You’ll need to pay up to $100,000 for a King Kong movie poster believed to be just one of three surviving examples of its type.
The sellers, Propstore, describe the sale next Thursday, September 12 as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire” the 1933 poster.
King Kong was made for RKO Radio Pictures and became an enormous hit. Kong, the giant ape, was an unlikely romantic hero, and the then-cutting edge stop-motion animation that brought him to life was a big success with audiences.
Several sequences – notably those featuring prototype “scream queen” Fay Wray – became iconic. Scenes in which she is carried in Kong’s enormous hand, and fighter planes buzz the ape as he climbs the Empire State Building are instantly recognisable and have been much parodied.
King Kong fights a dinosaur on Skull Island. The special effects in the film wowed 1930s film-goers.
The film has been remade twice and there are a total of 13 titles starring King Kong.
This is a one-sheet, 27″ by 41″ poster in “style A” for the film (movies typically issue several poster types), printed with the stone litho process. It is described as in “very fine +” condition.
S. Barret McCormick and Bob Sisk drew and designed the poster.
The wear on the poster amounts to folds, pin holes, and damage around the edges with some minor retouching on two letters in the text.
Why should this poster be worth so much?
Its rarity is one factor. As is the film. Classic 1930s Hollywood horrors are perhaps the most collectible of all film posters. A poster for the same film in Swedish can be found listed online for £75,000.
Prop Store say this poster was last sold over 20 years ago.
This poster is the most valuable item listed in the September 12 sale, which has 30 items with low estimates over $10,000.
A poster for The Wolfman has a $60,000 to $120,000 estimate. A The Public Enemy ad carries $50,000 to $100,000. A Charlie Chaplin poster for City Lights should realise $40,000 to $80,000.
The movie poster market remains buoyant and this sale is a big opportunity for buyers to get some very attractive ads.
