DALLAS, TX.- Going to the movies has always been about a fleeting, shared experience. Audiences once had a narrow window — maybe a week or two — to catch a film before the reels moved on to the next town. The movie’s advertising posters that drew them in were rarely saved, quickly replaced by the next “Coming Soon.”

“These posters were viewed as ephemeral, disposable things,” says Zach Pogemiller, Heritage’s Associate Director of Movie Posters. “Once a movie left the theater, the poster was at the end of its lifespan.”

But in more recent years, movie posters have become collector favorites, and Heritage’s July 24–25 Movie Posters Signature® Auction offers an opportunity to rewind and explore valuable relics from horror, animation and even some of Gen X’s most beloved titles, as well as a look into movie promotion history.

“The posters we deal in are cultural artifacts, offering a window into how films were promoted and experienced across decades,” says Charles Epting, Heritage’s Associate Director of Posters. In this sale, that fact is perhaps most evident in the extraordinary selection of posters promoting Universal’s famed monsters.

“Whether you’re talking about Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man, or the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Universal monsters occupy a unique place in popular culture” says Epting. “They’re film franchises that have been around for nearly a century and have arguably never been more popular or recognizable.”

Thus, classic Universal Monster collectors should delight in what is the strongest selection of Universal horror posters Heritage has offered in years. Ranging from gem-like, saturated-color glass slides for Dracula or Frankenstein all the way up to a unique six sheet poster for 1940’s The Mummy’s Hand, this sale includes monsters of all sizes, styles and price points. Other important highlights include a title lobby card for the acclaimed 1935 sequel The Bride of Frankenstein and a one sheet for 1942’s The Ghost of Frankenstein, just the second example Heritage has offered in over 20 years.

“It's really exciting to have such a strong representation of these beloved movies,” says Epting. “Many of these rare posters have been held in private collections for decades, and it is a privilege to be able to bring them to auction for another generation of thrill-seekers.”

Pogemiller’s mention of the movie poster’s abbreviated lifespan references several historical occurrences, including the scrap paper drives during World War II. Movie posters and lobby cards created before or during the early 1940s were swept up in these drives, and yet, this auction features a pin-up worthy six sheet of the 1943 Howard Hughes-Jane Russell vehicle The Outlaw, several lobby cards for 1941’s The Wolf Man and even Disney’s Pluto feature The Legend of Coyote Rock.

While some posters defied their time, this one defined its time. It’s the cover illustration for this auction’s catalog, and for good reason. Charlie Chaplin was a household name known for short silent comedies lasting for just a couple of ten-minute reels, and despite the studio recommending serialized releases in shorter increments for comedies, “Chaplin was adamant that America was ready for feature-length comedy,” says Epting. The one sheet for The Kid prominently features the announcement “6 reels of Joy” above the image of Chaplin and child co-star Jackie Coogan.

“I think we take for granted that every subsequent comedy feature film in America has that hour of The Kid to thank,” says Epting. “Any era has its great comedy films, but this is the Big Bang of it all. We'd never watched somebody be funny for more than 20 minutes. And it holds up today.”

What about the first summer blockbuster? That thriller that defined a generation’s view of beachgoing and is now celebrating a milestone as big as its bite? Mark this 50th anniversary of Jaws with everything from its graphic soundtrack poster to a signed Laurent Durieux lithograph to a subway piece. Or perhaps choose a more rarefied format: Silkscreened in limited numbers, Jaws seven sheets weren’t distributed widely, even for such a wide-mouthed shark. Roger Kastel's artwork for Spielberg's early masterpiece stands out as one of the most iconic images in cinema and is even more impactful due to — like its namesake monster — its massive scale.

The auction is packed with such icons. Epting notes the one sheet for Errol Flynn’s The Adventures of Robin Hood as “canonical grade,” while also singing “heigh” praise for a large Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs poster. “This is a larger format that's incredibly rare,” he says, “and features Gustav Tenggren's artwork, which is some of the most iconic poster art of all time.” (Also on offer: a Snow White one sheet that features only illustrations of the Seven Dwarfs.)

While several of the aforementioned films won Academy Awards, the following won Best Actor at the very first ceremony: Epting calls 1927’s The Way of All Flesh starring Emil Jennings a “very sought-after lost film” and the discovery of this one sheet evokes a sort of Antiques Roadshow moment. “A gentleman in New England called me up and said, ‘I found a stack of posters in the basement of a house I just bought. Are these worth anything?’ And the first ten photos he sent weren’t.” But the last was a different story. “I told him, ‘You found one of a small handful of examples that still survive on planet earth.”