How to Murder a Rich Uncle: Charles Addams Preliminary Art

An original drawing by Charles Addams is currently listed on eBay by an established seller with the all-too-convenient name masteraddamsgreatescape. The 15" x 16" (by sight) work is framed and double-matted. It carries the hefty asking price of $35,000. The seller lists it as PUBLISHED—just like that, in all caps—but has not backed up that assertion with any evidence, even in lower-case.

Now, Addams's classic published cartoon panels are usually in the medium of ink and wash en grisaille on paper. The work in question is a detailed pencil drawing far more typical of an Addams rough.

Of course, this might not be a freestanding cartoon panel at all. The two malevolent onlookers are in no way essential to the humor of the piece. What we have here must be a story illustration of some sort.

The cutaway wall is a seldom-used device in cartoons coming, perhaps, from the stage. It is hard to visualize how this drawing might have been done without it.

Charles Addams
eBay listing accessed May 28, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116492511122?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20250324084321%26meid%3D874440461ddb4618aa5b900beaba9986%26pid%3D101949%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26itm%3D116492511122%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2WithMLRPboosterAndUpdatedFeatures_BP&_trksid=p4375194.c101949.m162918&_trkparms=parentrq%3A19dcb5701970a62e2b65507cffffcd12%7Cpageci%3A50fa6bf5-3c34-11f0-bbfa-0af78e789258%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage

Charles Addams
eBay item description
"Looks incredible hanging on the wall or in the mancave . . . "

Just maybe the seller is aware that the asking price is on the high side. I received a "special offer" to buy the item at a discount. The deal, alas, is expiring today:

Why then have a pencil drawing so detailed that the seller believes it was actually published in this form? The answer is that this is a preliminary design for a movie poster. As such, it would have had to go through a thorough approval process with the studio. Here is the finished version of the poster art:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050527/

"How to Murder a Rich Uncle"
Charles Addams
Preliminary poster art
1957

The finished art was also printed on a lobby card. This one is currently listed on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/401054484780

The movie used another Addams design as well:

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0050527/mediaviewer/rm933018625/

August 17, 2025 Update:  The eBay seller must have seen my post. Now he knows this was created for a movie and he almost has the title right. He bought a set of lobby cards to include with the framed art. He still calls this a published pencil drawing—and it is still a rough. He has made the 12% discount available to all comers, but the price still seems on the high side.

Note:  If you have some original Charles Addams art of your own hanging in the mancave and you can think of a blog more worthy of posting it than this one, by all means forward your images there. Otherwise, I await your submission.

04960

Jean-Jacques Sempé: From Mao to Mozart Poster

Cartoonist Jean-Jacques Sempé (1932-2022) was completely at home in the world of music. His movie poster for the French-language version of From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1979) expresses the joys and challenges of music making in the monumental shadow of Mao. An example came up for auction yesterday at Eldred's in Hanover, Massachusetts. Spoiler alert: It did not find a capitalist buyer.

Jean-Jacques Sempé
Eldred's, July 21, 2023, accessed July 20, 2023

https://www.eldreds.com/auction-lot/movie-poster-by-new-yorker-cartoonist-jean-jacque_C6A4F8FBD8

There was no activity on July 9, twelve days prior to the sale.

There were still no bids on July 20, fifteen hours before the sale.

Ultimately, there was no sale:

04388

Tall, Dark...and Handsome?

In yesterday's post, readers may recall, I got on my high horse and very matter-of-factly stated that the copy in a 1949 Alemite ad by Peter Arno featuring a fortune-teller should read "tall, dark, and handsome" rather than just "tall, dark." At least that's what sounded right to my ear. In the light of a new day, it still does.

