Movie Art

Original MGM insert poster for the Mervyn LeRoy Roman/Christian epic, QUO VADIS (1951) starring Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, and Peter Ustinov. Originally cast in 1949 with Elizabeth Taylor and Gregory Peck, the lead actors were changed to Robert Taylor and Kerr when production delays led to Taylor being unavailable, being committed to George Stevens for A PLACE IN THE SUN. Elizabeth Taylor is said to have made a cameo appearance at the end of the movie. Originally John Huston was supposed to direct but walked out following arguments about the script. This film was Louis B. Mayer’s final big-budget production, and the film’s huge box office success is credited with saving MGM from bankruptcy. This stunning spectacle had 110 speaking parts, used 32,000 costumes, and employed over 30,000 extras. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards—including Best Picture, Best Musical Score for Miklos Rozsa, and Best Supporting Actor for both Ustinov and Genn. MGM tried to move the Christian / Roman epic from the flesh-pandering films of DeMille to something more serious. Nevertheless, the spectacle overwhelms the spiritual. This idea would not be accomplished until William Wyler directed BEN-HUR for MGM in 1959. QUO VADIS is now available on Blu-Ray DVD! This colorful epic poster is folded and was definitely theater-used. Some pin-holes exist.

Original Warner Brothers Insert Poster (14×36) signed by Elizabeth Taylor for the Mike Nichols classic drama, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966) starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, and Sandy Dennis. This cinematic masterpiece is based on a play by Edward Albee, which won both the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. It is the story of one horrendous night in the lives a very bitter, aging couple (Taylor and Burton), who with the help of limitless quantities of alcohol use the visit of a younger couple (Dennis and Segal) to fuel anguish and emotional torture towards each other. Indeed, the audience is as exhausted as the characters by the end of this ordeal. The film won five Academy Awards– including Best Actress for Taylor, Best Supporting Actress for Dennis, and Best Cinematography for Haskell Wexler. The film was also nominated for eight more awards—including Best Actor for Burton, Best Supporting Actor for Segal, Best Director for Nichols (in his directorial debut), Best Score for Alex North, and Best Picture. This original poster is signed in purple pen by Taylor; closeups of the signature are available upon request. This original insert poster is in very fine condition.

Original Swedish 27 x 39 inch poster for the Frank Borzage underrated anti-war drama, NO GREATER GLORY (1934) starring George Breakston and Jimmy Butler. The film is an adaptation of the biographical novel by Ferenc Molnar. Set in post World War I depression era Germany, it is the story of two rival gangs who “go to war” over a vacant lot that is the only place left for them to play. Told from the perspective of children, the film is an unusually sensitive evocation of the pain of youth and the senselessness of war. Ironically, Butler would himself be a casualty of war during World War II. This original stone lithograph one sheet poster is unbacked. There are some small tears in the border area and some very minor distresses, befitting its age – but the poster was never folded.

Original Paramount One Sheet Poster for the Lasse Hallstrom film WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE (1993) starring Johnny Depp, Juliette Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio. This fabulous movie was made in Taylor, Texas and directed by the wonderful Swedish Director Lasse Hallstrom. Gilbert Grape (Depp) lives with his morbidly obese mother, his sisters and his mentally-challenged young brother (DiCaprio) in a rundown old house in a rural Texas town. Gilbert is the glue that holds his family together – he is father, son and brother all rolled into one – as well as a young man with aspirations of his own. Juliette Lewis plays the girl who loves him. Depp is wonderful in the role, and a young actor by the name of Leonardo DiCaprio captured the attention of cinema lovers worldwide in this big-hearted film. This original one sheet is in excellent – very fine to near mint – condition and was never folded.

Original Universal Pictures One Sheet Poster (27×40) for the David Lynch surreal masterpiece, MULHOLLAND DR. (2001)—starring Naomi Watts and Laura Harring. Much has been written about the “real” meaning of this movie. After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive leaves a woman amnesic, she and a friend search for clues and answers in a twisting tale that makes it hard to distinguish between dream and reality. Besides very stylish cinematography, exceptional acting (especially Naomi Watts), a haunting score by Angelo Badalamenti—the expert direction of Lynch garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director for this movie. This original one sheet poster is rolled and in near mint condition. An authentic one sheet in a sea of reproductions!

Original Paramount Pictures Six Sheet Poster (81×81) for the Stuart Rosenberg political drama, WUSA (1970)—starring Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Anthony Perkins. Adapted from the Robert Stone novel, “Hall of Mirrors,” the story involves a cynical drifter (Newman) who gets a job as an announcer for a right-wing radio station in New Orleans. At first he is content to parrot the station’s reactionary editorial stance, but then he begins to be challenged by his lady friend (Woodward) and a troubled idealist (Perkins), who have become aware of WUSA’s secret and sinister political agenda. With excellent performances by everyone in the cast, this political melodrama was clearly related to the passions and disappointments of the 1968 general election. This original one sheet poster is folded and in very fine condition.

Original Warner Brothers One Sheet Poster (27×41) for the Edwin L. Marin western, FORT WORTH (1951) starring Randolph Scott, David Brian, Phyllis Thaxter, and Helena Carter. Warner Brothers kept making more “city” westerns after the success of DODGE CITY (1939). In its wake followed VIRGINIA CITY (1940), SAN ANTONIO (1945), and DALLAS (1950), and this 1951 tale, the last for Director Marin. Scott plays a former gunfighter who has given up his gun for a pen. He returns to Fort Worth to start a newspaper with the prime objective of ridding the dying town of a gang of outlaws. This original one sheet poster is folded and in very fine condition.

Original Walt Disney 1979 Re-Release One Sheet Poster (27×41) for the Robert Stevenson musical family adventure, BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS (1971) starring Angela Landsbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall, and Sam Jaffe. During the London air raids of World War II, three children are sent to live in the country with Miss Price (Landsbury), whom the children discover is an apprentice witch. Once they discover this secret, they are swept up into a magical adventure on a traveling bed along with Miss Price and Professor Brown, the headmaster of the College of Witchcraft. This original re-release one sheet poster is folded and in very good condition, with about a 3” tear in the top border area and signs of general theater use.