Heritage to Auction Rare "Casablanca" One-Sheet!

DALLAS, TEXAS: Heritage Galleries & Auctioneers (HG&A) will offer a rare one-sheet to the legendary Humphrey Bogart film, "Casblanca," in their upcoming Signature Auction, to be held November 11 & 12, 2005, in Dallas, Texas.

"Of all Bogart's great films, Casablanca is arguably the greatest," said Grey Smith, Director of Movie Poster Auctions for HG&A. "Originally conceived as a simple programmer, this film would eventually win the Oscar for Best Picture of 1942, as well as bring Bogart his first Best Actor nomination."

"This is, without a doubt, one of the finest American films ever made," Smith said, "a fact that the American Film Institute (AFI) recognized in 1998 when it named Casablanca it's #2 American movie, right after Citizen Kane, although it ranked #1 on the AFI list of Greatest American Love Stories. The AFI also named "As Time Goes By" #2 on its list of Greatest American Movie Songs, and Rick Blaine as the #4 all-time movie hero. In addition, Casablanca had more quotes than any other film in the AFI's 2005 poll of great movie lines, with six entries, including, "Here's looking at you, kid," which came in at Number Five (And no, "Play it again, Sam," was not on the list, as that oft-quoted line never appeared in the film. The actual line was, "You played it for her, you can play it for me... If she can stand it, I can! Play it!") And of course, Bogart himself grabbed the #1 position on the AFI's list of Greatest American Male Screen Legends. Clearly, this is a film that America has embraced as an important part of both movie and pop culture history."

"Bogart paper is always intensely sought by collectors," Smith said, "especially the classic films like Casablanca. We've noticed a great surge in demand for classic Bogart material over the last several auctions, so I expect that this particular piece will cause quite a lot of bidding frenzy when it hits the auction block in November."

The Casablanca One-Sheet carries a pre-auction estimate of $15,000 - $20,000.

Additional Casablanca items in the upcoming poster auction include:

Casablanca (Warner Brothers, 1942). Lobby Card (11" X 14"). Of all the lobby cards in all the world, collectors have to buy this one. It's easy to see why: the film is considered among the greatest of all-time; all three stars -- Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid -- are fully featured; and the art is beautiful, a colorful revival of which Ted Turner could only dream. Aside from a few pinholes and a rounding of the edges, the card appears very clean, in overall great condition.

Casablanca (Warner Brothers, 1942). Lobby Card (11" X 14"). Peter Lorre plays the criminal Ugarte, who appeals to Rick (Humphrey Bogart) for safe harbor from the law. Rick refuses, with a line -- "I stick my neck out for nobody" -- that sets up his selfless, final act of the film. Lorre rarely received such heroic redemption in his films, a typecasting based in his reptilian voice and amphibian eyes. His posture connoted a slinking sneakiness, and his presence oozed slime, as seen in this card of the classic scene. Pinholes and marginal tears have been repaired, and crease marks have been rendered nearly invisible. The orange border indicates slight fading, though the image itself remains bright. Fine.

Casablanca (Warner Brothers, 1942). Lobby Card (11" X 14"). Paul Henreid did not want the role of Victor Lazlo, but Selznick International Pictures loaned him to Warner Bros. against his will. He feared that taking a supporting role would doom his leading-man status. Although he later carved a lucrative career as a television director, in a sense, the legendary legacy of the film did overshadow his plans for a romantic lead's career. In this lobby card, he's forever frozen as Victor Laszlo, and a few abrasions in the image cannot disrupt his immortality. The card seems to have undergone minor restoration to repair pinhole-caused tears on the edges and to iron out folds. Fine+.

Casablanca (Warner Brothers, 1942). Lobby Card (11" X 14"). Sydney Greenstreet had a brief-but-bright film career to make James Dean envious. At age 62, he made his film debut with "The Maltese Falcon," and over the next eight years, he made 24 films, eight with Peter Lorre, including this, his most famous role. In this much-sought card, the only card to feature Greenstreet, Humphrey Bogart sits down to discuss the letters of transit with Greenstreet's opportunistic character. The letters of transit so central to so many characters' actions did not actually exist in Vichy-controlled France; the screenwriters invented the letters as a motivating plot device. Multiple pinholes and minor edge tears have been mended in restoration, giving this card an ultra-clean look. Very Fine.

Casablanca (Warner Brothers, 1942). Lobby Card (11" X 14"). Since the on-going war prevented filming at an airport after dark, the scene depicted in this lobby card had to be filmed on a soundstage, with a cardboard cutout airplane and forced perspective. To create the illusion of a full-sized plane, director Michael Curtiz employed little people to portray the crew that prepares the "plane" for take-off. This card features no vertically challenged actors -- although Claude Rains and Humphrey Bogart both stood several inches shorter than Ingrid Bergman. Restoration has patched tears in the corners and on the edges and smoothed a few small folds, damage by "the usual suspects" of poster pins and theater-use. Fine/Very Fine.

Casablanca (Warner Brothers, 1947 Post-War Release). Belgian (11" X 15"). This incredible post-war Belgian poster features one of the most popular designs of any poster made for "Casablanca." These posters have been reproduced many times over the years, however, what makes this poster original is that on the back is a portion of an Occupational Forces map. Paper was scarce after the war and the Belgian's were forced to use the backs of maps to print their movie posters on. This particular example show signs of having a play date snipe attached at one time. There is also a piece out of the upper border about one inch square. Very Good+.

Casablanca (Warner Brothers, 1947 Post-War Release). Polish ( ). Artist Eryk Lipinski conceived this unique design to depict the resistance of the Free French, a central concept in Casablanca. This was in all likelihood the first release of the picture in Poland after WWII. The poster is rolled, has minor edge tears to the upper right edge and has a printer's wrinkle in the right side of the red background. Near Mint.

For more information about Heritage's auctions, and a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HeritageGalleries.com.

Prospective consignors and sellers of vintage movie posters and related material should contact Grey Smith at 1-800-872-6467, ext. 367, or 214-252-4367, or email GreySm@HeritageGalleries.com.

To reserve your copy of any Heritage auction catalog, please contact Nicole Jewell at 1-800-872-6467, ext. 272, or visit HeritageGalleries.com to order by email.