Some vintage movie posters, some considered classics, from the former Roxy Theatre here are going on sale. In all likelihood the sale will be in the form of a silent auction.
Mount Forest Museum and Archives curator Marlene Markle said the plan is to use the “several hundred” posters for a joint fundraiser between the local heritage society which operates the museum and archives and the Louise Marshall Hospital which is undertaking a fundraiser to renovate and expand the hospital’s emergency room and add ambulatory facilities.
“It will be a 50-50 split,” Markle said of the fundraising campaign which will officially start during the upcoming Fireworks Festival July 19 and 20.
Members of the society have been sorting through the hundreds of posters donated by former Roxy owners Al and Cathy Sharpe. The couple operated the film theatre for several years before selling the building in 2002. The last film was shown at the theatre in 2001.
“We’re going through them now to see what we are going to use,” Markle said of the task of sorting out and cataloging the posters.
Markle, an artist herself and wife of well-known artist Robert Markle who died in a car crash in 1990, said the posters represent a “piece of art” themselves.
“If it’s a really good movie poster it doesn’t matter what condition it’s in, it’s a piece of art,” she said of the value of posters to collectors and other individuals.
The posters will also be divided into categories from movies suitable for children to those for adults which might include scenes of violence.
Markle said some of the posters are expected to go on display at the Mennonite Credit Union which eventually purchased the former Roxy building and refurbished it. The Credit Union wants any posters it displays to be suitable for the general public.
In the front windows of the archives building, once known as the Old Post Office at the intersection of Main and Wellington Streets some of the posters are on display.
Markle said museum staff have already had inquiries based on the hanging posters.
Accompanying the poster display at the rear of the building in the Jean Weber room will be a display for a film projector used at the theatre and records kept by the Sharpe’s and the original theatre owner Anthony Cancilla who opened a cinema there in 1946.
The records show the dates of when the movies were shown and even the condition of the films documented by projectionist Dick Neath. They also show how much was made in any given month, sale of concession food and attendance.
“It’s really amazing the kind of record keeping they kept.”
The sale of 70s, 80s, and 90s posters will open up at the archives at 9am on July 19.
