1914 Silent Era Movie Poster
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GUEST:
I purchased it at a local flea market. It's from a 1914 silent film. I just loved the graphics on it, I loved the flying A. I actually collect old signs and advertising, and it reminds me of Flying A Gasoline. I don't think it has anything to do with it, but I love the graphics on it.
APPRAISER:
And how much did you pay for it?
GUEST:
$500.
APPRAISER:
And do you have any other posters in your collection?
GUEST:
This is the only poster.
APPRAISER:
So you've never owned a poster before, you saw this at a flea market, it was $500, and something about it reminded you of gasoline, so you bought it.
GUEST:
Plus the beautiful women on it.
APPRAISER:
Fair enough.
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
And how do you know it's from 1914?
GUEST:
Did a little research on the internet. And I could find some information, but I couldn't find the exact poster.
APPRAISER:
Did you find out anything else about it?
GUEST:
Not much. It listed the actors and actresses.
APPRAISER:
Yes, it is a movie poster from 1914, and it's one of these movies that has been lost to time. So if we wanted to watch it now, we couldn't. As you said, there's a record of the director, there's a record of the actors, but that's it. Now, in the world of movie posters, what makes a poster valuable are the fame and the renown of the actors and the director. I'll point out on this poster, it doesn't even name who the director is. But the poster really is a great image, and it has a very interesting message: "A sociological drama in which human nature is given free play." It sounds a little bit like a temperance movie about anti-drinking, but in fact, it's not. And if we read at the bottom, "Her losses at bridge cause many anxious moments." So we can imagine that here's a woman who's losing a lot at cards and is getting upset, and what follows.
GUEST:
She looks like it.
APPRAISER:
And you were saying something about the coloring on it to me earlier?
GUEST:
It almost looks like it's got a little bit of hand-drawn... The diamonds and the hearts don't look...
APPRAISER:
You know, it's not hand-drawn, it's a lithograph, and where the ink is missing, that's because the register of the lithographic stone was slightly off. Now, what drew me to this poster was not so much that it was color coordinated with my outfit, although you might think that's the reason I chose it, but the fact that it is a playing card motif. And a lot of people collect playing cards, a lot of people collect images of gambling. This, as I mentioned, is a bridge poster. And when you looked it up, you weren't able to find any comparables. So we know that it's rare. So how do we price a very rare, lost movie poster for a not-so-famous movie? Any guesses what it might be worth?
GUEST:
I'm hoping around $1,000.
APPRAISER:
Well, I talked to some of my colleagues at the collectibles table and I said, "Maybe there's a big market for people who collect images of bridge." And in fact there's not. Bridge is sort of a game that's going out of vogue. Had it been a poker image, it would have an additional value. Even if it were a chess image, people collect chess imagery. It's our opinion that at auction, an estimate for this piece would be between $1,500 and $2,000.
GUEST:
Okay. Well, I did good, then.
APPRAISER:
If it were a poker image…
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
…The value would probably be double or triple.
GUEST:
Man. I still love it.
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