A rare collection of 1960s telegrams sent by Hollywood icons including Omar Sharif, Bette Davis, and Roger Moore to celebrate a North Lincolnshire cinema opening is heading to auction at Potters Auction Saleroom on Thursday, offering a tangible window into a bygone era of golden-age glamour.
From Scunthorpe Attics to the Auction Block
Long before digital press junkets and global social media embargoes dictated how a movie reached its public, studios relied on physical telegrams to telegraph prestige—literally. A remarkable cache of these vintage dispatches, sent by some of the biggest names in mid-century cinema for the gala opening of the ABC Doncaster on May 18, 1967, is stepping out of private obscurity and into the public eye. According to the BBC, the collection was carefully preserved by the cinema’s manager, Len Key, and recently brought to light by his daughter, Lesley Hyton, as she clearing out her parents’ home in Scunthorpe.
The Bottom Line
- The Find: Discovered during a house clearance by the daughter of late ABC Doncaster manager Len Key.
- The Stars: Features personal telegrams from Omar Sharif, Roger Moore, Bette Davis, Julie Christie, Raquel Welch, Diana Rigg, Patrick Macnee, and Robert Vaughn.
- The Sale: Handled by Paul Potter of Potters Auction Saleroom in Messingham, North Lincolnshire.
Inside the Archive: What the Stars Wrote
The May 1967 gala evening was no modest affair. According to reporting from the BBC, the opening night featured a gala screening of David Lean’s epic Doctor Zhivago, drawing local dignitaries and cinema executives alike. For 10-year-old Lesley Hyton, who presented a bouquet of flowers to the mayoress amidst a fanfare of trumpets outside the 1,277-seat venue, the night left an indelible impression.
“I remember my hairstyle, I remember the dress I was wearing,” Hyton recalled to the BBC. “[Everybody] I’ve shown them to has said the same. They’re unique, they’re special.”
The telegrams themselves offer a delightful cross-section of mid-century celebrity voice:
- Omar Sharif expressed genuine disappointment over his absence, writing that he was “truly sad” not to be in attendance for the opening night.
- Roger Moore leaned into classic charm, offering “jolly good luck” to the new theater and adding the timeless wish: “May you never know anything other than standing room only.”
- Bette Davis remarked that the news of a new theater opening was “heartening,” explaining in her wire that she was hard at work on the set of her 78th motion picture, The Anniversary.
Alongside the telegrams, the collection preserves period newspaper cuttings and an article from The Daily Cinema, documenting the grand scale of the ABC Doncaster site, which was built as part of a modern shopping precinct and backed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Preserving Ephemera in an Era of Digital Ephemerality
As cultural artifacts, physical telegrams occupy a fascinating space in media history. They represent a tactile form of celebrity communication that has been entirely obliterated by modern publicity machines. Today’s press tours run on algorithmic predictability, but these vintage wires reveal the personal touch points that once connected major studio players to local exhibitors.
| Entity / Item | Key Detail | Source Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Event Date | May 18, 1967 (Featuring a screening of Doctor Zhivago) | BBC |
| Venue Specs | ABC Doncaster: 1,277 seats within a new shopping precinct | BBC |
| Key Contributors | Omar Sharif, Roger Moore, Bette Davis, Julie Christie, Raquel Welch | BBC |
| Auctioneer | Paul Potter, Potters Auction Saleroom (Messingham, North Lincolnshire) | BBC |
Paul Potter of Potters Auction Saleroom captured the sentiment behind the upcoming sale neatly, noting, “It’s a bit of a bygone age and these things don’t want to be lost.”
The Market for Golden-Age Memorabilia
They remind us that the cinematic century was built not just by box-office titans, but by local exhibitors, regional managers, and audiences who dressed up in their Sunday best to watch a yellow ribbon get cut.
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