Projectionist's Hollywood poster collection for sale
Ewbank'sThe family of a cinema projectionist who saved Hollywood posters for 40 years has put his collection up for auction.
Robin Langford kept almost 100 artworks from the films he showed, featuring stars including Clint Eastwood, Audrey Hepburn and Raquel Welch.
The collection is expected to fetch about £35,000 when it goes under the hammer at Ewbank's auction house in Woking, Surrey on Thursday.
Lots include 60s and 70s British Quad posters – the large, 30x40in (76x102cm) display sheets put up outside cinemas to attract audiences - such as for the first James Bond film, Dr No, in 1962.
Auctioneers hope the Bond poster can fetch between £5,000 and £8,000.A Dr No poster sold for £15,000 at an auction in Buckinghamshire in 2019.
Posters for other 60s Bond films From Russia With Love and Thunderball are also listed.
Langford, born in 1939, helped out at his local cinema, The Ritz in Bristol, on evenings and weekends after leaving school.
He later joined the Army, where he helped show films for his fellow troops while based in Malta. On his return he went on to work in multiple cinemas in his home city.
Ewbank'sHis daughter Pat Walker said he would collect new posters weekly and "very carefully fold them up and store them" when they were taken down.
"He would have been so proud that his much-loved collection is now going to be enjoyed by others with the same passion as him," she said.
Auctioneer Andrew Ewbank said the "extraordinary" collection demonstrated "not just exceptional foresight, but a real love of the silver screen".
Other iconic posters in the collection include for the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, Cool Hand Luke starring Paul Newman, The Beatles' film Help! and the Oscar-winning Lawrence of Arabia.
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