Cinema posters top of bill at £200k

A film buff is set to pocket up to £170,000 today from the auction of a stunning archive of cinema posters - reports The Sun.

The mystery collector spent 50 years amassing 312 bills promoting some of the biggest movies of the 20th century.

All are first-run ads printed before the movies became hits.

One is a highly sought-after poster of The Great Escape only made for UK audiences.

It shows Steve McQueen in an RAF jacket rather than his iconic leather bomber, and is expected to fetch £1,200.

A 1963 poster for James Bond film From Russia With Love is valued at £3,500. And a rare Star Wars one, used only in Britain and redesigned after six weeks, is priced at £1,500.

The most expensive is a 1941 bill for Humphrey Bogart film High Sierra, estimated at £10,000.

Other rare works include a 1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's poster at £4,000.

They were collected by an American living in the UK - who is selling them in Reading, Berks.

Cameo Auctioneers said: "They've shot up in value during the recession as they're seen as a stable investment."

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