An original movie poster for “Frankenstein” was found in a Hollywood bookstore in 1974.
One of just a handful known to exist, it’s believed a man took out a loan to pay more than $1,000 for the poster, which became the first movie poster to clear four figures at the time.
It changed hands again more than a decade ago, and now is being sold by Propstore in its upcoming auction, with an estimate of $125,000 to $250,000.
Movie posters have quietly become a major category in the collecting world, with some of the most expensive and rare pieces fetching eye-popping sums, such as the $525,800 paid for a “Dracula” poster (style A) from 1931 or the original “The Mummy” poster, one of only three known examples, which received a pre-sale estimate of $1 million and up from Sotheby’s in 2018 (though it went unsold).
Grey Smith, Director of Posters U.S. at Propstore, first fell into the world of movie posters by sheer coincidence. In the late ‘60s, he was attending a “nostalgia convention,” expecting to see old 16-millimeter films, but instead found people selling movie posters.
“I thought, huh, I can actually buy those,” Smith said. “So that's how I fell into the milieu of collecting.”
Smith has been collecting for more than 55 years, and, after two decades in the film industry, he was tapped by Heritage Auctions to build out its movie poster category. He spent around 20 years at Heritage, overseeing some of the biggest sales in the hobby’s history, including the aforementioned “Dracula” auction.
After parting ways with Heritage three years ago, Smith joined Propstore, which has made its name by selling some of the most significant and expensive movie props in the world.
Smith says the various factors surrounding the desirability of a movie poster, like visual appeal, scarcity and the popularity of the film itself, all intertwine to determine value in the market.
“I think the mystique of collecting is internal through all of the hobbies, in the fact we really don't necessarily understand or pinpoint what attracts us to something with posters,” Smith said. “Film is such a pervasive area of our life, and most of us grew up watching them, so we generally will see a film and think, ‘Gee, I wish I could get a poster for that,’ and I think that's really what draws us to it.”
Of course, as with any collectible category, there are nuances that come into play.
For the “Frankenstein” poster Propstore is selling, there are two styles of posters made. One was a “teaser” or “advance” poster, used for promotion, of which there is only one known copy. One of the less than 10 known copies of the other style, the same copy found in the bookstore and coming up at Propstore’s auction, is a Style A example.
Smith sent the poster out to a professional restoration artist, who remounted it and lightly trimmed the linen. An unrestored copy sold for $312,000 at Heritage in 2023.
“It's a beautiful poster,” Smith said. “It’s very historic in the fact it's the first poster to sell for that kind of money. So whoever buys this would be the third owner, not counting the shop that sold it.”
Another film which came out the same year, “Dracula,” will also be featured at Propstore’s poster auction, carrying an estimate of $150,000 to $300,000.
One of four styles produced for the film, this Style F copy is sometimes referred to as the comic book style due to the “caricature” look of the graphics. Like the “Frankenstein” poster, this example has its own fascinating backstory.
In 2011, dozens of vintage movie posters, thought to be lost forever, were uncovered at an auction in Berwick, Pa.. Prior to the auction, they were being used as insulation.
They sold for around $30,000.
Smith, then working for Heritage, soon received a call alerting him to the find and worked to restore and sell many of the posters.
“They were glued on top of each other,” Smith recalled. “And [the “Dracula” poster] was one of them.”
Though it required some restoration, Smith is thankful for the unique storage situation shielding it from the sun for 80 years — “it’s the brightest” of the copies he has ever handled.
Heritage last sold it in 2012 for $143,400. Another copy of the same style, from the collection of Nic Cage, sold in 2009 at Heritage for $310,700.
“Those sorts of finds are so rare, few and far between now,” Smith said of the Berwick discovery. “But my belief is there's still tons and tons of posters out there, vintage stuff. It just hasn't been unearthed.”
As for where these posters might be hiding, it’s anyone’s guess.
“The single-screen theaters weren't profitable,” Smith said of the now-shuttered cinemas that played many of the classic films and have become the subject of the hobby’s most coveted posters. “And a lot of those posters just peeled away into attics and basements and what have you.”
As they were never meant to be sold to the public, Smith believes movie posters are among the rarest of all collectible categories. While the “grail” posters remain the vintage pieces such as “Frankenstein” and “Dracula,” that doesn’t mean the hobby is going to die out as younger generations lose interest.
Smith has seen an influx of younger buyers in the market in the past few years, for horror films and more modern releases especially.
“There's an old rule in collecting: The 30-year rule. Thirty years after a person is young, and they see a movie as a kid, they may decide to collect something from it, because they're at an age then when they have some income,” Smith said.
“Thirty years ago was ‘Pulp Fiction,’ so if you're a young person and see that, you go, ‘Oh, God, I love that movie, I want a poster from that.’ A lot of those posters which older collectors like myself kind of look at and go, ‘Gosh, that's modern,’ that's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?”
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.