This archive was assembled by one film scholar over a 34 year period. Each poster was hand-picked.

The archive includes something from every film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, every film in the American Film Institute’s Top-100 Films and every film in the Internet Movie Database’s Top-100 Films, each an industry standard for the most important films ever made. There are over 11,000 individual posters from over 55 countries.

What makes this archive so special is the breadth of posters from famous films. 100 of the most popular films ever made are each represented by at least 5 posters. Some of the most popular titles, however, are represented by many, many more. For example, STAR WARS, DIRTY HARRY, THE GODFATHER and REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE are each represented by over 25 countries.

The archive includes not just expensive posters from famous films, but many rarities like a SCHINDLER’S LIST from Israel, a GANDHI from India and an INDIANA JONES from Egypt. While many of these may not be among the most valuable, they are among the most difficult to find.

Film posters were created as advertising art with an expected life of a few days. When the film left the theatre, the posters were discarded. Commercial items like baseball cards and comic books were sold to the public and were expected to last.

Because film posters were produced in small quantities and had one sole purpose, very few survive today.

The archive is properly stored alphabetically by size and country of origin. There is a complete list of film titles with images and film credit information available.

This archive is truly unique in its scope and breadth. 25% of the posters are not even in the collection at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Hollywood, California.