was a big influx of Argentinean posters. These, too, can be beautiful. British posters can be very good and often feature a different design than their American counterparts. Each country’s posters has a distinct style, although sometimes marketing campaigns for film can mandate uniformity of graphic design or logo across the world. This is more common in recent years with the advent of quick global marketing.

One thing worth noting about international posters is the interest that collectors have in the artists that designed the posters. While there is increasing interest in the domestic poster market about this as well, many US posters were designed by studio workers whose work has gone largely uncredited. Not so in Europe, where a long tradition of posterization since the time of Toulouse-Lautrec and others have created an awareness and a following for the artists that designed the posters. This endlessly fascinating interest in the artists’ styles is perhaps the most compelling aspect of International Movie Poster Collecting. European artists like Mascii, Roger Soubie, Lenica, Peron, Ballester, Peron, Grinsson, Martinati and many others are associated with great poster design. Some collectors will collect posters simply for the artist’s work; they may have no interest in the film whatsoever. This is now evident in the U.S. poster collecting too, with artists like Saul Bass, Drew Struszan, Richard Amsel and Howard Terpning cited as favorites among collectors worldwide.

This is Part Two in a series by Kirby McDaniel of MovieArt for Jon Warren’s “Movie Poster Guide”. It is reproduced here as a service to collectors with Jon’s permission. Click here for Part Three.

Collecting Basics Part 1: The Basics

This is Part One in a series by Kirby McDaniel of MovieArt for Jon Warren’s “Collecting Hollywood: The Movie Poster Price Guide” (1994).  It is reproduced here as a service to collectors with Jon’s permission. Click here for Part Two.

Producers have been advertising the films they make by every means conceivable since the first producer decided to splice his footage together, load it onto a projector, set up a screen and some chairs, and sell tickets. Film trailers, handbills, heralds, radio and TV spots, sneak previews and the revered publicity stunts of the great showmen of the past have all played a role in getting the attention of the public when a film needed selling. But for film fans all over the world, one area of film advertising remains specially connected to the heart of filmmaking: movie posters. Posters go right back to the beginning of movie exhibition a century ago. The evolution of advertising movies on posters was inevitable; in the previous century almost anything you could buy had been advertised on posters. Posters were colorful and they were ubiquitous. So it was natural that filmmakers would turn to posters as a means of arousing curiosity. The modern one-sheet posters of today, offset printed on translucent “lightbox” paper, fulfill exactly the same function as did the stone lithographs which announced exhibitions of cinema by Lumiere and Edison: advertisement. By the exploitation and juxtaposition of image, text, and color posters attract the public’s attention and persuade people to reach for their wallets at the boxoffice.

But aside from this primary function, film posters have another quality. They are at once mementos — memorabilia, if you will, of the experience of seeing a film. In this they are artifacts of film culture. The poster that you see at the the cineplex for a film like THE DARK NIGHT or UP could have the same appeal in fifty years that a poster for THE WIZARD OF OZ or SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS has for us today. The possibility that it might is the essence of the charm and allure of collecting. The ability to see something special in a poster is the hallmark of a talented collector. A collector may have great posters and yet have a somewhat featureless collection. Collections with verve are amassed by collectors with vision. That is true in collectibles generally and it is likewise true with film posters. Happily, seeing one’s own preferences and personality evolve in a collection is what makes collecting fun. Anyone interested in collecting can join in.  Knowing a little bit about original film posters helps, however.  That’s what this article is about.

Sizes

Movie posters were made in different sizes, in different countries, sometimes in multiple styles (different posters in the same size), so that they could be used in different situations. The most common size in the United States, the one-sheet poster, 27 inches wide by 41 inches high, is today triumphant over other sizes which are, largely, no longer manufactured. The one-sheet poster is usually the poster one sees displayed when attending a theater today. But in the past, as recently as the 1970s and 1980s, posters were made in several sizes. Classically, from the smallest to the largest they are:

Press Stills

Usually 8 inches by 10 inches, press stills are glossy black and white or sometimes color photographs produced on the set of a film by the film’s unit photographer. They are not, strictly speaking, posters; they are photos. But stills were once used at movie houses they in groups for display.  They are not, usually, actual frames from a film enlarged as a photograph although in some rare cases they may be. They are tableau or scenes from the film set up and photographed in such a way as to look as if they are lifted from the film. In the old days a film’s unit photographer used large format cameras that would create razor sharp stills for good reproduction in magazines and newspapers.

A film’s unit photographer would produce many black and white stills for a given production. Color also was used for stills. Sometimes producers would lithograph (print) color still sets in 8×10 format for use at the theater location for display. These are called color still sets, and they may sometimes be numbered. But the garden variety black and white still is the copper penny of movie posterdom. Normally in the bottom border are printed a film’s title, production and copyright information. There were millions maybe billions of these photos produced worldwide.

Sometimes stills were produced in 11 by 14 inch formats – oversized stills. (The most regal type of still are the glamorous stills produced by talented photographers like George Hurrell which are generally elegant photographs of the stars. These are quite valuable and are not to be confused normal production stills. They are often embossed with the photographer’s imprimatur.)

It actually can be hard to buy stills mail order because they are such a pain for the average dealer to sell. Generally you find them in shops whether your local collectibles store or in mail order memorabilia stores with huge inventories. Or you may see them at poster and movie conventions around the world.  You can be sure that millions of these stills have been discarded over the years. Nevertheless, many of these photos survive today.

