10 September 2021
|
The iconic French film distributor StudioCanal is now selling off what they are calling 'excess marketing materials'
The iconic French film distributor StudioCanal is now selling off what they are calling 'excess marketing materials'- in layman’s terms that’s original film posters, lobby cards, front of house stills and press books for hundreds of well-known, and not so well-known, films dating from the 1940s onwards.
Among the film posters currently on auction are:
The Elephant Man directed by David Lynch and starring John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft and John Gielgud. It was nominated for 8 Oscars in 1981, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.
Classic horror Don’t Look Now directed by Nicolas Roeg (Performance, Walkabout, The Man Who Fell to Earth) and starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, adapted from a short story by Daphne du Maurier.
One Million Years B.C. directed by Don Chaffey and starring Raquel Welch and John Richardson. The dinosaur attacks were all animated by Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts) using stop-motion animation techniques.
That'll Be the Day starring David Essex and Ringo Starr. Loosely based on John Lennon’s early years, the cast also includes musicians such as Billy Fury, Keith Moon and John Hawken. The success of That'll Be the Day led to a sequel, Stardust the poster of which is also up for auction.
Over the years StudioCanal has acquired numerous historic film companies including many of the early British titans, to create their impressively vast catalogue of over 6,000 titles. Companies now under the StudioCanal wing include EMI Films, Cannon Films, British Lion Films, Anglo-Amalgamated, Associated British Picture Corporation, Ealing Studios, Pathe News, London Films, and the distribution rights to many of the Hammer films.
A by-product of the acquisition of these vast film companies' assets, is all the unused and undistributed paraphernalia left over from the original releases. This has been locked away in dry storage for years in case it was needed, but now StudioCanal has decided to sell these fascinating items to film fans and collectors via Ebay. All items tend to be in good to mint condition as they have never been distributed to the public before.
The ‘excess marketing materials’ include such Hammer classics as Holiday on the Buses, Mutiny on the Buses and Love Thy Neighbour. Plus horror classics like The Theatre of Death, The Vengeance of Fu ManChu, The Beast Must Die and And Soon The Darkness. Plus real classics like Don't Look Now, French Dressing and One Million Years BC.
Auctions start at 8pm on Thursdays and run for 10 days finishing at 8pm on the Sunday at: www.ebay.co.uk/usr/thebritishmoviearchive