List of film memorabilia

This is a list of film memorabilia, as well as their current owners and the last price paid for them, where available.

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

• Audrey Hepburn's "little black dress" (plus a few other minor items) fetched £467,200 ($923,187) for the City of Joy Foundation in 2006.^[1]

Casablanca (1942)

• In 1988, the piano played by Sam in the Paris flashback went to Japanese trading firm C. Itoh & Co., whose winning bid of $154,000 was on behalf of an unnamed client.^[2] It was sold again in New York City on December 14, 2012, at Sotheby's for more than $600,000 to an anonymous bidder.^[3]

• On November 24, 2014, the piano on which Sam plays "As Time Goes By" in Rick's Café Américain (and in which Rick hides the letters of transit) was sold for $2,900,000 (the buyer's premium bringing the total to $3,413,000) by Bonhams in New York City.^[4][5] In the same auction, the only known surviving copy of the transit papers, though apparently not used onscreen,^[6] went for $118,750 (including buyer's premium).

• Captain Renault's white uniform fetched $55,000 in the June 2011 Debbie Reynolds auction.^[7]

Cavalcade (1933)

• The film's Best Picture Oscar statuette fetched $332,165 at auction in 2012.^[8]

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

• The only fully functional car of the six made for the film was authenticated by the star, Dick Van Dyke, and put up for auction by Profiles in History. However, the initial price of $950,000 failed to attract any bids. It was later sold to an unnamed buyer for $800,000.^[9]

Citizen Kane (1941)

• Steven Spielberg paid $60,500 (including 10% commission) for the only remaining balsa "Rosebud" sled used in the Orson Welles film Citizen Kane. It was auctioned June 9, 1982, by Sotheby's in New York.^[10][11] Welles stated in a telephone interview that there were three sleds made of balsa, which were intended to be burned in the final scene, and one hardwood sled that was used earlier the film.

• The painted pine "Rosebud" sled used in the earlier part of Citizen Kane was sold for $233,500 at auction December 16, 1996, by Christie's in Los Angeles. The purchaser was not identified.^[12] It was from the estate of Robert Bauer, an Army retiree who in early 1942 was a 12-year-old student in Brooklyn and a member of his school's film club. He entered and won an RKO Pictures publicity contest and selected Rosebud as his prize.^[13] Bauer's son told CBS News that his mother had once wanted to paint the sled and use it as a plant stand. "Instead, my dad said, 'No, just save it and put it in the closet.'"^[14]

• Herman Mankiewicz's Oscar was sold at least twice, in 1999 and again in 2012, the latest price being $588,455.^[8]

• Orson Welles' Oscar was offered for sale at Sotheby's in New York in December 2007, but failed to reach its estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million.^[15] The statuette, believed to have been lost by Welles, was rediscovered in 1994 and was owned by the Dax Foundation, a Los Angeles-based charity.^[15] It was sold at auction in 2011 by an anonymous seller to an anonymous buyer for $861,542.^[16]

• Welles' personal copy of the last revised draft of Citizen Kane before the shooting script was sold in December 2007 at Sotheby's in New York for $97,000.^[15]

• A working draft script for Citizen Kane was sold for $11,000 by Christie's in December 1991. The second-draft script is marked "Mr. Welles' working copy" in pencil on the manilla cover. The Christie's lot also included a working script from The Magnificent Ambersons.^[17] The working draft alone was sold at auction by Sotheby's on March 5–6, 2014. Expected to bring between $25,080 and $33,440, it sold for $164,692.^[18]

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

• Bids for a Darth Vader costume failed to meet the reserve price in 2010, stopping at £150,000.^[19]

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

• Marilyn Monroe's red-sequined dress was auctioned off for $1.2 million in the June 2011 auction of Debbie Reynolds' collection.^[7]

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

• The Academy Award for Best Picture statuette went for $95,600 in 2004, then $274,520 in 2012.^[8]

King Kong (1933)

• £121,250 ($200,305), including buyer's premium, bought an armature/skeleton of the largest of the miniature models of Kong in November 2009.^[20]

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

• There were several statuettes made - two lead ones weighting 47 pounds (21 kg) each, and a seven pound (3.2 kg), more finely crafted, resin model - all handled by Humphrey Bogart. Christie's auctioned off one of the lead ones on December 6, 1994 for $398,500 to Ronald Winston, president of Harry Winston, Inc.^[21] A lead Falcon, the only one confirmed to have appeared in the movie, was sold at auction to an unidentified buyer for $4,085,000 (including buyer's premium) on November 25, 2013.^[22]

Metropolis (1927)

• An original poster set a record by selling for $690,000 in 2006.^[23][24] The third most expensive poster is also for this film, going for $357,750 in 2000.^[24]

My Fair Lady (1964)

• Audrey Hepburn's Ascot dress sold for $3,700,000 ($4,551,000 with additional fees and taxes) in the June 2011 Debbie Reynolds auction.^[7]

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

• The white suit worn by John Travolta was purchased by the now deceased film critic Gene Siskel in a charity auction.^[25]

The Seven Year Itch (1955)

• Marilyn Monroe's "subway dress", the one whose skirt was raised by the updraft from a passing subway train, brought $4.6 million, not including an additional 20% buyer's premium, in the June Reynolds auction.^[7]

Star Wars (1977)

• A still-functioning Panavision PSR 35mm camera used to film Star Wars went for $625,000 in the December 2011 Reynolds auction, breaking records for Star Wars memorabilia and vintage cameras.^[26]

Superman (1978)

• Christopher Reeve's Superman costume brought in $115,000 at a 2007 Hollywood auction.^[27]

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

• Four pairs of the ruby slippers in the style familiar to viewers are known to have survived. One pair is on permanent display at the National Museum of American History, a gift from an anonymous donor. This is probably the pair sold at the 1970 MGM auction for $15,000. Another pair was sold to Michael Shaw the same year. While on display at the Judy Garland Museum, it was stolen in 2005 and never recovered. Philip Samuels paid $165,000 for a set in 1981. The fourth pair was last sold in 2000 to David Elkouby and his partners for $666,000. Actress Debbie Reynolds purchased a much more fanciful Arabian-motif pair of slippers that was used only in costume tests before being rejected. It was sold in the first of a series of 2011 auctions of her extensive collection, going for $510,000, with the buyer's premium and taxes raising the total to $627,300.

• Judy Garland's blue cotton dress, used in test shots^[7] or during the first two weeks of filming,^[28] was sold in Debbie Reynolds' 2011 auction for $910,000.^[7]

• Two sets of Cowardly Lion costumes exist. The question of which was worn by Bert Lahr is disputed. One set, initially part of the MGM auction, was sold by sculptor Bill Mack in 2006 for $826,000.^[29] The other costume, supposedly rescued from the trash bins at the MGM auction, was in the possession of noted collector James Comisar until November 24, 2014, when it was sold at a Bonhams auction in New York for $3,077,000 (including buyers premium).^[5][30]

• The Scarecrow costume, less the mask (which had to be replaced repeatedly during filming), is held by the National Museum of American History.^[31]

• The Wicked Witch of the West's black hat went for $197,400 in 2008.^[32]

• $115,000 was paid for a Winkie costume in 2007.^[27]

References