Hollywood poster collection fetches over £60k
Ewbank'sThe family of a cinema projectionist who saved Hollywood posters for 40 years has auctioned off his collection for more than £60,000.
Robin Langford kept around 100 artworks from the films he showed, featuring stars including Clint Eastwood, Audrey Hepburn and Raquel Welch.
The collection was expected to fetch about £35,000 when it went under the hammer in Surrey on Thursday - however, it bagged a total of £62,700.
Lots include 60s and 70s British Quad posters – the large, 30x40in (76x102cm) display sheets put up outside cinemas to attract audiences - such as for the first James Bond film, Dr No, in 1962.
The Bond poster sold for £16,900 - beating its estimated price of between £5,000 and £8,000.
A Dr No poster sold for £15,000 at an auction in Buckinghamshire in 2019.
Posters for other 60s Bond films From Russia With Love and Thunderball were also auctioned at Ewbank's auction house in Woking.
'Extraordinary by any measure'
Langford, born in 1939, helped out at his local cinema, The Ritz in Bristol, on evenings and weekends after leaving school.
He later joined the Army, where he helped show films for his fellow troops while based in Malta. On his return he went on to work in multiple cinemas in his home city.
His daughter Pat Walker said he would collect new posters weekly and "very carefully fold them up and store them" when they were taken down.
"He would have been so proud that his much-loved collection is now going to be enjoyed by others with the same passion as him," she said.
Ewbank'sAuctioneer Andrew Ewban called the collection "extraordinary by any measure".
"It demonstrates foresight, dedication and the simple passion of a man who worked as a projectionist all over the West Country.
"As the exceptional results show, many other movie buffs feel exactly the same way as he did," he added.
Other iconic posters in the collection include for the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, Cool Hand Luke starring Paul Newman, The Beatles' film Help! and the Oscar-winning Lawrence of Arabia.
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