Roll up! Roll up! Poster for 1920s horror film London After Midnight sells for a record-breaking $478K
- Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced Monday that it's the only poster known to exist for the film
- Saturday's buyer is a longtime collector of horror movie posters who requested anonymity
- It is the most valuable U.S. movie poster ever sold at public auction
A poster for the 1927 film London After Midnight, starring Lon Chaney, has sold for $478,000, making it the most valuable lot of its kind ever sold at public auction.
Heritage Auctions in Dallas announced Monday that it's the only advert known to exist for the film in which Chaney, a star of early cinema, appeared as a vampire.
Saturday's buyer is a longtime collector of horror movie posters and they requested anonymity.
Record-breaking: This poster for the 1927 film London After Midnight, starring Lon Chaney, has sold for $478,000, making it the most valuable movie poster ever sold at public auction
They bid for the item in person from the sales floor, while there were 18 bidders via the internet, mail and phone.
The film for London After Midnight was lost years ago, with the last known copy destroyed in a fire that erupted at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio in California on May 13, 1967.
In 2002, Turner Classic Movies reconstructed the movie using more than 200 still photos and a continuity script.
Its release on DVD coincided with the film's 75th anniversary.
Flashback: Lon Chaney and Marceline Day in a scene from London After Midnight - The film was lost years ago, with the last known copy destroyed in a fire that erupted at the MGM studio in California on May 13, 1967
Heritage Auctions said the 27" X 41" color poster for the movie was the only copy to have surfaced after 87 years that it was aware of.
It apparently had 'most minimal wear' and had never been used with it neatly folded into eighths and then folded again.
A print for the 1932 hit The Mummy held the previous record for a U.S. poster's sale at public auction.
It sold for more than $453,000 in 1997 - more than four times the pre-sale estimate - to a New York collector.
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