'A treasure trove of movie memories' found stuffed in crawlspace, roof, floor

[HodgePodge]

'An Alberta man hopes to reel in some cash as he auctions about 40 film posters that date back to the early days of sound in movies.'

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/836461--a-treasure-trove-of-movie-memories

 

[Fletch]

You really had to hide these things back then. They were studio property that the theater was obligated to destroy after the film's run - so holding onto them amounted to theft.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You really had to hide these things back then. They were studio property that the theater was obligated to destroy after the film's run - so holding onto them amounted to theft.

Or if you were in a small town, you were required to pass them along to the next theatre in your circuit. By the end of a film's run, when it hit the tankiest of tank towns, the posters were usually a shabby ragged mess, with rips, tears, smudges, and goatees drawn on Greta Garbo's face. Many of those that survive are in terrible condition because of this -- which makes this find all the more remarkable.

Somewhere in 1930, there's a theatre manager in Saskatchewan wondering where the h. her posters are.

 

[Atomic Age]

'An Alberta man hopes to reel in some cash as he auctions about 40 film posters that date back to the early days of sound in movies.'

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/article/836461--a-treasure-trove-of-movie-memories

From about 1940, through about 1988 they actually weren't the property of the studios, but rather of National Screen Service. The NSS was setup in 1940 to handle all paper publicity materials for the major Hollywood studios. Posters of about 6 different sizes, lobby cards, cardboard stand ups and anything else that would go into a lobby to advertise a movie were all handled and copyrighted by NSS. NSS also controlled distribution of these materials and did indeed ask that some be destroyed or shipped on to the next theater along with the print of the film its self.

With the rise of the multiplex, a variety of different kinds of posters became less and less relevant, to the point where now about all they make is the "one sheet". In 1988 NSS closed its doors and was bought out by Technicolor. My understanding is that Technicolor didn't renew the copyrights on any of the poster material, so anything from about 1940 to around 1988 is in the public domain.

Doug