A 1927 window card — the small, heavy-stock format printed with a blank top band for a theatre to overprint its own name and dates — for the Universal production directed by Paul Leni. Leni arrived from Germany and brought the visual grammar of the Weimar studios with him. The film established the 'old dark house' comedy-thriller as an American form, and its shadowed corridors run straight into the Universal horror cycle of the following decade. The blank band across the top: window cards were finished locally, and this one was never overprinted, which is why it survives unmarked. The German shadow, naturalised in an American hallway.

Maker: Unknown
Date: 1927
Medium of the original: Poster
Original held by: Wikimedia Commons
Credit: Wikimedia Commons · via Wikimedia Commons
Rights: Cleared for print
Catalogue number: PA-00770

As chosen: 12 x 18 in, art print, classic frame
Picture	12 x 18 in
Outside size	13.6 x 19.6 in
Depth	0.9 in (22 mm)
Weight	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: shipped weight per size and frame]]
Hanging	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: hanging hardware Prodigi fits to this frame]]
Material	Enhanced matte art paper, 200 gsm; acrylic glazing
Made in	Charlotte, North Carolina, by Prodigi

Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.

How the print check works

Sizes offered
Size	dpi	Grade	How it fits
8 x 12 in	252	Excellent	Trimmed 4.5%
12 x 18 in	168	Good	Trimmed 4.5%

Sizes withheld
Size	Why
8 x 10 in	Wrong shape: a 20% crop
11 x 14 in	Wrong shape: a 19% crop
12 x 16 in	Wrong shape: a 15% crop
16 x 20 in	Wrong shape: a 20% crop
16 x 24 in	126 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
18 x 24 in	Wrong shape: a 15% crop
20 x 30 in	101 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
24 x 30 in	Wrong shape: a 20% crop
24 x 36 in	84 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
30 x 40 in	Wrong shape: a 15% crop
36 x 48 in	Wrong shape: a 15% crop
40 x 60 in	50 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged

Scanned

2026-10-07

Master file

2,021 x 3,173 px, srgb, Display

Tone

Darks 24, lights 199 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark

Colour

15.6% vivid

Sharpness

11.23

Notes

Colour profile Display, converted to sRGB for the screen and the print
Vivid colour: canvas or luster paper shows it best
Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned

Shipping for this piece to a US address is $25.90, the print room’s own rate, charged per piece. Checkout shows the total before you pay.

Every piece is printed after you order it, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ships from there. For now we ship to US addresses only.

A piece that arrives damaged, misprinted or in the wrong size is replaced at our cost. The details: shipping and returns and replacements.