Books

17 theatrical promotional items for the 1954 CIA distortion of Orwell's Animal Farm, including: [1] the original one-sheet poster (41 x 27 inches); [2] eight numbered lobby cards (each 278 x 458 mm); & [3] eight numbered b&w marquee stills (each 206 x 254 mm). The film was commissioned in 1951 by E. Howard Hunt (under orders from the CIA), as a propaganda initiative against Stalinist Communism, following acquisition of the film rights from Orwell's widow (on the condition she get to meet her idol, Clark Gable). With majority funding from CIA front company, Touchstone Inc, producer Louis De Rochemont engaged the Halas & Batchelor animation studio in London to undertake history's first animated feature film for adults (1951-4), which was ultimately released in the US, 29 December 1954, & UK, 13 January 1955. This version however, distorts the original ending, the pigs being killed (covert interference rejoining the earlier Soviet 'fix' which dissuaded Jonathan Cape from publishing the book). The one-sheet poster, stamped verso: "Animal Farm | 1 Sh. | 55/183", has no pinholes or tears. The lobby cards are very good without pinholes, with numbers 1, 2, 3, & 8 slightly toned & dirty at the borders. Number 1 also has two large corner folds. All in nice condition, the stills are numbered AF1, 6, 8, 12, 14, 28, 45 & 54. A remarkable set of display material for this historic film (which lost the BAFTA award for Best Animated Film of the year to Norman McLaren's Blinkity Blank).

Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who revolt against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where animals can be equal, free, and just. However, the revolution is hijacked by the pigs, who become just as oppressive as the humans. Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution and the subsequent Soviet Union.