Midget Window Card (8" x 11.5")
Fine+
Universal, 1939

This "midget" window card, as they were called in the press books, is a scarce format for posters, with production ending in the mid-1940s. They were intended for cigar and candy cases, and as exhibitors ordered fewer for displays, a lesser number were printed. This is an incredibly rare copy of the card for the third appearance of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster.

The top of this bold color card has been trimmed, and seven sets of staple marks exist around the edges. A quarter-inch tear in the center of the right border grazes the orange background, and the corners show slight creases.

After Carl Laemmle relinquished control of Universal Studios, the new owners intended to make higher quality films and move away from what they considered to be disreputable horror movies. However, as the public clamored for the Monster from the Frankenstein series - with the previous two entries, Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), now-classic hits - the new owners gave in to the demands and created the Son of Frankenstein. The studio cast Basil Rathbone as the original creator's son Wolf von Frankenstein and placed Bela Lugosi into one of his best roles ever as the evil lab assistant Ygor. Karloff, who at age 51 was too old to deal with Jack Pierce's eight-hour makeup requirements, reprised his role of the Monster for the last time and brought sympathy to the character despite little dialogue.

Estimate: $10,000 - 20,000
*Lot sold with reserve

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