Heritage Unleashes Hidden 1931 ‘Frankenstein’ Movie Poster During April Event Full of Historic First-Time Offerings

‘Neon masterpiece’ Endless Summer joins more than 100 sci-fi and horror rarities from legendary Hollywood prop house DOWNLOAD DIGITAL PRESS KIT DALLAS, Texas (April 7, 2023) — Frankenstein was hiding in a Pennsylvania attic all along. This 1931 Style A movie poster designed by the legendary Universal Pictures art director Karoly Grosz, that is, not the man nor the monster. There are only seven known surviving examples of this Frankenstein, and until this year, it was tucked away in the perpetual night beneath the eaves of a home in The Keystone State. And now it comes out to roar once more at Heritage Auctions in April. Indeed, this Frankenstein one-sheet, folded and unrestored but in near-mint condition nearly a century later, is a centerpiece of the auction house's April 29-30 Movie Posters Signature® Auction. It is being offered alongside other coveted rarities that seldom see the light of day, including 116 horror and science-fiction offerings from the collection of Modern Props, once described by the Los Angeles Times as a "Hollywood institution." Heritage has only offered this Frankenstein poster twice in its history and only once in near-mint condition – 19 years ago, when the monster scared up a record-setting price of $189,750. Its 2004 price tag was befitting its status as one of the "great posters from the Golden Age of the silver screen," the subtitle of the landmark 1988 book Reel Art in which it's prominently featured. Indeed, this poster might very well have saved Frankenstein's big-screen career. Stephen Rebello and Richard Allen noted that Universal's studio heads "read the shrieks and walkouts of preview audiences as trouble" when they began screening director James Whale's adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel. "This evocative poster was devised to help salvage some of a $291,000 investment." In 2004 collectors worried they would never again see Grosz's masterwork in such extraordinary condition. That was indeed the case until now. "It's a major event in the field when previously unknown Holy Grails like the Frankenstein Style A come to light," says Zach Pogemiller, Associate Director of Movie Posters. "A discovery like this presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to private and institutional collectors alike and enriches our worldwide cinema culture. It's an honor and a privilege for Heritage to bring these items salvaged from obscurity to their proper place in the public spotlight." The original Frankenstein is joined here by its ghost — 1942's The Ghost of Frankenstein, whose three sheet is so rare Heritage has never before seen one, much less brought it to auction. The fourth installment in what by then had become Universal's Franken-franchise, with Lon Chaney Jr. replacing Boris Karloff in the monster suit and Bela Lugosi as his companion Ygor, the film wasn't well regarded upon its release. The New York Times's Bosley Crowther moaned that "the thought that he may yet return for further adventures with his body and Lugosi's sconce fills us with mortal terror." It's also regarded as the movie that turned Frankenstein and Universal's roster of monsters from A-listers to B-movie stars, given the slashed budgets and reuse of old footage. Its posters remain the most valuable keepsake from its release. Nine years ago, Heritage sold one of the few surviving one sheets for $26,290. The far superior (and far large) three sheet is even more valuable, given its status as the sole survivor from this transitional period in horror-movie history. Horror posters abound, too, along with historic sci-fi offerings found in the legendary collection of John Zabrucky, who in early 2020 shuttered his Modern Props after 42 years of providing props to everything from Blade Runner to Star Trek: The Next Generation to the Austin Powers films. Zabrucky told the Los Angeles Times three years ago he hoped an institution would vie for his vintage poster assemblage. Instead, Zabrucky has done what all passionate collectors do: release his children into the wild so others can appreciate and caretake the collection of which he was so profoundly enamored. His offerings in April's auction constitute just a fraction of a fraction of his collection, and in June, Heritage will hold a dedicated auction featuring more of Zabrucky's star attractions. From Modern Prop's estimable collection comes a poster Heritage is thrilled to offer for the first time: The Invisible Man, which, like another poster making its auction debut, The Adventures of Robin Hood, was created by one of the few printers in the 1930s that had short-lived deals with movie studios that allowed them to print alternative posters. They were allowed to make these alternate posters to compensate for the lack of "official" advertising materials – which were tossed out, lost or too worn out when the films were sent, often by bus, to different cities. The provocative The Invisible Man poster, one of Zabrucky's most prized pieces, was created by Leader Press, based in Oklahoma City from 1933 to 1937. The romantic Robin Hood three-sheet comes from The Other Company, which operated from 1937 until 1940. According to one online history, both companies "entered into an agreement with several major studios to produce posters with the stipulation that the studio name would not appear on the poster." But who needs "official" when beautiful will more than suffice? Nearly every one of the lots offered in this auction is exceptional, chief among them the rare surviving paper meant to advertise tomorrow's coming attractions before being tossed in with yesterday's trash. This Wizard of Oz one sheet shouldn't exist, nor this It Happened One Night poster or this Casablanca keepsake. Yet decades later, these posters survive and thrive among collectors who treat them with the same care and consideration given masterworks that hang in museums. Including the Smithsonian. Also a Heritage first, the original 1964 silkscreened poster for director-narrator Bruce Brown's immortal surf documentary The Endless Summer, which didn't garner wide distribution until 1996. The poster, created by then-art student and fellow surfer John Van Hamersveld, ranks among the most iconic of the 1960s; one of the few surviving originals resides in the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History, which calls it a "1960s neon masterpiece." Heritage has never before offered one of these extraordinarily rare posters, which makes it even more thrilling to begin with what's likely the very best of the sole survivors: This Endless Summer is signed by Van Hamersveld, who counts among his album covers Magical Mystery Tour and Exile on Main St., and comes from the collection of record producer and manager Denny Bruce. Catch the wave. Heritage Auctions is the largest fine art and collectibles auction house founded in the United States, and the world's largest collectibles auctioneer. Heritage maintains offices in New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Palm Beach, London, Paris, Geneva, Amsterdam and Hong Kong. Heritage also enjoys the highest Online traffic and dollar volume of any auction house on earth (source: SimilarWeb and Hiscox Report). The Internet's most popular auction-house website, HA.com, has more than 1,600,000 registered bidder-members and searchable free archives of 6,000,000 past auction records with prices realized, descriptions and enlargeable photos. Reproduction rights routinely granted to media for photo credit. For breaking stories, follow us: HA.com/Facebook and HA.com/Twitter . Link to this release or view prior press releases . Hi-Res images available: Robert Wilonsky, Communications Director 214-409-1887 or RobertW@HA.com