Oxford-area man donates memorabilia to Solitaire Harbor Museum
Denis Clark's barn is colossal to the hayloft cache movie posters, film reels and a car hide license plates that study FILM Nut. During the former 30 dotage, the Oxford-area occupier has more a collection of memorabilia once displayed at movie theaters, dating back to when King Kong appeared on the silver hide.
" I've been experience authentic consequently deep I've be remodelled one of the mature guys agency the biz, " oral Clark, whose advertisement retail company is called Movie Blather.
His online bag, once located influence a Cincinnati storefront, supplies film enthusiasts being beefy being museums adumbrate vintage movie posters and other items. Clark oral he is giving movie premiere passes from the Creation War II film " From Here to Eternity " to the Jewel Harbor Museum influence Hawaii.
Ascendancy an age when sandpapered photographs of current stars are plastered to movie posters, Clark's register besides contains a bit of regret. Bounteous of his posters are from the days when artists agnate Bob Summit illustrated images for movies allied "Superman" and "Apocalypse Away".
The barn again houses a few rarities agnate a "Star Wars" 10th anniversary placard with the words " sample artist proof not for sale " penciled on it. Clark, who helped fund the poster's creation, was one of a select few to receive a test run of the product.
" The artist would make up a print run that might be four or five posters, " Clark said. " Three would go to the studio, one might go to ( George ) Lucas... "
The other went to Clark, and it is now neatly rolled on a shelf with thousands of other posters arranged alphabetically.
A fan of the theater and the cinema, Clark began to collect film reels 30 years ago when movie houses and studios threw them in landfills instead of the archives. Over time, he began to trade film for posters, which eventually launched his current business.
On the top floor of his barn, boxes are overflowing with lobby
cards, an extinct promotional tool once used in U.S. theaters. Usually in sets of eight cardboard sheets, lobby cards captured a scene from a film in an attempt to attract people to it. One lobby card in Clark's possession features Charlie Chaplin.
Inside Clark's house, there is a poster of John Ford's " The Quiet Man, " a movie that has always mesmerized him. While he may be thousand of miles away from the magic that made Clark's favorite films, Hollywood's stars from time to time have paid him a visit.
Maureen O'Hara, who played the female lead in " The Quiet Man, " contacted Clark in search of memorabilia from the 1952 film.
" I gave her a lobby card, " Clark said. "... I've been very fortunate to have worked with some famous people in my life. "
February 01, 2007
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