Erich von Stroheim's THE WEDDING MARCH (1928) Unrestored Swedish Poster VF+ Cond

Description

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. V
on 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).