Movies and shakers A collection of classic film posters looks set to fetch a pretty penny at auction
few items here and there but had no real direction with what to collect.”
In 1995 Tony Nourmand was hired as Christie’s film poster consultant and later became the co-owner of the Reel Poster Gallery alongside Bruce Marchant.
“I became good friends with Tony and apart from undertaking all the photography for their books and catalogues, I travelled all over the world and purchased movie posters with him,” Andy says.
“One of the highlights of my photographic career was meeting and working with the legendary Ray Harryhausen, the father of stopmotion animation – he would call it ‘Dynamation’.
“I still work for the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation to this day.”
Now, however, 35 years on, Andy has decided to sell his outstanding collection of more than 400 posters.
The sale will be held at Ewbank’s Auctions in Surrey on Friday, December 6.
“After 27 years collecting and, in the words of Dennis Wheatley, my favourite author, who started his three memoirs with these
A striking Peter Cushing double bill of ‘The Evil of Frankenstein’ and ‘Nightmare’, from 1964, sharing the honours on a quad. Estimate £1,000-1,500
LEFT: A 1954 quad for the Hitchcock thriller Dial M For Murder, starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly, which is estimated at £5,000-8,000
RIGHT: The Hound of the Baskervilles, a quad for the 1959 outing of the Conan Doyle classic, starring
Peter Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville. Estimate £3,000-5,000 words, ‘The time has come’,” Andy says.
Dedicating the sale to Maria, “without whom this would not have been possible”, Andy says his collecting tastes have been informed by favourite films, directors and designs.
Most of the star lots reflect his interest in crime, science fiction and horror movies, ranging from classics such as Federico Fellini’s 1963 masterpiece ‘8½’ to the Star Wars franchise and Dracula and Zombie flicks, together with a particular nod toward the best of Hammer Horror, produced by Hammer Film Productions.
As a specialist, Andy took particularly good care of his posters, acquiring only those in the best available condition and ensuring that they were properly backed, conserved and preserved in optimum conditions.
RIGHT: A US one-sheet for Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic 2001 A Space Odyssey, showing astronaut Dave Bowman walking around the space station.
Estimate £3,000-5,000
“And if I found another copy of the same poster in better condition I would upgrade, buying it and selling off the other one,” he says.
Ewbank’s entertainment memorabilia specialist, Alastair McCrea, says Andy’s passion shines through in the collection.
“He was in the rare position of
Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Strangers on a Train, a 1951 quad, estimate £1,500-2,500 being in the right place at the right time when Christie’s started dedicated film poster sales and he developed a highly attuned eye for the best available pieces. This is an exceptional offering.”
The most valuable poster in the sale is expected to be a quad (30 x 40 inches, 762×1,016 mm landscape format) promoting the 1962 first James Bond movie Dr No, which is estimated at £9,000-12,000 while for the 1964 Bond film Goldfinger, another quad is expected to fetch £3,000-5,000. Both starred Sean Connery.
Other highlights are also pictured here.
■ Viewing for the sale at Ewbank’s in Send, near Woking is on Wednesday and Thursday, December 4-5 and all the posters can be seen on the auctioneer’s website, which also offers online bidding as the sale proceeds. For further information, telephone 01483 223101.