Britain’s biggest private film collection including more than 15,000 titles is set to go under the hammer.
Film fanatic Anthony Sherratt spent decades building up a huge archive of DVDs, Blu-rays, LaserDiscs and soundtracks spanning every era of cinema.
The lifelong movie buff, who died in July aged 90, also amassed thousands of film magazines, reviews and memorabilia celebrating over a century of the silver screen.
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“He was passionate about film and had an extensive collection of films on every format, thousands of vinyl soundtracks, and film publications,” his nephew Jason Garbett told Need To Know.
“You’d go around and there would be a different film on every time – it was a treasure trove of movies.
“He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of cinema and would put together lists matching up double features and tributes to Hollywood stars.
“Tony was as interested in new films and modern cinema as he was in vintage classics.
“Right up until his dying day he was still ordering films from America.”
The mammoth collection includes everything from Hollywood classics to modern blockbusters – with genres ranging from westerns, sci-fi and thrillers to romance, comedy and musicals.
Auctioneers say the sale could take three to four months to complete.
Mr Sherratt spent most of his working life at the Tamworth Herald, where he became TV and film critic in the mid-1990s – turning his passion into a career.
Over the years he travelled the country covering film festivals, premieres and press screenings, interviewing stars including Jack Nicholson in 1998 for the Journal magazine in Sutton Coldfield and Walsall.
A member of the Guild of Regional Film Writers, he scooped the Ainsworth Award for Film Journalism in 1994.
His love of cinema also inspired his family.
Mr Garbett, 60, a retired TV studio director, said: “We loved spending time with Tony.
“Both of us started our careers inspired by him – my sister Kate works in the film industry on Hollywood blockbusters.”
Mr Sherratt’s favourite genres were westerns and musicals, but his passion extended to all corners of movie history.
Among his collection are rare issues of Picture Show Annuals from 1925 to the 1960s, every Annual Film Review from 1944 to 2015, and nearly every copy of Picturegoer from the 1920s – including the rare wartime editions.
He also gathered stacks of Empire magazines and dozens of signed photos from stars and directors, mostly from the 1980s and 1990s.
The collection is being auctioned by Richard Winterton Auctioneers, with the first instalment starting on Monday (20 October) and further batches going up for sale each week.
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