Lot 70 email save

Set of 22 original French stills from Vampyr

70. Set of 22 original French stills from Vampyr. (1932) Set of 22 original vintage 6 ½ in. x 8 ½ in. double weight matte silver nitrate French stills. A virtually definitive collection of stills from Carl Dreyer's dreamlike surrealist horror masterpiece. On the back, all have the printed label "Film-Production Carl Dreyer 42, Quai du Point-du-Jour Biallancourt-s/Seine PARIS presente Julian West comme David Grey dans le film "L'ETRANGE AVENTURE DE DAVID GRAY/THE STRANGE ADVENTURE OF DAVID GRAY/DAS SELTSAME ERLEBNIS DES DAVID GRAY." Shot only in early morning in a crumbling chateau outside of Paris, VAMPYR (which was made in English, French, and German versions) is one of the classics of the early talking horror cinema, and virtually nothing is ever available from it in the collector's market.

This suite of magnificent images covers most of the film's significant visuals, including the haunting image at beginning of a man with scythe, and (from the conclusion) the hero (David Gray) looking at himself dead in a coffin. Contributing to the film's moodiness and sense of visual dread, it was shot in such a way as to look dreamlike, with all the outdoor scenes appearing misty, as if a heavy fog was just rolling in. These unusual and very rare stills deliberately echo the surreal cinematography.

General condition is superlative, with only the slightest bumps at extreme corners of a few. Some neatly handwritten notes in pencil on back indicate that these photos were used for an English-language magazine of the period. NEAR MINT. $12,000 - $15,000

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