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Scott Von Doviak — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 20:30:00 GMT

My long climb to the pinnacle of film industry glory that is the Screengrab began many years ago behind the counter of the original Harvard Square location of Pix Poster Cellar. Although I possessed a bachelor’s degree in film, it was in that cramped, crowded movie memorabilia shop that I was first schooled in the differences between lobby cards and promotional stills, how to differentiate between the large French and large Italian posters without a single language lesson, and which of the items in stock were most precious and rare. Chief among the latter was the original Revenge of the Jedi one-sheet teaser, pictured here in all its folded splendor, which I recall selling one magical afternoon for a cool $200 cash. (A quick flip through the internets reveals that this item is now going for $750, which means I should have followed my first instinct and stolen the sucker.)

I was reminded of that long ago transaction while pondering this collection of rejected movie posters assembled by YuppiePunk. Revenge of the Jedi isn’t included, but then it wasn’t so much the poster that was rejected as the title – the poster was simply collateral damage. The same might be said for Welcome to Valkenvania, the original title of the flop by any other name Nothing but Trouble. Notice that the title change gave the art department time to switch out the original head shots for John Candy and Demi Moore. Who makes these decisions and why? Did Candy balk at his extra chinnage? Did Moore feel her glazed-over expression was better suited to a full-frontal view? We may never know.

Also included: a poster featuring the original Rocky V subtitle: The Final Bell. Ah, if only…

The Screengrab : nothing but trouble

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