Member News Special

Research Tutorial Series No 1 - US Reissues

We wanted to start a series showing members how to use some of the LAMP tools for research. We hope this will be something that you can use in doing research for yourself. I will be glad to demostrate different areas, and step you through different types of research.

Since this is the first one, let me take a little time for some explanations, in hopes that it will give you a better understanding of how and why we are working on certain areas.

Sue and I have been collecting movie posters for almost 35 years now, and the first couple of decades were pretty rough when it came to finding any type of research or information. Yes, there were a few books on the market, but they were all on different styles or filled with pictures. None gave all the basic information or outlined the varying types utilized in the hobby, so we wrote the first reference book on the hobby in 1997. When we started LAMP, we wanted to give the hobby what all the other major hobbies had.... foundation. Other hobbies had price guides, associations, documentation and authentications. With none available for the poster hobby, we have to create it.

The first 5 years we spent writing articles on everything we could think of to give a base foundation of articles. The next step was to create a database that could gather and compile information from the posters and cross reference it with the base articles that we had written. We have been doing the compiling for a little over 4 years. Once we started the compiling, the computer started creating ALL TYPES of GREAT information, the more poster info we put in, the GREATER amount of informaton it creates. So in 2007 we started building the Advanced Research Area...and creating reference books based on the information that we've compiled. We now have 9 reference books on the hobby.

Let me explain the basic concept to help you understand... to create the foundation of information that will eventually lead to authentication, you have to have a BASE of information on ANY and EVERY marking that appears on a poster.... If there are markings on the poster that you don't understand, HOW can you possible authenticate it??? So we started building an information base on EACH TYPE of information... Think of these like foundation pillars of a building. Each pillar is equally important and necessary to hold up the building... So, we did a foundation base on Production Codes (we now have over 25,000 production codes to help identify unknown stills); we added NSS trailer logs (we have over 15,000 trailer codes); NSS poster logs (we have over 30,000 poster codes); These you can easily see in the Global Cinema section. The next section going in is Lithographers, with lithographer logos and plate numbers; Then comes studios, studio logos, artists; printer addresses, censor stamps, etc. We have been working on ALL of these, and as each section goes into place, there is a variety of cross linking that makes it easier and easier to research particular pieces. We still have a LONG way to go, but each day it gets a little better and a little more accurate.

Let me give you a couple of examples on our first Reseach Series and I'll step you through it.... and hopefully this will give you some ideas.

Under Fiesta StarsI just finished loading this particular poster. This is a half sheet for Under Fiesta Stars and it has a style mark in the bottom right corner, so it's the style B half sheet. The original release year was 1941. This is definitely a reissue but no one knows WHEN.

All major auction houses have this listed as a R40s or R50s reissue. Imdb doesn't have any reissue information listed, so they are no help. There is no copyright information and it doesn't have any NSS information.

The first thing that I did was wonder if they made a new trailer when they rereleased it. NSS was the dominant trailer maker in the 40s and 50s, so if they did, the odds were that NSS made it. So, I went in the Member Section, down to Global and the National Screen Service Section. Once inside I clicked on the Trailer Logs. I went down to the bottom of the page where we have logs By Number - By Title - By Distributor. I clicked on .. By Title and went down to Under Fiesta Stars. We're in luck, Republic made another trailer in 1945, trailer number 450395. So, it's probably a 1945.... but when possible, it's always better to try to verify from more half sheet logo than one source...

So let's look for any other information on the poster. The Republic logo is a little odd. Here is the logo on the right. To check out the logos, let's go to the studio logo logs and see what we have. We always start in the Member Section, go down toward the bottom of the page until you get to the Countries. Go down to US and over to the US Member Section and click on it. Now, go down the page until you get to Studios: Logo Log. You will see the major US studios, click on Republic and go down the different logos to find this one..... This logo was ONLY used around 1945. Verification from 2 directions...

So, this is the R45 Half Sheet, style B.

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Let's look at another one:

Ride Tenderfoot RideWhile we're on Gene Autry, I was just loading a reissue for the title Ride, Tenderfoot Ride.

This is a pretty easy one, so let's take a quick look.

We know that it's a reissue because it says so just under the title...

It's a Republic with no studio or logo change. No copyright date and no year.

BUT, good old Morgan Litho did the plates, and gave a plate number. Morgan is the most stable of all the lithographers in the sense of dating after 1935. Here is the plate number shown on the Morgan Litho number right. Plate number 24367.

So, in the Member Section, go down to Countries. Then down to US and over to Member Section.

Once we click on it, and go down to Lithographers - B. Litho Plate Numbers - down to Morgan and then click on Regular Log. Go down the list until you are in the 24000s. Go to where 24367 would fit and look at the years. It's a 1943.... That simple!!

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Let's try one more quick one:

They Won't ForgetI was just loading They Won't Forget 1937 by Warner Brothers...

OK, Here's one of those odd reissues in the 1940s or 1950s with NO information. NOTICE.. There is NO Warner Brothers logo or tag, so this was reissued by a small distributor, with NO information on it and no litho plate numbers.

I looked in imdb and it says that Dominant rereleased it....BUT Dominant always put their logo on their posters and was a decent sized distribution company in the mid 1950s through 1959. So it's VERY doubtful that it was issued by Dominant.

The place I like to start on this type of piece is the NSS Trailer Logs, so in the Member Area, go down to the Global Cinema Section to National Screen Service and click on it. Look down the left navbar to Trailers and click on Trailer Logs. Go down to the bottom of the page - We don't know YEAR and we don't know Distributor, so click on Title. It's alphabetical so go down to They Won't Forget and you will see that NSS made a trailer in 1956 #56 0443. It was a reissue made for Eden Films.

If you want to follow up a little more, you can back up a page and now that you know it was ordered by Eden Films, go into the Distributor Log instead of the Title Log and you will see that Eden Films reissued about a dozen films in 1956. They notice that there is a parenthesis () after the company name showing (Dominant). This means that Dominant bought them out (which is why some people think that they were the distributor.... but they weren't).

I hope this helps and gives you some ideas on how to do some use some of the logs. If these are helpful, I will pick different areas and show how to utilize a variety of the different tools that we have for you. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, let me know.

Until next time,

ed