This Belgian original poster is for the William Wyler film THE CHILDREN’S HOUR starring Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and James Garner. The original source material was a play by the great Lillian Hellman. It had been made into a film in the 1936 as THESE THREE but the homosexual subject matter had been too hot for the censors at that time, and so the sexual triangle had been heterosexual. But Wyler, who had directed the 1936 film, wanted to film the play as it had been intended, and the less restricted atmosphere of the early sixties made that possible. Still the film is somewhat restrained by today’s standards. Miriam Hopkins who had played one of the women in the 1936 film appeared again in 1962 in the role of another character. The poster is unfolded and is in very fine condition. There is a small tear at the top border which has been repaired with archival tissue. The name of the Belgian cinema, Acropole, is printed in the playdate area.

Original MGM 1969 Re-Release One Sheet Poster (27×41) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959) starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, and Haya Harareet. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was “Enormous.” 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. This original re-release one sheet poster is folded and in very good condition, with minor tears and foxing.

Original MGM Twenty Four Sheet Poster (exterior billboard) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959)—starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith and Haya Harareet. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was “Enormous.” 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. The 24 sheet measure approximately 9 x 20 feet and is printed on multiple panels which have been butted together to make this photograph.
24 sheets are among the rarest posters on any given title. With a few notable exceptions (GOLDFINGER and SPELLBOUND come to mind) 24 sheets have not survived in any significant quantity when they do exist and for many films there are no known examples. In most cases 24 sheet posters were destroyed, if they were utilized at all, because some other 24 sheet advertisement was pasted over them. Because the 24 sheets were bulky to store, they were routinely discarded by the National Screen branches after a film went out of first run. So these are iconic artifacts of a system of national exhibition that simply no longer exists. And there is no more iconic film than BEN HUR. Very fine condition, unused.

Original MGM Color Printed Lithographic Still (8×10) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959) starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith and Haya Harareet. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was “Enormous.” 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. This color scene still of Tribune Massala arresting the Hur family was found with a cache of roadshow posters from the movie. The still is dated 1959 and is in very fine condition. We have several stills from this release available on the site.

This is an original MGM Color Printed Lithographic Still (8×10) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959) starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith and Haya Harareet. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was “Enormous.” 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film was photographed in MGM’s Camera 65 70mm process. BEN-HUR won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. This color still portrait of Admiral and Consul Quintus Arrius was found with a cache of roadshow posters from the movie. The still is dated 1959 and is in very fine condition. We have several stills from the release available on the site.

This is an original MGM Color Printed Lithography Still (8×10) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959)—starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith and Haya Harareet. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was “Enormous.” 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. This color still of Heston competing in the famous chariot race was found with a cache of roadshow posters from the movie. The still is dated 1959 and is in very fine condition. We have several stills from this release available on the site.

Original MGM Color Printed Lithography Still (8×10) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959)—starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith and Haya Harareet. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was “Enormous.” 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. This color still of House of Hur with Cathy O’Donnell, Haya Harareet, Martha Scott, Sam Jaffe, and Charlton Heston was found with a cache of roadshow posters from the movie. The still is dated 1959 and is in very fine condition. We have several stills from this release available on the site.

Original MGM Color Printed Lithographic Still (8×10) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959) starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Hugh Griffith, and Haya Harareet. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was “Enormous.” 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. This color portrait still of Haya Harareet as Esther was found with a cache of roadshow posters from the movie. The still is dated 1959 and is in very fine condition. We have several stills from this release available on the site.

Original MGM Color Printed Lithographic Still (8×10) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959) starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, and Hugh Griffith. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was “Enormous.” 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. This color still of Christ,played in the film by actor Claude Heater, carrying the cross as The House of Hur looks on, was found with a cache of roadshow posters from the movie. The still is dated 1959 and is in very fine condition. We have several stills from this release available on the site.

Original MGM Color Printed Lithographic Still (8×10) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959)—starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, and Hugh Griffith. Considered by many critics to be the greatest achievement in cinematic history, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was “Enormous.” 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. This color still of Christ, played in the film by actor Claude Heater, preaching on the mountaintop was found with a cache of roadshow posters from the movie. The still is dated 1959 and is in very fine condition. We have several stills from this release available on the site.

Original MGM Color Printed Lithograph Still (8×10) for the William Wyler historical epic, BEN-HUR (1959) starring Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, and Hugh Griffith. The absolute apogee of the religious epic, Wyler not only had to direct literally “a cast of thousands,” but also was able to pull from his main actors the performances of their lives. Everything about this production was enormous – 50,000 people were used to make the film on 300 sets covering more than 340 acres. The famous chariot race scene was shot in an 18-acre arena that took 40,000 tons of sand to make the track. The stands were packed with 8,000 extras, and it took over three months to shoot the entire scene. MGM, which nearly went bankrupt making the picture, spent over $12.5 million, but grossed over $40 million on the project. The film won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor to Heston, Best Supporting Actor to Griffith, and Best Director to Wyler. Interestingly enough, Gore Vidal worked as a script doctor on this film. Vidal, it is alleged, conspired with Wyler to add a homosexual element to Boyd’s character in the script, creating a sexual tension in the relationship of the two boyhood friends. This still is one of the most famous from the film and is in very fine condition. This color printed still was found with a cache of roadshow material, all dated 1959.

Original Italian (79×55) for the William Wyler musical comedy, FUNNY GIRL (1968) starring Barbra Steisand, Omar Sharif, and Kay Medford. This is the musical biography of comedienne Fannie Brice, from her early days in the Jewish tenements of the Lower East Side of New York, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies. The original Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theater on March 26, 1964 and was nominated for the 1964 Tony Awards for Best Musical and Score. The film was 26-year-old Streisand’s feature film debut, directed by the great William Wyler, and it became the highest grossing film of 1968. It was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Musical Score, and Best Original Song. Streisand shared the Oscar for Best Actress with Katharine Hepburn, one of the few times in the Oscar’s history that nominees tied for the award. Hepburn won her Oscar for THE LION IN WINTER. This poster is printed on two panels. The poster is unbacked, both panels are folded but are in very fine condition. Prettier by far the any of the American posters. While the credits are in Italian, Columbia kept the English title for the Italian release.