OZ Spots: 1980s - “Going, going …”

Frankly, my dear, there’s very little difference!

The poster, above, was used for the video launch of Gone With The Wind in 1979. It’s the original poster of 1939, which introduced the cinema release of GWTW; it fetched a record $3500 at auction in Los Angeles.

Howard Johns, a collector, has described as “a phenomenon” the new interest in movie memorabilia and posters. “Part of the answer is to be found in … the huge popularity that movies and  movie stars have undergone in recent years on television and video,” writes Johns in Australian Antique magazine.

In 2025, GWTW poster skyrockets in price. Posters for Citizen Kane (1941), Dracula (1931) and The Wizard of Oz (1939), among others, double and treble in price. – FM.

Gone With The Wind - Original Poster

Bushrangers: Strong affection 

The RAHS newsletter: The open love affair of bushrangers’ Captain Moonlite and James Nesbitt was real. On close consideration, the bushrangers had a deep and personal relationship. As it turns out, Andrew Scott, aka Captain Moonlite, wrote at least 60 death-cell letters, expressing a strong affection for Nesbitt. He highlighted the fact that he has “clear feelings of admiration” for Nesbitt. He expressed those ”feelings” in letters prior to his execution. In the final letter, Moonlite refers to Nesbitt as being “one in heart and soul.” Scott also wore a ring of Nesbitt’s hair when he ascended to the gallows in 1880. << Frank Morris.

What do you think?

A big shock came to millions people in 1962. Marilyn Monroe, who took Hollywood head-on, had died. Marilyn was born Norma Jean Mortensen, in 1926. She starred in many popular films: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There’s No Business like Show Business and Some Like It Hot. Marilyn said, while on a fashion-shoot, she “always wanted to be a film star”. Along the way she married Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. Her sudden death, and the cause of it  in the early sixties, is still open. Was it murder or suicide? << FM.