Rare Casablanca Six-Sheet Poster Headlines Heritage’s Movie Poster Auction
One of the rarest original posters for Casablanca will headline Heritage Auctions’ August 28-29 Movie Posters Signature Auction, with the large-format six-sheet joining a lineup that also includes rare material from Frankenstein, Dracula, Anna Christie and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Heritage says only a handful of original-release Casablanca six-sheets are known to survive, making the newly offered example one of the most significant pieces in the sale.
The linen-backed Casablanca poster is only the second example of its kind Heritage has ever offered. A previous example sold through Heritage in 2020 for $384,000, setting what the auction house described as the American auction record for a non-horror movie poster. Heritage says the example coming to auction later this month is in the best condition of any Casablanca six-sheet it has handled, with vibrant, unenhanced color still remaining more than 80 years after the film’s original release.
The rarity of six-sheets is partly a result of how movie advertising was originally used. Heritage Associate Movie Posters Director Zach Pogemiller explained that the oversized posters were often pasted onto walls and later scraped away or covered by advertisements for the next movie. Theaters also frequently cut them apart to create their own displays, meaning relatively few intact examples survived for collectors. Heritage says the Casablanca poster being offered also has a notable collecting history of its own, having previously set a record price in the early 1980s.
Another major piece in the auction is a three-sheet for Greta Garbo’s 1930 film Anna Christie, her first full talking picture. The Art Deco-style poster features a large portrait of Garbo, but Heritage notes an unusual detail: despite the film being promoted heavily at the time as Garbo’s talking debut, the poster does not mention her speaking role and includes the word “Silent” along its bottom border. One theory cited by Heritage is that the poster may have been produced for a planned silent version of the movie that was never released.
Universal horror collectors will have several notable opportunities in the sale, including what Heritage says is the first original-release Frankenstein pressbook to be offered by a major auction house in the internet era. The 1931 pressbook was created to help theater owners promote the Boris Karloff classic and contains advertisements, promotional ideas and other material showing how Universal encouraged exhibitors to market the movie. Some of those suggestions included warnings for nervous moviegoers, having smelling salts available for overly excited patrons and even cutting up posters to create custom theater displays.
The auction will also feature an unrestored Frankenstein montage lobby card that Heritage says is the first such example to appear at auction in nearly a decade. The card has been graded CGC 9.2 Near Mint and is the highest-graded example on the CGC registry. Another Universal horror highlight is a Dracula lobby card showing Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula, which Heritage describes as another registry-topping example.
Collectors of later horror films will find a French Grande poster for Hammer Films’ 1958 Horror of Dracula, featuring artwork by Guy-Gérard Noël. The poster depicts Christopher Lee’s Dracula alongside Melissa Stribling with Castle Dracula in the background. Heritage highlighted the piece as interest in the film is set to receive another boost from a 4K restoration that includes newly restored censored scenes.
Another enormous piece in the auction comes from Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Heritage is offering a 24-sheet billboard produced for the movie’s Italian premiere, measuring approximately 105 inches by 223 inches. The massive display reflects the scale once used to advertise major theatrical releases and represents one of the more visually imposing collectibles in the August auction.
Heritage’s Movie Posters Signature Auction will take place August 28 and 29, with the Casablanca six-sheet positioned as the centerpiece.