While commercialism is often front and center in the design of a movie poster, the designs can also be works of art. Since the beginning of film, posters (also known as "one sheets") have been a primary marketing tool used to publicize a film and fill the seats. Vintage posters (along with stills and lobby cards) have become hot collector's items over the years and have been known to fetch anywhere from $500 to $20,000 or more at auction.
At a Christie's auction in London last November, a rare one of three Casablanca posters created for the American ad campaign drew $109,000 while Attack of the 50 ft. Woman sold for $23,900 and the Bond films such as From Russia with Love went for around $22,600. As with any collection, buy what you love and the older and more vintage, the better.
Whether classic or contemporary, the following have made many top lists for both design and popularity as a collectible:
With its iconic image of the little black dress and cigarette holder, the poster for Breakfast at Tiffany's is just as stylish today as it was in l961.
All About Eve (1950) depicts the film's wit and sardonic humor with this design...
Faye Dunaway's iconic image for the Chinatown (1974) poster became a classic...
as did the haunting face of Mia Farrow in Roman Polanski's 1968 horror Rosemary's Baby.
as did the haunting face of Mia Farrow in Roman Polanski's 1968 horror Rosemary's Baby.
The design for The Graduate (1967) is one of the most instantly recognizable images in film....
while the simplicity and color of the design for Sullivan's Travels (1941) makes this a sought after poster.
Through film posters we can see traces of the styles of the times...
Orson Welles' The Lady From Shanghai was classic forties...
as was A Hard Day's Night in the sixties, Mahogany in the seventies and Moonstruck in the late eighties...
as was A Hard Day's Night in the sixties, Mahogany in the seventies and Moonstruck in the late eighties...
Experts recommend learning everything there is to know about the market and selecting a niche (for example, a genre such as film noir, etc.) and concentrating on that. Foreign posters tend to demand more (a German poster of Breakfast at Tiffany's went for $17,500). While vintage is certainly a hot area, consider how popular a recent release will be in the years to come. Posters can be found at auctions, ebay, and websites such as filmposters.com and emovieposter.com auctions.
Two of the best books on the subject is the Art of the Modern Movie Poster (Judith Salavetz, Chronicle, 2008) and A Century of Movie Posters: From Silent to Art House (Emily King, Barron's, 2003) Both are available on Amazon.
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