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Collecting Movie Posters and Lobby Cards

Movie posters have become the most popular field for collectors of film memorabilia, and as Elizabeth Taylor starred in some of the most iconic films of all time, posters from her films are very desirable. Movie posters are so rare because, after they were used to promote a film, they were supposed to be sent back to the National Screen Service, who often passed them along to the next theatre showing the film. As such, these posters were difficult for collectors to obtain.

The most valuable Elizabeth Taylor posters are those from her career at MGM, as well as posters from Giant and Cleopatra. The larger the poster, the more rare and valuable it is. While the standard size poster in America during Elizabeth’s career was the one sheet, they could get as big as a twenty four sheet. Different sizes were used in Britain and Australia. Reproductions of film posters are becoming more and more popular, and provide a more economical alternative to purchasing the originals.

Lobby cards are less expensive, and smaller in size than posters, so they are often a good choice for collectors. Lobby cards are 11”x14” (landscape) and were used to advertise a film in the lobby of a cinema. Sets of lobby cards featured a title card (which resembles a theatrical poster), and the rest of the set was colour stills (earlier lobby cards were colourized crudely) containing a caption describing the scene.

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