Thrift-store shopper uncovers rare poster

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Melissa Haneline
The Post and Courier

Laura Stouffer holds an "All Quiet on the Western Front" movie window card that she found behind a 1930s lithograph she bought in its original frame at a Goodwill store in Summerville. Photo taken July 18, 2007 at Stouffer's Summerville home. Readers interested in the poster can email Stouffer at allquietposter@hotmail.com

Laura Stouffer was browsing in a thrift shop in Summerville, looking for whatever might catch her fancy, when she spotted a framed print of "Shepherd's Call," a painting depicting a border collie finding a lost lamb in a snowbank.

Also known as "Found," the original had been produced sometime between 1850 and the late 1870s, attributed to no less than three different artists.

Stouffer, a former antiques dealer, recognized it immediately, snaring the 14x22-inch copy for a song.

"Found" was a prophetic title, for beneath the lithograph, sandwiched between the print and its cardboard backing, was a much rarer find: an original "window card" poster from the 1930 film classic "All Quiet on the Western Front."

"I have seen a lot of Victorian-era artwork, and I had seen 'Shepherd's Call' before," says Stouffer. "The one I bought at Goodwill was pretty dusty, and when I took the backing off to give everything a good cleaning, there was the poster. Very likely, it had been hidden there since the lithograph was framed in 1937. An appraiser in Dallas with whom I've been e-mailing says so

little movie memorabilia exists from that film that it is prized."

Its intrinsic value is for archivists to decide. But what it might bring on the open market from covetous collectors is, if not a princely sum, a nice little packet.

"The appraiser said these window cards are more valuable than so-called lobby cards (similar, but slightly smaller posters), and that a complete one still needing extensive restoration sold for $400 recently. Had it been an original 'one-sheet' (a large poster) of 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' I was told by a dealer that he'd pay $18,000 for it tomorrow."

An Oscar winner as Best Picture and for Best Director (Lewis Milestone), this revered adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's pacifist novel of World War I gave memorable roles to the young American actor Lew Ayres, as well as to Russell Gleason and John Wray. Critics agree that after 77 years it has lost none of its power.

When the great anti-war films of movie history are discussed, this is the template on which the rest are modeled.

Dated 1934 — the film had various release dates here and abroad — this English-language version of the window card could have been released in the U.S. or Belgium, which accounts for the disparity in dates.

"It had been cut to 12 by 16 inches. What's missing is the empty white border where theaters would indicate show times," says Stouffer. "The poster contains illustrations and lettering, plus a still of the protagonist. The colors have not faded. They are very clear and beautiful. There are just a couple of staple holes and a few delicate places on it. But otherwise it's in amazing condition.

"I doubt anyone knew it was in back of the lithograph since they closed it up. People in the Depression era were more concerned with not wasting paper than they were in collecting artifacts."

Unfortunately, the price to restore the poster might equal its value, says Stouffer, an art collector who nonetheless has to prioritize.

"It deserves restoration, but we have four teenagers, one of them about to enter to college. My budget has to go for groceries. I only collect what I can afford to keep. When my kids are older, I can collect with abandon. But it does deserve the attention of someone who can preserve it simply for what it is. It was a landmark book and a landmark film that spoke so powerfully about people at war, that put a human price on it."

Stouffer has a knack for stumbling on items of interest, often obscured.

"I was at a Habitat for Humanity thrift shop recently. Once in a while, I pop in when I have a few minutes to kill. The antique dealer in me will not die. I found a book published by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture in 1893 that contains every bit of information imaginable about the state as it stood in 1893. It has a huge, officious-sounding title, but the records it contains are extremely detailed, (also) going back to a time before our state was a state."

Meanwhile, she's open to anyone interested in purchasing the "All Quiet on the Western Front" window card and giving it a good home. For details, e-mail her at allquietposter@hotmail.com.