Richard Steiner, Avondale Estates

Background: As vice president of new media for Turner Classic Movies, Steiner oversees tcm.com and the company's digital products. A serious old-movie buff, he's also one of the office's go-to guys for questions about classic films.

Becky Stein / AJC Special (ENLARGE)

Richard Steiner vows he'll never part with his numbered poster from the 1955 thriller 'The Night of the Hunter.'

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Collecting focus: Vintage movie posters. (Steiner also collects old movie press kits.)

Favorite piece: An original poster for "The Night of the Hunter," a 1955 thriller starring Robert Mitchum and Shelly Winters and directed by the great British actor Charles Laughton. Steiner first saw the movie as a preteen. A few years later, his father bought him the vintage framed poster from a shop in California. The poster is numbered and bears the Canadian Seal of Approval stamp that was common for movies distributed in Canada. Steiner hasn't had it appraised, but similar posters in good condition sell for $500 to $1,000, he said. "It has such huge sentimental value, I'll never part with it."

Why he likes it: Not only is it his favorite classic movie, but he also likes the understated visual power of the poster. "This one is so unusual for its time, in that it is depicting a simple scene from the movie. It doesn't have all the crazy swoops, the kinetic energy, of other movie posters from that era," he said. It's a provocative scene, however. Mitchum, in the role of a preacher, is standing, while a nightgown-clad Winters clutches his side. The name of the artist isn't known, but it probably was done by a studio illustrator, one of the "journeyman craftsmen" who also may have worked in magazine illustration, Steiner said.

Where it's displayed: In the master bedroom. Steiner said his wife initially objected to hanging the poster in their bedroom since it depicts a marriage gone wrong, but he eventually prevailed.

My Favorite Piece is a way to let Atlantans talk about the best-loved works in their collections. If you have a suggestion, email Kirsten Tagami at ktagami@ajc.com.