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A poster producer merely takes a photograph of an old poster and reproduces it on poster stock. Several reproductions of posters from the thirties were done in the big nostalgia crazes of the sixties and seventies. These reproduction posters are not now all that common, and they usually are of films like The Wizard of Oz or Casablanca , where there is a mass market appeal. Reproduction posters rarely adhere to the standard movie poster sizes and their offsize nature and the presence of the name of the poster printer, such as Portal Publications, etc., will be easy clues that the poster is a reproduction. Of the tens of thousands of films made in the twentieth century, only small few have ever had their posters reproduced for mass marketing. There have been and are a few concerns that have printed high grade photographic reproductions of lobby cards and posters, but these concerns advertise their products as such, and collectors will have little trouble in mistaking these posters for the real thing. Very occasionally printers may have been given access to the original plates for a poster but this is rare.
Forgeries and counterfeits are not unknown, but the incidents of this are, in my opinion, uncommon enough not to present a significant worry. Where there is money there can also be chicanery. Beware of what is too good to be true. If you have doubts about an item, you should seek the advice of a good dealer or a trusted collector. They should be able to tell you if a poster is original, reissue, a reproduction or a phony.
A very short history lesson.
Original movie posters have for some years interested collectors. These collectors were often people, usually men (but now we are seeing a healthy interest from women, too), who were big movie fans. Many had worked in the exhibition business, as ad men, theater owners, projectionists, distributors. They had a nostalgia for this material and a knowledge of where these posters could be found: in the old National Screen Service branches and the independently run poster exchanges which existed around the country. They formed the nexus of poster collecting. Some acquired posters in bulk and rewarehoused them. Others simply approached the exchanges and asked if they might buy this or that. They begin to trade with each other. Soon they were getting together at shows and confabs, trading in both posters and actual films. The early conventions happened in the later sixties, but by the seventies, film and posters conventions or shows , were common in the big cities. Stores which specialized in selling movie posters, books and memorabilia began to spring up across the country. Collector's magazines, like The Big Reel and Movie Collector's World began to publish, and it was through publications like these that collectors began to know each other, correspond, and trade. The moment that the first movie poster was sold for a profit, the movie poster dealer was born. The mail order dealer became the chief outlet for much of the trading that was done for many years. Some of the dealers that were there in the beginning are still in business. One publication, The Movie Poster Price Database, lists almost one hundred such dealers in the U.S. alone. In the late 1980s, major auctions of film posters began to be common. When the major auctioneers like Christie's and Sotheby's have made time in their schedules for film poster auctions, it indicates a wider acceptance of these posters as legitimate collectibles. A record of auction prices realized is published by the several auction houses themselves and in such publications as this one and The Movie Poster Price Database. New publications and fanzines come onto the market every year.
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