Single Lobby Card Example

U.S. Lobby cards (11×14 inches)

These are 11 inch by 14 inch posters printed on card stock, designed to be displayed in the foyer or the lobby of the theater. Hence they are called lobby cards. They are generally printed as sets of eight different cards, but not always. Typically a set will consist of one title card and several scene cards. The scene cards are so called because a black and white still, a scene from the movie, is generally hand tinted and reproduced as a lithograph in color on the card. Each card is embellished with other art, text or other design elements and each scene card will have a different photo from the film. The title card features the title and credits of the film arranged in a more poster-like design, setting it apart from the scene cards.

As color photography became more common in the 1950s and afterward, color photos were used in the creation of scene cards.

Lobby card collecting is one of the most varied and interesting areas in the hobby because of the endless variety of cards and the qualities of the images used. Generally the more pertinent, memorable and central to the film the image on the scene card is, the more interesting and valuable the card is.

The term dead card refers to a card that has the more compelling aspects of the film – either stars or subjects- missing from the scene portrayed. For example, a scene card from an obscure Bela Lugosi film in which Lugosi, the chief element of interest, is not portrayed, or a card from a Marx Brothers film where there is not even one brother pictured could earn the moniker dead card.

A grouping of all the lobby cards from a film is called a lobby card set .Individual scene cards from many films have a number printed in or near the border area identifying that card.  Some films have no title card in the set. Sometimes there may be only four cards for a film or perhaps more than eight.   Most lobby card sets have been broken up over years of collecting, so finding a set which is integral is increasingly difficult. Lobby card set collectors are often challenged with assembling a complete set. Complete sets often came originally from the studios in paper bags with the name and studio information printed on the bag. The presence of the bag with the set is very unusual today. Very occasionally, two different lobby sets may exist for the same film.

There are also jumbo lobby cards, 14 inches by 17 inches. These can be oriented either vertically or horizontally. These poster range from the silent era through the forties and they are nowhere near as common as standard lobby cards.

U.S. Window cards (14×22 inches)

The window card is a poster which is 14 inches wide by 22 inches high. It is one of the easiest sizes to handle and economical to frame because an oversized piece of glass in not required in the framing. It is printed on a card stock. Window cards were designed chiefly for off-premises advertising. Thus they were often seen in the window of the barber shop, the butcher shop, the bakery – advertising a film that was playing at a local theater. A blank area of about five inches was incorporated at the top of the poster; in this space the exhibitor could print or hand-letter the theater locale and playdates of the picture. Of course, many window cards survive with these letterings. While some collectors prefer to find a copy of a window card with nothing printed on it, other people find that the theater and playdate notations can add an individual character to a poster. Some window cards have had this area trimmed from the poster, usually by overzealous collectors who find the top area extraneous. Trimming a poster devalues a poster and usually a bad idea; but finding a trimmed window card on a rare title is OK. Given the choice between a trimmed window card and a complete one, whether printed or not, the untrimmed card will have a wider collector’s appeal because it is complete.

The mini window card (8 inches wide by 14 inches high) is a smaller incarnation of the window card. These were not made for every film, and are relatively scarce. Likewise, the jumbo window card (22 wide by 28 inches high) is a larger version of the window card.  Both may feature completely different art from the standard window card.

Insert Example

U.S. Insert posters (14 x 36 inches)

Also called insert cards, they are also printed on card stock. This poster has a vertical format, 36 inches high by 14 inches wide. Because of its vertical format, when framed,  an insert will fit in an area where other sizes may not. Inserts often utilize painting in their design, but some of the most affecting styles are photographic. Inserts which have never been folded may be referred to as flat or rolled. While a rolled insert is nice, an insert that has been folded should not be turned down if the design is good and other areas of condition are satisfactory. A trip to the restorer can brighten any poster and folds can be minimized.

U.S. Half sheet posters (22 x 28)

Also printed on card stock, the half sheet is sometimes called a display. It is more often called a 22 by 28 referring to its dimensions – 22 inches high by 28 inches wide. These dimensions give the poster one of its greatest elements of appeal: a convenient size with a horizontal orientation that is easy on the eyes in a smaller room. Like the insert, both art and photographic designs are found.  These elements are sometimes mixed. Framing is usually less than a one-sheet because an oversized piece of glass is not required. Half sheets may be found folded, but also rolled or flat examples are seen.  It is not unusual to find two different styles for the same film in this format.

One-sheet posters (27 x 41)

The most popular poster size is arguably the one-sheet. One sheets are 41 inches high by 27 inches wide. They are printed on paper which can vary widely in quality from beautiful enameled stocks to the cheapest newspulp. One sheets can utilize art or photographic elements. Today one-sheets are printed by offset lithography, a process by which the original art which is photographed and a printing plate is made from the photo.  But in the first half of the last century, older posters may have been printed by lithographic techniques utilizing stone or zinc plates. These posters are referred to as stone lithographs.  This type of lithography is now largely confined to fine art editions, but was at one used commercially to produce all types of advertising posters.

Stone lithography for U.S. movie posters stopped altogether in the early 1950s, as photo offset printing, being cheaper and faster, dominated. In Europe the stone lithograph production persisted a bit longer. But stone lithograph one-sheets (as well as three and six and even twenty four- sheets) have become highly desired of by many collectors.

Once you’ve seen the difference between these two printing methods, you will understand why collectors enthuse over stone lithos. Many of the great one-sheets are stone lithographs. This, as much as anything else, has accounted for their popularity. But it also must be said this has been historically the poster which, through the decades, has been used by the exhibitors more than any other poster. So often, the one-sheet is the poster that a collector remembers from a given film. It is virtually the only size used today by all exhibitors in all parts of the U.S.

Great posters are not defined by their dimensions alone but rather by their overall design. There are wonderful designs in every size.

This is Part One in a series by Kirby McDaniel of MovieArt for Jon Warren’s “Movie Poster Guide”. It is reproduced here as a service to collectors with Jon’s permission. Click here for Part Two.