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ISO: Old movie posters
posted by
allthatjazz812
on
February 23, 2010 at 7:30 am
Hello,
I’m a film buff and on the hunt for old movie posters. Are there any old movie theaters that have old posters in a backroom somewhere?
Thanks,
Jessica.
Please
Comments (10)
When I was associated with San Francisco’s CASTRO THEATRE, which is the last remaining REAL movie palace in that city -the others don’t have a clue; www.castrotheatre.com they often sold-off unwanted posters.
Movie posters are sought-after collector’s items. I suggest you search Ebay.
Vintage movie posters can be quite expensive, too, btw.
i need to know about my old poster please email back
I have thousands from when I ran theatres in the 60’s to 80’s. Most are NSS originals. Also have stills, press kits, etc.
Just waiting for that day to sell the lot as I get closer to retirement.
Your best bet would be to hop in a car get off the interstate and you can find old theatres even today.Instead of taking the interstate to Jacksonville Fla. I got on U.S.1 from Augusta,Ga, and i spotted several old theatres.one I could look thru a large glass window and see the managers office still with paper work on the desk.I would be willing to bet there are quite a few one-sheets and it was awful tempting to slip in and old exit door,Something I have done more than once just to explore,but this time i didn’t.the theatre was the BEACON and it was in a South Georgia small town,I am sure there are hundreds still out there today.
As Mike said there are a lot out there just getting to them is the hard part.I have many I kept from my theatre days.
Tlsloews,Nick in Tampa plays the Big Lottery and if he ever wins 50 million dollars he has already invited me to quit my job and go on the road searching for old Theatres.I am sure I can talk him into inviting you,but you are right you gotta get on the Backroads.I don’t think I will ever sale my one-sheets,stills and pressbooks.
Hi, I’m waiting to win that same lottery and go on that same road trip. I’ve been collecting since I started working in old movie palaces way back in 1972 when there were large stashes of posters sitting around in theater basements. Even then I was a few years behind a guy who had gone to almost every theater in Wisconsin and got everything. This guy was so lucky he found a theater in Green Bay that was showing a re-release of Gone With The Wind and he was displaying the original 1939 one sheet, half sheet, insert, and lobby card sets. What I did over the years was research where the theaters were located in Milwaukee, (there was over 85 locations of theaters that operated between 1910 and 1980) and I went to every building left standing. Some I found nothing, sometimes I found a few, and a couple of times I found several hundred. About four years ago a plumber in Green Bay was hired to check the condition of the pipes at an old movie theater that somebody was renovating and he went into a room in the sub-basement and found over 2,000 movie posters. The best thing to do is check on the internet for movie collectible conventions around the country from small shows like the Milwaukee Movie Collectibles Show with about 20 dealers, Ray Courts' Hollywood Collectors Show in Chicago with about 50 dealers, Columbus Cine Event in Columbus, Ohio coming up Memorial Day weekend, to Western Film Fairs in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and Texas. When you attend one of these shows find the dealers who are 50 and older because we are generally the guys who worked in the old movie palaces and saved the posters before they got buried by the wrecking ball. There is still a chance, and I look at it like I’m searching for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Great story moviez.