Superhero poster fetches over £18,000

Revived classic: The 1930s Mummy starred Boris Karloff (picture shows 1950s Hammer poster)

A rare poster advertising the 1930s film classic Flash Gordon fetched £18,800 when it went under the hammer in London on Tuesday.

The poster was part of a 3,500-strong collection of vintage movie posters auctioned at Christie's.

The Flash Gordon poster dates from 1936

Among the collection was a poster for the 1932 horror movie Dr X, which sold for £9,400.

And a poster from the 1932 film The Mummy, which starred Boris Karloff, sold for £3,760.

The sale fetched £308,802 in total.

The collection was sold by Belgian Baron Alexandre de Groote.

It was amassed by his father, who was given his first poster by a cinema owner in 1935.

Screen goddess

The collection encompassed every film genre and many were used to advertise now prized classic movies.

They included a poster advertising the 1961 Audrey Hepburn movie Breakfast At Tiffany's, a best-seller in the past.

There were also several posters from the James Bond movies, which are a collector's favourite.

Screen goddess Marilyn Monroe was also represented with a poster from The Seven Year Itch.