Queen of the Night c1920s Swedish Film Poster, Rolf Bethge

Pure silent-era glamour. This rare Swedish film poster for Queen of the Night – Nattens drottning – dates from around 1920 and features American screen star Dorothy Dalton at the height of her fame.

Rolf Bethge’s design is beautifully theatrical: a cool midnight-blue ground, a shower of hand-drawn stars and Dalton’s sharply stylised face. The pale graphic lines and tiny hit of orange-red lipstick give it an elegant Art Deco edge before Art Deco had fully arrived.

Bethge was one of Sweden’s distinctive early poster artists, and this is a superb example of his ability to turn a film advertisement into something genuinely decorative. From the moment when cinema posters were often more daring than the films they advertised. With surviving information scarce, the poster itself becomes the star. Produced for Skandias Filmbyrå and printed in Stockholm, surviving examples are exceptionally scarce – a seductive fragment of cinema’s first golden age.

An extremely rare and important piece of early cinema. 

This original movie poster is sized approx. 22 3/4 x 35 1/8 inches. It will be sent rolled (unframed).

• Year: c1920s
  
• Poster Type: Swedish 1 Sheet Film Poster
  
• Style: 
  
• Rolled/Folded/Other: Rolled
  
• Condition: Excellent
  
• Condition Details: Some nicks, and very small paper-loss on edges. Looks stunning