A MAJOR auction of film posters will he held by Christies in London on March 12th. Horror, fantasy and science fiction posters will be among the lots, which are estimated to sell for between Pounds 200 and Pounds 20,000.

The top lot of the sale will be an original French poster for the epic film Napoleon, which was made in 1927 and is considered one of the most important films in the history of the cinema. It is expected to make Pounds 10,000-Pounds 15,000.

The 1936 classic The Invisible Ray, starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, is represented by one of only two known posters, and it too is expected to make up to Pounds 15,000. In the Hollywood goddess section of the sale, a poster of Brigitte Bardot for And God Created Woman carries a modest estimate of Pounds 600-Pounds 900, while an Italian poster for the film noir thriller The Lady From Shanghai, starring Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth, which shows the two stars embracing amidst Chinese dragons, is estimated at Pounds 5,000-Pounds 6,000.

Leading men may command equally high prices. James Cagney, Cary Cooper and Charlie Chaplin will all be sold as poster images. Humphrey Bogart is featured in a rare British poster for African Queen (Pounds 1,000-Pounds 1,500), while a poster for The General Died at Dawn, showing Gary Cooper with a terrified Madeleine Carroll cowering against his chest, is expected to make up to Pounds 3,000.

Other London sales worth noting over the next month include Bonham's annual sale of 20th century furniture and design on February 3rd. Buyers will be hoping to snap up the antiques of the future here, with pieces by Tom Dixon, Ernest Race and Carlo Molino. Estimates start at around Pounds 200.