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Auction History Result 3k094 QUEEN OF SHEBA linen pre-War Belgian '29 incredible art of Betty Blythe in chariot race! Date Sold 9/4/2012 Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Undated (likely from 1929 and possibly the first release in Belgium) Vintage Theatrical Linenbacked Belgian Movie Poster (measures 24 1/2" x 33 1/2" [62 x 85 cm]) (Learn More) Queen of Sheba, the 1921 J. Gordon Edwards silent Biblical historical romantic epic ("Gigantic spectacle and story of the world's greatest love"; "Story by Virginia Tracy"; studio owner William Fox put all his resources behind this gigantic religious epic, and it had only the loosest connection to the actual Bible story of Solomon and Sheba, greatly expanding on what is in the Bible, and adding a "back story" and "after story" that has no Biblical reference at all, but which makes for great entertainment) starring Betty Blythe (in the title role as the Queen of Sheba), Fritz Leiber (as King Solomon), Claire de Lorez, George Siegmann, Herbert Heyes, and George Nichols (as King David). Note that this was a really epic production, reportedly with 671 scenes, a cast of 10,000, 500 camels, a thrilling chariot race of women (which was staged by Tom Mix and given rave reviews), lavish sets, and skimpy female costumes! But sadly, the movie is lost (and amazingly, it was lost by Fox in the 1930s, so it has not been viewed in over 70 years!), and while it may have been on a level with the best epic works of DeMille and Griffith, we really can't say without being able to view the movie! But what is for certain is that this movie was a major epic, and unlike all the other epics of that time, the central character was a woman, and the movie focused on her, and there is even a major scene with a chariot race between Betty Blythe and her rival, where the winner "gets" Solomon (some film historians have pointed to this movie as very important in the birth of feminism, especially considering the sad state of women's rights in 1921 when this movie was made). The movie was remade in 1959 by King Vidor as "Solomon and Sheba" with Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida, but it was a much more "conventional" epic. NOTE: Click on linked names to see a biography. If you know who did the art (if any), please let us know. Important Added Info: Note that this is a rare "pre-War" Belgian poster. Prior to World War II, Belgian posters were much larger than the ones from after the war, and they are extremely rare (because during WWII, there was a massive paper shortage in Belgium, and they took virtually every poster and map, and printed new posters on the backs of them!). What IS linenbacking? Learn More UPDATED 09/04/2012: Note that this poster likely dates from 1929, and not from 1921 as we originally indicated. We don't know if that was the first release in Belgium or a re-release. We believe this for two reasons. First, because it says Fox Films and not William Fox, as it would have in 1921. Second, because the imprinted area in the upper-right says "From Friday, May 10th" in Dutch, and that would have fallen in 1929 or 1935. Since we know this was a silent movie it seems highly unlikely it would have played in 1935, but in 1929 William Fox was still making silent movies, so that seems to fit. But do not bid on this poster thinking it is from 1921, because it is likely from 1929. Overall Condition and Pre-Restoration Defects with Quality of Restoration: good to very good. The poster had separation and tiny paper loss at the center of the middle horizontal fold and minor wear on the rest of the foldlines. The entire poster had darkened and there were tears, stains, and areas of paper loss around the edges of the poster, with a few stains scattered in the bottom of the poster. Overall, the poster was in good to very good condition prior to linenbacking. The restorer backed the poster "in the European style", meaning that they did not do restoration to the defects described above. Someone could have additional restoration performed, but I certainly would not, because most of the defects are in the edges of the blank borders, and the poster displays great, and the defects merely reinforce that this is clearly a vintage poster! Learn More about condition grades 
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