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ROBBY ORIGINAL CINEFANTASTIQUE ART |
Updated: March 18, 2006
Original Jim Thomas artwork of Robbie the Robot from
Forbidden Planet, published in Cinefantastique (Volume 4,
Number 1). Jim Thomas's illustration for CFQ's first article
on Forbidden Planet was published in Volume 4 Number 1 (1975),
one of the earliest issues published and long before the famed
double-issue on the same film. Clarke's subject told of his
love for the film: "FORBIDDEN PLANET is rarely matched, even
today, in its scope, beauty and boundless imagination." The
article was written by Steve Rubin, co-author of the Forbidden
Planet double-issue. The artwork is accomplished in acrylic on
board, and measures 17 in. x 22 in.
Value: $200 - $300
(*) Photos and info courtsey of Profiles in History!
The collection of Cinefantastique publisher Fred Clarke.
When Fred Clarke published his first issue of
Cinefantastique magazine in the fall of 1970, few realized
that it would become one of the longest lasting and
continually published of Hollywood's many industry
magazines, especially with its niche reporting of
science-fiction film and special-effects wizardry. Under
Clarke's guidance, CFQ became an influential, and at times
controversial publication of which even the L.A. Times took
note, labeling it "the little magazine that could" in a 1986
piece. CFQ featured full-color covers, and was renowned for
giving behind-the-scenes information on personalities and
creative decisions that, althoughvery commonplace today,
were taboo during CFQ's early days when the studios
practiced strict control over their film publicity. The
magazine's hallmark, though, was its exhaustive
retrospectives on films such as Them, Forbidden Planet, The
Incredible Shrinking Man and other early science-fiction
classics, offering an emphasis on the technical
sophistication of these films, as well as their underlying
themes.
As CFQ grew in success over the next 20 years, Clarke
branched out into other publications such as Femme Fatales -
which editor Bill George termed a "Sports Illustrated
Swimsuit Edition of Cinefantastique" - as well as
Imagi-Movies and Anime-Fantastique. Femme Fatales was
enormously popular from day one, and it soon surpassed
parent CFQ in sales.
Clarke was a huge fan of the films he covered in his
magazines, and he amassed an impressive collection of
original cover artwork created for Cinefantastique and his
other publications. Along the way, Clarke also acquired some
key pieces of science-fiction props and set pieces through
his many relationships with industry propmakers, art
directors and costumer designers. Perhaps most important
among these many treasures are a number of Gene
Roddenberry's personal hand-annotated scripts from Star
Trek, as well as the famous "Gorn" mask used in the Star
Trek original series episode, "Arena". This amazing piece
was previously considered lost, and only recently surfaced
after Clarke's death in 2000.
Offered here are select items from Fred Clarke's estate.
Each of these lots - be it original CFQ artwork or rare
collectibles of science-fiction film - is a testament to
Clarke's legacy as a pioneering force in film journalism,
who brought the wonders of science-fiction and fantasy films
to a wider audience.
[References: John Thonen, Cinescape]
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