Vintage Movie Posters Found Their Way Into the Hands of Collectors

Movie posters were originally produced for the exclusive use by the theatres exhibiting the film the poster was created for, and the copies of the posters were required to be returned to the distributor after the film left the theatre.

Between 1940 and 1984, a nation-wide operation called the National Screen Service (NSS) in the United States printed and distributed most of the film posters for the studios. American film studios began taking over direct production and distribution of their posters from the National Screen Service in the 1980s, which make the process of making and distributing film posters became decentralised in that country.

At the time, the NSS regularly recycled posters that were returned, sending them back out to be used again at another theatre. Movie posters which were not returned were often thrown away by the theatre owner, but some film posters found their way into the hands of collectors - as a result of market demand.

Some of the more popular older movie posters have been reproduced either under license or illegally. Collectors began seeking out original advertising material, and the classic one sheet film poster became the pinnacle object to own for any given film. The record price for a poster was set on November 15, 2005 when US$690,000 was paid for a poster of Fritz Lang's 1927 film Metropolis from the Reel Poster Gallery in London.

Below are some vintage movie posters that are still soughted by collectors:

CITIZEN KANE - VINTAGE ITALIAN MOVIE POSTER (link)