You'll meet a tall, dark man on "A"-Day!
Peter Arno
Alemite advertisement
The Saturday Evening Post, December 17, 1949

https://www.ebay.com/itm/274370421763?ul_noapp=true

Yet I will always entertain other opinions, and what opinion could be more authoritative on this blog than that of the New Yorker editors who okayed a vintage New Yorker cartoon? Specifically it is the cartoon by Leonard Dove from the issue of January 11, 1941 that brings us into the parlor of another fortune-teller, this one reading tarot cards rather than gazing into a crystal ball:

"But I've already met a tall, dark man."
Leonard Dove
The New Yorker, January 11, 1941, page 13

That's interesting in that it's very similar in both setting and wording to the Arno ad of 1949 and it treats "tall, dark man"—without the addition of "handsome"—as an established cliché. Next thing you know, the movie "Tall, Dark, and Handsome" was released on January 24, 1941, less than two weeks after the publication date of this issue of the New Yorker. That movie may well have enshrined the expression "tall, dark, and handsome" in the language for keeps.

"Tall, Dark and Handsome" movie poster, 1941

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034262/

Except that, come 1949, it didn't affect the caption, as it were, of Arno's Alemite ad. Of course, we don't even know whether Arno wrote the final copy himself. It's possible the words "and handsome" were left off deliberately to keep the ad's large-type words short and punchy. But it's also possible that Arno created the ad with Dove's cartoon in front of him, or at least in his thoughts. (It could also be that he remembered the expression as he'd heard it before 1941.) All of which might go a long way to explaining the apparent similarities between the Dove cartoon and the Arno ad, but alas it is only speculation. So that's where things will have to stand, at least for now.

Cartoons by Richard Taylor and Leonard Dove

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1941-01-11/flipbook/012/

July 3, 2020 Update:  The Facebook group Vintage Panel and Gag Cartoons has proven quite useful once again. A Playboy cartoon by Erich Sokol published in February of 1972 provides further evidence for the common usage of tall dark—no comma needed, apparently, for the Playboy reader—without handsome. So now we have examples of this trope from 1941, 1949, and 1972 which agree with each other…and not with me. It is high time that I admit I was wrong.

"But I don't want to meet a tall dark man. How about a tall blonde woman?"
Erich Sokol
Playboy, February 1972

Scan by George Topham Hayes

Enhanced by Larry Miller III 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/610832789365480/?post_id=955531421562280

November 5, 2023 Update:  A cartoon from the 1970's by Barney Tobey favors the rule of three, but it avoids the word handsome.

"You will meet a tall, dark, attractive Reagan man."
Barney Tobey
The New Yorker, December 22, 1975, p. 35

Image added November 5, 2023

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1975-12-22/flipbook/034/

Cartoons by Lee Lorenz and Barney Tobey

Note:  All right, I'll get off my high horse now. Readers are asked to submit evidence of how good-looking men were described, whether as "tall, dark" or "tall, dark, and handsome," in the 1940s and later. Opinions are welcome as well.

Sound the fanfare. This is my one-hundred thirtieth post about Peter Arno, a subject who never fails to fascinate me. Readers are invited to keep me going by submitting original Arno art, letters, published rarities, or memorabilia for discussion on the blog. Help me to get back on my high horse.

On the other hand, this is only the sixth post here to mention Leonard Dove. One could argue that I am more in need of material about him to balance things out a bit on the blog.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Peter Arno

Leonard Dove

Movies

Advertising

Attempted Bloggery's Tall, Dark Index

03268

The Three Stooges: "Uncivil Warriors" Movie Poster

I might not be the best person to explain the visceral comic appeal of "Uncivil Warriors" (1935) starring the Three Stooges. The two-color one-sheet movie poster from the estate of Moe Howard does have its goofy visual charm and a stellar provenance. It sold at auction late in June for $37,500 including the buyer's premium. There's nothing goofy about that.

Three Stooges
Nate D. Sanders Auctions
June 28, 2019

https://natedsanders.com/LotDetail.aspx?inventoryid=53674#BiddingTag

"Uncivil Warriors" (1935)

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:


The Three Stooges

Attempted Bloggery's Index Brimming with Southern Hospitality

03003

The Comedians: Lost in Translation

From today's poster sale at Swann Auction Galleries, two classic comedy teams are depicted in three overseas movie posters. Mickey Mouse joins Laurel and Hardy for good measure.

