Darkness BeFore Dawn...Takes a Peek at Foreign Posters and Memorabilia...

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Released in Italy as DOMANDA DI GRAZIA -- Vintage original 54 ½ x 74" (139 x 188 cm.) quattro foglio poster, Italy. Michele Morgan, Raf Vallone, Marthe Mercadier, Jean Gaven, dir: Jean Delannoy; CEIAP. An absolutely stunning portrait of the great film actress Michele Morgan by Ballester.

A film noir style based on the short story SILENT AS A GRAVE by Cornell Woolrich, and perhaps the best filmed version of this story. This version was set in a Parisian circus and told the story of how a woman attempts to save her husband, who is sentenced to death. French star Morgan enjoyed a successful run in Hollywood films during the 1940s and still lives today, in France. On linen, FINE-VERY FINE...[THIS POSTER SOLD FOR $1,500.00]

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SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)

Vintage original 11 x 16” (28 x 41 cm.) poster, Belgium. Theresa Wright, Joseph Cotton, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers, Patricia Collinge, Hume Cronyn, dir: Alfred Hitchcock; Universal. Small town girl Charlie Newton (Therese Wright) is devastated and in great danger when she discovers that her beloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotton) has been murdering widows prior to his visit to his family. This was Hitchcock’s first in depth study of a psychopath, a subject which he would explore at greater depth in his later work. Hitchcock made the comment: “Our evil and our good are getting closer together… we’ve become so sophisticated, you can barely tell one from the other.” This poster, in bright colors, presents a scene in which Charlie realizes that the jewel her uncle has given her belonged to someone else, as investigator Jack Graham (Macdonald Carey) watches from below. The original story was nominated for an Academy Award. Hitchcock considered this his favorite film of his own work. This rare poster was printed on the back on an aerial map – there was a paper shortage in post-War Belgium; the map only barely shows through, and only in parts of the yellow background on left. Note that the distributor is Universal, not Universal-International, which was formed in 1946. There is an entirely different Belgian poster for this film which has been on the market; that lists Universal-International as distributor, and is clearly not printed on wartime map paper. As a result, we are certain that this is indeed the true original first Belgian release poster, and that it is a quite rare piece. From the Mark H. Wolff collection. Folded, VERY FINE-.$1,000.00

Vintage original 14 ½ x 22” (35 x 56 cm) poster, Belgium. Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov, Leo G. Carroll, Rhonda Fleming, Norman Lloyd, dir: Alfred Hitchcock. Selznick/United Artists. One of master Hitchcock’s most memorable, intense and suspenseful thrillers. This is one of the first times that Hitchcock explored the area of psychoanalysis, which was becoming popular in the mid-1940s – so much so that writer Ben Hecht consulted authorities in the field to write the script, and meddling producer David O. Selznick hired his own psychoanalyst to be on the set.

The story involved a female psychiatrist (Bergman) who, while attempting to recover his memory, protects the identity of an amnesia patient who has been accused of murder – and whom she is falling in love with. One of the most famous scenes in film history was the dream sequence designed by Salvador Dali. This sequence, directed mostly by art director William Cameron Menzies, was filmed at poverty row Monogram Studios. The music score by Miklos Rozsa was so effective to the overall feel of the film that it was presented with the Academy Award for Best Music Scoring. It was a Best Picture nominee as well.

One of the most beautiful and romantic portrait art depictions of stars Bergman and Peck is present on this poster from Belgium. One horizontal fold, minor ding in bottom margin, NEAR MINT-.$250.00