1950 Wilder-inscribed "Sunset Boulevard" Poster
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GUEST:
It was from the estate of Donald Marshman, and his son gave it to me as a gift. Donald was one of the co-screenwriters, with Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett for the movie "Sunset Boulevard." And this is the Polish version of the poster.
APPRAISER:
It is the Polish version. We also have the artist's signature up there, which, a lot of movie posters, we actually don't know who the artist was that did them. This is a very famous Polish poster designer, Waldemar Swierzy. The real value in this, though, is the fact that this is "Sunset Boulevard." And what's interesting to me is mostly, just like in the book market, if you want a first edition, you want the original country of issue. So, generally, movie posters are worth more if they're the United States version if it's a U.S. movie. That is still true here, but unlike most foreign posters, this one actually does retain a great deal of value because the graphic is so important. And in addition, we have this personalized inscription from Billy Wilder. He signed it to "Mac," D.M. Marshman. I think his middle name was McGill. So he must have had his nickname as Mac.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Wilder brought him in in 1948, when they were very close on the script. But they needed an outside eye. And they won an Oscar for their work on this film. So you have a lot going on here. If it weren't signed by him, at auction, it's a $4,000 to $6,000 poster. Because the inscription's there…
GUEST:
Oh, right.
APPRAISER:
…I think you can up that to at least $5,000 to $7,000.
GUEST:
Awesome, wonderful, wonderful.
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