Half of All Three Stooges Titles 1934-1957 Are Represented in Historic Sale
Robert Edward Auctions will be offering the most extraordinary Three Stooges movie-poster collection to ever come to auction in the history of collecting in its April 25, 2015 auction. The most important highlight of the collection is what may be the only known one-sheet poster for the group’s first film for Columbia Pictures in 1934: Woman Haters. Is this the only example that exists of this historic poster? “We think it is. We can’t find another. But we can’t be positive,” says REA’s auction manager Tom D’Alonzo. “The only collectors who have even suggested to us that another exists all seemed to have one thing in common. They really want this one!”
While the one-sheet from the Woman Haters is the prize of the collection, due to its enormous historical significance, many extreme rarities spanning the Stooges’ entire career are included. The offering is the final of three auctions that were required to present the collection. This is the largest selection of vintage Three Stooges posters to ever come to auction, and the best has been saved for last!
The Stooges produced 174 comedy shorts for Columbia between the years1934 and 1956. This amazing offering features one-sheet posters for half of those films, eighty-seven different titles total, including nine rarities from the 1930s and early 1940s starring Curly: Woman Haters, Violent Is The Word for Curly, Termites of 1938, No Census No Feeling, An Ache In Every Stake, All The World’s A Stooge, Cactus Makes Perfect, Dizzy Detectives, and A Gem of a Jam. One of the most exciting lots in the auction will be the astounding collection of seventy-six different Three Stooges one-sheet movie posters, spanning the years 1947 to 1957. Incredibly, this collection of seventy-six posters features nearly every Three Stooges one-sheet poster ever issued featuring the team of Moe, Larry, and Shemp, with the exception of just three.
Lobby cards are equally represented in the sale, the most significant of which is the only known lobby card from the Stooges’ second short in 1934, Punch Drunks. In addition to its extreme rarity, the Punch Drunks lobby card comes with the special provenance of having been obtained by the consignor directly from Moe Howard’s daughter, Joan. Fifty-five different lobby cards are featured in the sale, including ten seldom-seen examples from the 1930s: Punch Drunks, Hoi Polloi, Slippery Silks, Whoops I’m An Indian (two different scene cards), Cash and Carry, The Sitters Downers, Grips, Grunts & Groans, Mutts To You, Healthy Wealthy and Dumb. This is an unprecedented offering of Three Stooges posters, all of which originate from the finest private collection of Three Stooges posters ever assembled.
Online bidding starts approximately April 5th. For more information regarding the sale or to request a free catalog, please visit Robert Edward Auctions’ website at www.robertedwardauctions.com or call 908-226-900
