Full Text:

KING KONG AT SKINNER W/5 CUTS

BOSTON, MASS. -- More than 300 people crowded into Skinner's Boston gallery

for its premier auction of major motion picture posters on November 21, a sale

which drew nearly 100 absentee and telephone bidders in addition to those

present.

Grossing more than $270,000, the sale comprised 343 lots, offering American

and European examples from the early part of this century to the present day.

Top honors went to a three sheet (41 by 81 inches) of "King Kong," one of only

four known to exist, which garnered $70,700, a record for a three-sheet style

B.

Also selling high was a large poster from Laughing Gas (1914) with Charlie

Chaplin. The only poster known to have survived from that film, and in

excellent condition, the piece brought $412,650. Proving the breadth and depth

of the sale, the prop poster for "Springtime for Hitler" from Mel Brooks' The

Producers drew significant interest, including eight telephone bidders, and

sold far above expectations at $9,775.

The auction opened with a large selection of Marilyn Monroe material, led by a

six sheet (81 by 81 inches) poster, and a rare 40 by 60 inch version from The

Seven Year Itch, that realized $3,450 and $3,220 respectively. Material

featuring other actors and actresses included a one sheet version of Breakfast

at Tiffany's with Audrey Hepburn selling for $2,415 and a 14 by 36 inch poster

from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Liz Taylor and Paul Newman, going for $2,875.

Orson Welles material included a profusely illustrated United States first run

souvenir program for Citizen Kane that reached $1,495 and an 11 by 14 inch

Sunset Boulevard that went for $1,610.

Competition was stiff for the only 40 by 60 poster ever discovered of King

Creole bringing the price to $2,645; bidders also vied for selected Westerns,

with The Santa Fe Trail selling high at $1,495, and Paradise Canyon garnering

$6,038. An extraordinary group of boxing material, providing examples from the

1930s to the 1970s, drew many bids and ultimately sold for $8,625.

Additional highlights included Film noir selections with The Postman Always

Rings Twice selling for $1,295 and Murder My Sweet for an impressive $1,380. A

small and rare British herald for Fritz Lang's 1926 Metropolis highlighted

science fiction movie posters, selling above estimate for $1,495, and in the

same category, a double crown for 2001: A Space Odyssey sold for $1,150, and a

banner for the same film for $690.

A three-sheet for Invasion of the Saucer Men brought $2,300, and a three-sheet

for the original Godzilla $1,265. Unusual and collectible, the selection of

lenticulars drew interest at the close of the sale, topped by one from The

Nightmare Before Christmas bringing $1,840.