Vintage original 27.5 x 39.25 in. Swedish poster from the classic silent film drama, THE WEDDING MARCH, released near the end of the silent film era in 1928 by Paramount Pictures and directed by Erich von Stroheim. The film was co-written by and stars Erich von Stroheim as a young impoverished aristocrat who falls in love with an inn-keeper's daughter (Fay Wray) but has to marry another woman (Zasu Pitts) for her money instead.
The design of this original release Swedish poster is virtually identical to that of the film's U.S. one-sheet poster and features a huge image of Erich von Stroheim (as Nicki, Prince Nickolas von Wildeliebe-Rauffenburg), wearing a military officer's uniform as he inserts a monocle over his right eye, which dominates the top half of the poster. The lower half depicts the film's wedding scene as Nicki marries Cecelia Schweisser (Zasu Pitts) while others watch their nuptials.
Printed for the film's original release in Sweden in July 1929, this vintage original poster is unbacked and folded as originally issued. It is in very fine+ condition without any pinholes or stains and only some light edge and fold wear and very small tears and areas of paper loss in the right half of the top border only. The color tints are fresh and vibrant without any signs of fading and this poster looks every more impressive when appreciated in person.
Collectors are paying top-dollar for unbacked/unrestored examples of desirable posters such as this one, as you know exactly what you are getting in terms of condition.
Erich von Stroheim had a larger project,
but shooting was stopped after nine months. He was ordered to make two films of
the material: this film and its sequel The Honeymoon (1930). The third
part he had planned was never filmed. Von Stroheim supposedly hired real
prostitutes and used real champagne for the brothel scene. The sequence was
shot at night on a locked stage and minimal instructions were given to George
Fawcett and George Nichols. Von Stroheim was renowned for his sadistic tendencies. He made cast member Matthew Betz eat a piece of maggot-infested meat for one scene and deliberately left the camera running until Betz turned pale and started vomiting. Von Stroheim apparently thought this was "funny as hell."
The Wedding March boasted a two-strip Technicolor sequence, running 294 feet in the original version, which occurs in Reel #5, and depicts the celebration of Corpus Christi outside Vienna's Stephansdom. Copies
of the film were few and rarely shown, until von Stroheim was shown
the French copy at the Cinematheque Francaise by Henri Langlois in
1954. Von Stroheim was able to give editing instructions, thanks to which Kevin
Brownlow was able to restore this film to the director's cut, using the
color segment of the Corpus Christi procession, material found only in the USA
version and the copy at the Library of Congress Film Archive, and also
restoring it to the 24 fps speed. The 1998
restoration of this film, with its two-strip Technicolor sequence intact, along with a musical
score by the renowned Carl Davis, received its US television premiere in 2016 on Turner Classic Movies (TCM).