LAST DAYS OF POMPEII 1935 Preston Foster, Basil Rathbone TRADE ADVERT

Original British 17 inch x 22 inch Trade Advertisement for the 1935 Ernest Schoedsack Historical Drama THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII starring Preston Foster, Alan Hale Sr., Basil Rathbone, John Wood, Louis Calhern, David Holt, Dorothy Wilson, Wyrley Birch, Gloria Shea, Ward Bond and John Davidson.

In this action-filled spectacle set in ancient Pompeii, a blacksmith becomes a Roman gladiator, though his rise to wealth and power is jeopardized by his son’s Christianity and the eruption of Vesuvius.

Advert art by George Cattermole

Trade advertisements are colourful posters aimed at cinema managers, which were either slipped in, or part of, the weekly film trade journals which were available to them by subscription but were not sold to the general public. The large size Trade advertisements are about the size of US half sheet posters and have a centre fold which is usually hard to discern when flat. Most were designed to be pulled out, and some were attached by staples. Most have the date in tiny letters in one of the top corners. The publishers own copies from the 1930’s were destroyed by fire and water damage during the Blitz and Wartime paper drives decimated those held by cinemas making them quite rare.

The Advertisement is in very good condition, on linen style paper, with one vertical centre fold and staple holes.