POSTER BOYS AND GIRLS

Actually, this is NOT a giveaway prize. It is not even trivia. It's a very valuable movie poster. Or an image of a very valuable movie poster

But in the days ahead posters will be included in the competitions. For now the photo is merely to introduce the idea that movie posters are an interesting adjunct of the cinema going experience and worthwhile collecting.

If you would like to know anything about them, you could do far worse than to drop into the Movie Poster Art Gallery near Goodge St, in central London.

MPAG head man Tim Maddison offers this preliminary advice on the subject: "The best posters are an amalgam of great art and exciting subject matter, which usually means either a "classic" or "cult" film. Great artwork for a lesser known film can be valuable but is always much more of a gamble. In all cases, buyers have to watch out for fakes, as in dealing with any art work."

"Of course, rarity plays its part. If demand is high, then the posters are likely to be in short supply. British posters pre-1960 are generally scarce and pre-war are ultra rare. Hence the beauty of this V1 example.

One of the most valuable, if not 'the' most valuable movie poster is the one for the original War Of The Worlds (assuming there is not a stash of these posters hidden on some far away planet).

On a more contemporary level, Withnail and I is very collectible. I wonder why that is?"

The Movie Poster Art Gallery is at 1 Colville Place, London W1T 2BG (Nearest tube Goodge St) Tel: 0207 637 7441 www.mpag.co.uk

Filed June 29, 2007