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La Vallee (released in the U.S. as "Barbet Schroeder's The Valley Obscured by Clouds"), the 1972 Barbet Schroeder French rock 'n roll action melodrama ("with music by Pink Floyd" "a sensual path to the unknown") starring Jerome Beauvarlet, Monique Giraudy, Michael Gothard, and Bulle Ogier. Note that this poster is extremely similar to the British quad poster created for this movie in 1972 by the movie's marketing director (and present-day poster collector!) Mike Kaplan. As Kaplan explained to me, the movie opened in England, and he had this British quad designed. It was highly praised, and he hit on the novel idea of creating a "U.S. British quad" for the U.S. release, including making it horizontal and 30" x 40"! The only real change in the poster was that he added information for the specific theater in New York City where the movie was opening, the "Cinema III". As was typical at that time in New York City, Kaplan had several thousand of these posters printed, even though it only played at a single theater. Why print thousands, if it only played at one theater, and the information about the theater would make the poster useless for other showings? Because Kaplan did as so many producers did at the time, which was the hire people in New York City who would have teenagers post the posters on walls all over New York City in the days prior to its opening! Even though this practice, called "wilding", was illegal, nobody did much of anything about it, and it was an effective and cheap (relative to newspaper or TV ads) way to get word out about a new movie. There is a very interesting footnote to this story. Kaplan tells me that he was cheated by the man who was supposed to have the thousands of posters posted all over New York City. He noted several days before the premiere that he wasn't seeing the posters, and he complained to the man he hired, and the man claimed that they were all posted. Kaplan thought it likely that only a small percentage had really been posted, but of course he had no way of proving it, and he couldn't do anything about it, since he was hiring someone to do something that was technically illegal! Years later, in the late 1980s, I was approached by a man near New York City who had many examples of this poster (most in wonderful condition with only slight signs of aging), and he sold them to me. Now that I know the full story from Mike Kaplan, it is clear that he was right, and that many of his posters were never posted on walls, but rather stored away, and years later sold to collectors!

Note that this is a rare advance one-sheet (note the "OPENS MAY 17 CINEMA III PLAZA HOTEL..." at the top of the poster). Also note that it measures 29 3/4" x 40", and that it is horizontal (the poster designer saw the British quad and liked it, and adapted this poster from it).

Note that this poster is extremely similar to the British quad poster created for this movie in 1972 by the movie's marketing director (and present-day poster collector and a long-term friend of mine) Mike Kaplan. As Kaplan explained directly to me, the movie opened in England, and he had this British quad designed for that release. It was highly praised, and he hit on the novel idea of creating a "U.S. British quad" for the U.S. release, including making it horizontal and 30" x 40"! The only real change in the poster was that he added information for the specific theater in New York City where the movie was opening, the "Cinema III". As was typical at that time in New York City, Kaplan had several thousand of these posters printed, even though it only played at a single theater. Why print thousands, if it only played at one theater, and the information about the theater would make the poster useless for other showings? Because Kaplan did as so many producers did at the time, which was the hire people in New York City who would have teenagers post the posters on walls all over New York City in the days prior to its opening! Even though this practice, called "wilding", was illegal, nobody did much of anything about it, and it was an effective and cheap (relative to newspaper or TV ads) way to get word out about a new movie. There is a very interesting footnote to this story. Kaplan tells me that he was cheated by the man who was supposed to have the thousands of posters posted all over New York City. He noted several days before the premiere that he wasn't seeing the posters, and he complained to the man he hired, and the man claimed that they were all posted. Kaplan thought it likely that only a small percentage had really been posted, but of course he had no way of proving it, and he couldn't do anything about it, since he was hiring someone to do something that was technically illegal! Years later, in the late 1980s, I was approached by a man near New York City who had many examples of this poster (most in wonderful condition with only slight signs of aging), and he sold them to me. Now that I know the full story from Mike Kaplan, it is clear that he was right, and that many of his posters were never posted on walls, but rather stored away, and years later sold to collectors!

Note that next to the lot number in the title of this auction we put "UF". The "UF" is a note for our shipping department to let them know the poster is stored "UnFolded". This allows us to more quickly find the item in our warehouse, therefore helping us to ship all orders as quickly as possible. Other items will have either a "UF" (UnFolded), "TF" (Tri-Folded), or "FF" (Fully Folded) next to the lot number, but please know that no matter which you buy (or if you buy any combination thereof), you only pay a single U.S. shipping charge (non-U.S. orders are charged the actual cost of shipping), as we can unfold tri-folded or fully folded posters and roll them in with unfolded posters, thus sending a single package.