Collection Spotlight: “I Was an American Spy” One-Sheet
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 290
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The  I Was an American Spy  one-sheet is an easy Ann Dvorak poster to disregard, at least for me. It’s not a rare poster – there’s three of them on eBay right now. There are so many copies of this thing floating around that it was the first large piece of Ann paper I ever obtained, sometime around 1998. So, not only is it something I have had long enough to take for granted, but it shows up so often that it’s kind of a bore to see.
However, when you really stop to look at it, the poster does have its merits. This is one of the few films where Ann Dvorak was the bonafide star, meaning it’s also one of the few posters that focuses on her. How could we not love that giant brooding Ann head? While running into this one may be yawn-inducing for an Ann Dvorak collecting snob like me, it’s a piece of Ann that’s easy to find and affordable for someone wanting some vintage memorabilia. I paid $20 for this poster 15 years ago and you should not pay much more.
Finally, any paper with Ann Dvorak on it is worthwhile, so that’s really reason enough to celebrate the I Was an American Spy one sheet.
Leave it to a “snob collector” to try and entice us amateurs into the hobby. So we buy a $20 original Ann poster, and before we know it, we’re spending $200 or $2000 for “must have” memorabilia!
For the record, $450 is the most I have ever paid for anything of Ann…well $600 if you count the scrapbook and other personal items this year. 😀