Big online movie poster auction at Dallas-based Heritage Galleries

by John P. Meyer

Heritage Galleries drops the gavel - both virtual and actual - on all sorts of collectible knick knacks and memorabilia on a fairly regular basis. Some of it (quite a large chunk of it, in fact) is movie-related.

If you're needing to cover a wall or two at the home place, you might want to check into this Sunday's (Aug. 24) internet-only movie poster auction.

In addition to actual posters - conveniently searchable by genre - there are a slew of lobby cards and promotional still photos included in the mix. Nothing like an 8 x 10 glossy of Mamie Van Doren (from Girls Town ('59) to wet one's bidding whistle. And then there's that one sheet of Runaway Daughters ('56), featuring the shocking proclamation: "They called her JAILBAIT!"

On my personal watch list is this romanticized view of Jessica Lange swooning for Jack Nicholson as depicted on The Postman Always Rings Twice ('81) poster. Nicholson looks so carried away.

And then there's this one sheet for Peckinpah's masterpiece, The Wild Bunch ('69), one of my all-time favorite westerns

There are 458 items included in this auction, making a browse through the listings a genuine treat for film buffs.

Sign up, start bidding and good luck - but keep your button-clicking fingers away from my Dracula Has Risen From the Grave.

Cool feature: when you sign up for a membership (which you'll need to do in order to actually bid), you get access to an auction history feature that shows you what an item such as the one you're interested in bidding on realized from previous auctions. (A previously-offered Postman poster, for instance, was snatched up by a lucky bidder for ten measely bucks.)