1939 "Union Pacific" Premiere Banner
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GUEST:
This was my dad's. Daddy worked for Union Pacific Railroad for 42 years. His father worked for Union Pacific, as did his grandfather, so it's kind of in our blood. Daddy went to Omaha to the premiere of the movie "Union Pacific," and when he was leaving the theater, he saw a man from the production company, and these were hanging on the lamp posts in downtown Omaha. And he said, "Can I have one of those?" And the man said, "Well, you could, but I have no way of getting it down." And Daddy said, "Not a problem." He shimmied up the lamp post and unhooked the banner and then took it home with him.
APPRAISER:
What year did your dad get this?
GUEST:
In 1939. He was born in 1918, so he was 21.
APPRAISER:
He shimmied and he pulled down a really fun piece. They obviously used the logo of the Union Pacific Railroad Company in all of the marketing that they did for this film, and the film was a huge tour de force that Cecil B. De Mille put out. The film actually came out in 1939, and for movie buffs, 1939's a really big year, because we have "Wizard of Oz," we have "Gone With the Wind," "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," and "Union Pacific." Now, "Union Pacific's" kind of been forgotten, I think, for a long time, because it's not "Gone With the Wind" or "Wizard of Oz." Everyone kind of forgets all the other movies that came out that year. But this was a really important film because it documented the 1862 Union Pacific Railroad expansion that Lincoln approved, and they were trying to do the first transcontinental railroad in the United States. And so this film documents that time period. When they premiered the film, they actually decided to do it in Omaha in conjunction with all of these anniversaries. It was the 70th anniversary of the golden spike ceremony, when they ceremonially put that golden spike to connect the Central and the Union Pacific railroads. Since this film came out, and it was maybe overshadowed at the time-- it was supposed to be at the Cannes Film Festival. The very first year they were going to do the Palme d'Or, in 1939, they canceled it because of the war. So in 2002, Cannes decided to reshow, to a professional jury of six jury members, seven of the films that would have been out that year, to redo the year that never happened. "Wizard of Oz" was on that list. "Union Pacific" won.
GUEST:
No!
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
So "Union Pacific" is technically the first winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival...
GUEST:
Oh, that's neat.
APPRAISER:
...even though it was awarded in 2002. No one's ever come up with one of these, so the fact that you have this from this premiere, that was this huge event that was premiering in three theaters in town, it's just really rare. And I think at auction, it's tough to put a price because another one's not come up, but given the interest in the film now, I think we would probably estimate in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And I wouldn't be surprised if it did a lot more than that, because you also have railroad people who might be interested in the film.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
It's a really-- it's a really great piece. What would your dad think?
GUEST:
Oh, I started crying when I saw it hanging up here, because he loved "ANTIQUES ROADSHOW," and this was his, and it just... yeah. I mean, I just got...
APPRAISER:
Well, it's really special.
GUEST:
Yeah, yeah, it was just-- to bring those worlds together, it's, like, "This is for you, Daddy."
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