Leader Press and "other company" posters

[cabmangray]

I recently had a discussion with another collector and the subject of variations came up. Can anyone explain to me the difference between the Leader Press posters and "other company" posters? I know the "other company" material was made for Warner Bros. in the late 1930's and Leader Press earlier than that. Who was the "other company"? Did second run theatres mostly use Leader Press material? Most of the "other company" posters I've seen are extremely nice. I ask because I really don't know and can't talk about it with any certainty.

[CSM]

From eMovie:

"In the 1930s and 1940s, a constant headache for theaters was being sure of having movie posters for their current releases. Often, the posters would travel with the actual film prints, and sometimes the theater before them might have forgotten to include the poster, it might have been defaced or torn, etc. If a theater didn't have posters, it was very frustrating! Several companies began in the 1930s (Leader Press, the "other company", Woolever Press, etc) that made posters of their own for new releases, and they would provide a back up for theaters in case they didn't get a studio issued poster. Often the posters from these companies (with the exception of the "other company") were silk-screen posters, but they were often quite attractive, and virtually always had a completely different design from the regular studio issued poster. It is a certainty that these posters were issued when the movies were first released. In fact, they were created PRIOR to the movie's release, so that they could serve as teaser or advance posters (theaters rarely got the studio issued posters before receiving the actual movie)."

&

"The "other company". This was a company in the Midwest that from roughly 1936 to roughly 1941 printed its own one-sheets and lobby card sets (and a very few inserts and half-sheets) for three major studio movies (Warner Brothers, Paramount and United Artists, but no other studios). The posters and lobby cards are from the original release of the movie, and almost always have completely different artwork from the regular studio release. They never have the name of the releasing studio on the poster or any of the lobby cards. Sometimes, "other company" posters or lobby cards have images that are the equal of those from the regular studio release posters or lobby cards!"

[CSM]

From LAMP:

http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/newsite/index/articles/secondary.asp

From the beginning of the movie industry, theaters have always looked for alternative suppliers of advertising to cut costs. Some theaters would contract with a local to produce material specifically for them... creating a huge variety of unusual material and also creating posters that are sometimes hard to identify.

A lot of these printers did the printing for circus, vaudeville or broadway, they provided small amount of posters for regional chains or individual theaters.

In the 30's, the 2 major secondary printers were Leader Press and the Other Company. These companies produced a good amount of material that is fairly easy to recognize because neither one put the studio name on the posters.

By the mid-1940's, most major studios had contracted with the National Screen Service ("NSS") to handle their national distribution of advertising products. While the posters that were part of the theatre lobby displays were the full color NSS versions, theatres looked for an alternative to the materials that were used in greater numbers, such as window cards and heralds. This was particularly true for small theatres and those located in rural areas. (Window cards were placed in retail and office windows and on utility poles; heralds were handed out directly to the public). Since the theatres had to purchase these materials in bulk, they looked for a cheaper alternative to the NSS materials.

A number of secondary printers came on the market producing less expensive versions of the window cards and heralds, usually in two or three colors instead of full color. The artwork on these secondary materials can be the same or totally different from the NSS versions. While there were a number of regional secondary printers that specialized in this type of printing, there were three printers whose materials are most often found in the movie art industry. They are as follows:

Benton Card Company

Globe Poster Printing Corporation

Hatch Show Prints

Hennegan Show Prints

Victor Cornelius Inc.

AS A COLLECTIBLE

Many long-time collectors shy away from collecting materials from these "secondary printers." These posters do not command the same dollar value as their NSS counterparts, even though they are the same age, and may be identical to the NSS versions. These materials are finding a market, however, with newer collectors for two basic reasons: (1) it is a way to collect original "legitimate" materials at a less expensive price; and (2) the secondary printers provided materials for some "B" movies and therefore may be the only materials available for certain titles.

&

http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/newsite/index/COUNTRIES/US/Articles/othercompany.asp

In 1937, Leader Press shut its doors and the "Other Company" opened theirs. Oddly enough, it is hard to find management information on them.

The Other Company operated from 1937 until 1940 when National Screen started distributing posters.

The arrangement that the Other Company had with the studios is that they would produce alternative material for the theaters but couldn't put the studio name on the poster. In addition, the Other Company normally put a disclaimer tag on their posters.



 

[Simes]

Very interesting.

Thanks for popping these up.

[cabmangray]

Thanks for the info! So all these "alternative" posters would be considered rare, but not more so than the original release material. Some of the "other company" posters for Warner Bros. are simply great (Angels With Dirty Faces 1-sheet, Adventures of Robin Hood 3-sheet)