Jano, The Marx Brothers, "Un Dia en las Carreras"

Laurel and Hardy, "Hijos del Desierto"

Stanlio e Ollio 

Swann Auction Galleries, February 12, 2015, Lot 197
Hammer Price $350

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=2373+++++197+&refno=++690763

Swann Auction Galleries, February 12, 2015, Lot 198
Hammer Price $350

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=2373+++++198+&refno=++690777

Swann Auction Galleries, February 12, 2015, Lot 199
Unsold

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=2373+++++199+&refno=++690759

Note:  Check out more of my blog posts featuring posters.

You know, I also have more about Marxism.

And more Laurel & Hardy.

01426

Touchdown Mickey

Walt Disney's "Touchdown Mickey" is an animated short released eighty years ago in 1932. Are we surprised to learn that Mickey Mouse is the most popular player on his football team? Even the hot dog vendor and his hot dogs cheer for Mickey. So let's all admire Mickey's fighting spirit as he avoids the worst of the fray and concentrates on reaching the end zone. For me, the short is marred by what I take to be an unfortunate black-face gag in the closing moments.

Walt Disney Studios, "Touchdown Mickey" 1932 Layout Drawing
 Bonhams Los Angeles
December 21, 2008

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16151/lot/1657/?search_query=1&division=None&passages=True&earliest_first=True&country=None&past_sales=past&back_to_year=2003&sale_no=None&top_level_department=None&department=None&query=Touchdown+Mickey&create_facets=True&value_data_currency=GBP

Walt Disney Studios, "Touchdown Mickey" 1932 Layout Drawing

 Bonhams Los Angeles Auction Listing

December 21, 2008

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16151/lot/1657/?search_query=1&division=None&passages=True&earliest_first=True&country=None&past_sales=past&back_to_year=2003&sale_no=None&top_level_department=None&department=None&query=Touchdown+Mickey&create_facets=True&value_data_currency=GBP

Walt Disney Studios, "Touchdown Mickey" (1932) Video Still 2:51

Walt Disney Studios, "Touchdown Mickey" 1932 Layout Drawing
 Bonhams Los Angeles
December 21, 2008

http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16151/lot/1657/?search_query=1&division=None&passages=True&earliest_first=True&country=None&past_sales=past&back_to_year=2003&sale_no=None&top_level_department=None&department=None&query=Touchdown+Mickey&create_facets=True&value_data_currency=GBP

Walt Disney Studios, "Touchdown Mickey" 1932 Poster Reproduction

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TOUCHDOWN-MICKEY-FOOTBALL-POSTER-WALT-DISNEY-/350322149128?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5190d3c708

"Touchdown Mickey" (1932)

Walt Disney Studios

0598

A Popeye Poster

This one-sheet film poster featuring Popeye was published in 1950. It publicizes the cartoon shorts that were being made at the time by Famous Studios.

Popeye poster, 1950

Profiles in History Popeye Poster Listing

http://bid.profilesinhistory.com/Popeye-Cartoon-mint-condition-1950-color-stock-1-sheet-poster_i11537936

Popeye poster, 1950

Popeye the Sailor - 

Beach Peach (1950)

Note: My last Popeye post can be found here.

0399

Some Like it Hot Film Poster

What's in a title? Writers Billy Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond were not native speakers of English, yet they understood the nuances of the language so well that they could deftly produce brilliant screenplays. I doubt that either of them could have heard the nursery rhyme "Pease Porridge Hot" while growing up, yet the title of "Some Like it Hot," one of the funniest movies ever, is certainly derived from this. In the dialogue from the movie, though, the title phrase specifically refers to a musical preference for syncopated jazz. Or does it?

The vintage 1959 film poster from Billy Wilder's "Some Like it Hot" tells a different story about the title's meaning, one that has nothing to do with peas porridge or syncopated rhythms. Mother Goose would be proud.

Some Like It Hot 

1959, United Artists, U.S. one-sheet -- 41 x 27 in. (104 x 69 cm.), linen-backed, (A-)

Price Realized May 2, 2012

£1,375
• ($2,229)
• Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium and do not reflect costs, financing fees or application of buyer’s or seller’s credits.

Estimate 

£700 - £900
• ($1,114 - $1,432)
• 
  
• Sale Information

Sale 6887 Lot 569
Christie's Interiors including Vintage Film Posters 
2 May 2012
London, South Kensington 

Marilyn Monroe - Shell Oil

320