Dating Trader Horn
Sometimes when there is no other record available then you have to go with probability, that is until something else comes along...
This was dated as an original poster from 1931, it is not - at best it will be from the 1938 re-release of the movie.
Reason Number One
The censorship "For General Exhibition" was not brought into law until 1932, a year after that this article appeared in the papers:
The new system of censorship provides that films shall be classified as "for general exhibition" or "unsuitable for general exhibition." The new regulations provide even for parents suffering from impaired vision. The indication of the class of film to' be exhibited must be advertised on posters In the same type as that of the rest of the matter contained, in the case of general exhibition pictures in a triangle approximately one-twelfth the size of the poster,and in the case of those considered unsuitable for the young in a circle of similar dimensions.
Reason Number Two
This is the original (soon to be auctioned):
For your edification, here is a review of the movie, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 September 1931
EMP has been advised.
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The image with the blue background credited as being am original Australian 1931 release is a worry to me. It has no printers credits, which on other Australian one sheets of this period were shown as being printed by Simmons Pty. Limited Sydney. The company mention as being ''Metro Goldwyn Mayer's Trader Horn'' is different from other 1931 releases such as Politics, Sidewalks Of New York & This Modern Age which have ''A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture'' printed on them but the biggest concern to me is the lack of actors credits on the poster. This makes me wonder if this poster is a 2nd printing or a later re-release poster.
Hondo
Interesting that I have just noticed e'movieposter.com have the exact poster image credited as the country of origin being the U.S.
Hondo
eMovieposter.com have altered their two poster images information from U.S. one sheet to Australian one sheet. for the blue background Trader Horn poster after contacting them and speaking to Bruce. I now believe this poster is from the original Australian 1931 release. I will post more information on my reasons for this within a few days after I receive confirmation regarding some information I recently came across.
Hondo
Got this email from Phil a couple of days ago, which is good to see.
This e-mail is regarding your purchase of TEN COMMANDMENTS Australian daybill poster on 6/12/2011 for $37.
At the time we auctioned this poster, we believed it was from the original 1956 release of this movie in Australia. But we recently discovered that the poster is actually from an undated (probably 1960) re-release. The printer "Robert Burton" did not exist until 1959 (we did not know this previously). You may have known this when you purchased the poster, but we did not, so we wanted to be sure you knew. If you did, that's great, but if you did not realize this was from a 1960 re-release, you are welcome to return it for a full refund, because we guarantee everything we sell, no matter how long it is after the sales date.
Just let us know whether you want to keep it or return it (and if you want to return it, we will send you instructions). Of course, we very much apologize for our mistake, and we assure you that we had no idea that it was a re-release, because we NEVER intentionally deceive any of our customers. We've made notes about this in our system so we do not make this mistake again.
We are the only auction we know of who offers refunds for mistakes even YEARS after the fact, and we are also the only one we know of who tracks down the buyers and doesn't wait for them to discover the mistake themselves!
We await your reply.
Thanks,
Phil
My reply would be something like "Yeah thanks a lot for screwing me over...there's no fucking way a linen backed re-release copy is worth $37. Flaming a$%eholes"
I agree with David that it is very commendable that Bruce does everything possible to get things right in his listings. However, I also agree that it is important that the database reflects what actually happened at an auction.
There obviously have been many corrections to the database, usually where a poster has turned out to be from a later release. However, there are also some examples where a poster was mistakenly listed as say, a 70s re release when it turns out to be actually a much earlier release or even original. The error in the listing date must have an effect on how much it sold for.
When you look at the database long after the auction has ended, you don't see whether the listing might have been corrected/changed and how that may have affected the price.
I originally posted I had some concerns with the blue background Trader Horn Australian one sheet. When I mentioned there were no printers credits I had only examined closely the eMovieposter.com image. Bruce has since informed me the poster was most likely trimmed at the bottom removing the printers details.He also sent me an image of the Fred Powis signature which is very hard to read but it is his signature and this would make it original release i'm sure.Also an original Australian newspaper advertisement for the 1931 release has "'the miracle of pictures'' printed on it which appears on the one sheet. And the last thing is Pickles auction in 1998 sold two Trader Horn posters and all the posters in the catalogue were from between 1927 and 1932 with the majority being from 1931, so it is more than likely this is were the poster originally came from.
Hondo.
Thought this image of interest.
t
Alfred Aloysius "Trader" Horn (born Alfred Aloysius Smith; 1861–1931) was an ivory trader in central Africa. He wrote a book, Trader Horn: A Young Man's Astounding Adventures in 19th-Century Equatorial Africa (ISBN 1-885211-81-3), detailing his journeys into jungles teeming with buffalo, gorillas, man-eating leopards, serpents and "savages". The book also documents his efforts to free slaves, meet the founder of Rhodesia, Cecil Rhodes, and liberate a princess from captivity.
A silent film exists of Horn, as well as recent writings about him online
Film adaptations
Harry "Trader Horn" Carey, and Mutia Omoolu
The previous posting by David shares some information off Wikipedia stating there was a 1934 film adaptation of Trader Horn. I can't film a single shred of evidence that there was a 1934 Trader Horn film. I am always happy to be proved wrong so if someone can enlighten me with some details it would be most appreciated?
Hondo