Treasures of the Silent Screen

HUNDREDS OF CINEMA’S MOST STUNNING SILENT MOVIE POSTERS HEAD TO AUCTION

By Steve Lansdale

More than 550 bold and colorful silent film posters will find new homes when they are sold in Heritage Auctions’ Treasures of the Silent Screen Movie Posters Signature® Auction July 15-16. Amassed over more than a decade by dedicated collector Dwight Manley, the posters hail from what is widely recognized as the premier assemblage of silent movie posters in the world.

Manley’s collection is so vast, in fact, that he hasn’t been able to display the posters in a manner deserving of their worth. “It’s a crime that much of this collection has been stored away, where others who love film history were unable to enjoy it,” he says. “These are undeniable works of art that should be enjoyed.”

The July auction is chock-full of gorgeous posters from Manley’s remarkable trove, among them what is believed to be one of just two copies of a one-sheet from 1919’s The Grim Game, a thriller starring Harry Houdini in his first feature film. The event also includes more than 50 posters featuring Charlie Chaplin, as well as one lot that isn’t a poster at all: an Academy Award statuette for 1928’s White Shadows in the South Seas, only the second Oscar ever awarded for Best Cinematography.

See below for more highlights from the momentous event.

STEVE LANSDALE is a staff writer at Intelligent Collector.