The white bikini worn by Ursula Andress was first sold by Andress for £41,125 in 2001. It was later auctioned in November 2020. The actual winning bid is not specified, but pre-auction estimates were between $300,000 and $500,000.[6]
The two-piece costume worn by Rita Hayworth in the "Amado Mio" nightclub sequence was offered as part of the "TCM Presents ... There's No Place Like Hollywood" auction on November 24, 2014, at Bonhams in New York. It was estimated that the costume would fetch between $40,000 and $60,000; it actually sold for $161,000.[7]
Indiana Jones' trademark fedora hat sold for £320,000 (around $425,000)—£393,600 (about $520,000) with the 23% buyer's premium—in a September 2018 auction.[8][2]
The white suit worn by John Travolta was purchased by film critic Gene Siskel in a charity auction for about $2000.[10][11] He sold it for $145,000[11] (or £93,000)[12] to an anonymous bidder at a Christie's auction around 1995.
Marilyn Monroe's white 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 2011 Debbie Reynolds auction.[4]
In 2010, bids for a Vader costume used in Empire failed to meet the reserve price, stopping at £150,000.[14]
In June 2017, Vader's helmet sold for $96,000 at an auction.[15]
In September 2018, bidding for Han Solo's jacket from Empire stalled at £450,000 ($630,742), below the reserve price of £500,000 ($700,825), so it was not sold.[8]
In July 2020, a silver space suit was sold at auction in Los Angeles for $370,000, exceeding its estimate of $200,000–300,000. Four layers of paint indicate it was used in multiple scenes. The helmet of the suit had been painted green at one stage, leading to a belief that it may have been worn during the scene where Dave Bowman disconnects HAL 9000.[19]
Four pairs of Dorothy's 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 recovered in September 2018. On December 7, 2024, this pair was sold at auction for $28 million by Heritage Auctions ($32.5 million after auction fees are included),[20] making it the most "valuable movie memorabilia ever sold at auction," according to Heritage Auctions.[21]
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[4] or during the first two weeks of filming,[22] was sold in the 2011 Debbie Reynolds auction for $910,000.[4]
Garland's "blue and white gingham pinafore with a fitted bodice and a full skirt", believed to be one of two she wore on-screen, went for $1,565,000 (including buyer's premium) in 2015.[23][24]
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.[25] 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 buyer's premium).[26][27] According to Comisar, the "unique fur swirls" confirm that his costume was the one worn in key scenes.[28]
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.[31] It was sold again in New York City on December 14, 2012, at Sotheby's for more than $600,000 to an anonymous bidder.[32]
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.[33][26]
In the same auction, the only known surviving copy of the letters of transit, though apparently not used onscreen,[34] went for $118,750 (including buyer's premium).
The 1940 Buick Phaeton driven by Captain Renault, with Rick Blaine, Ilsa Lund and Victor Laszlo as passengers, to the airport in the final sequence was sold by Bonhams in November 2013 for $380,000[35] ($461,000 with the buyer's premium).[36]
The two Ford Mustang GTs used in the film disappeared for nearly four decades. The one in better shape was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit on January 14, 2018,[37] coinciding with the unveiling of the 2018 special edition Mustang commemorating the 50th anniversary of the movie. The other one, missing some parts, resurfaced in a custom car paint shop in Mexicali, Mexico.[38]
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.[39]
Steven Spielberg paid $60,500 (including 10% commission) for the only remaining balsa "Rosebud" sled used in the Orson Welles film. It was auctioned June 9, 1982, by Sotheby's in New York.[40][41] 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 the film was sold for $233,500 at auction December 16, 1996, by Christie's in Los Angeles. The purchaser was not identified.[42] 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 won an RKO Pictures publicity contest and selected Rosebud as his prize.[43] 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.'"[44]
Indiana Jones' bullwhip, used in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, cost the winning bidder $216,000 in 2014.[47]
Two Aston Martin DB5s are said to have been driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965). (Another two were used for promotion.[48]) One of the screen-used ones was reported stolen in 1997.[48] The other was purchased by Harry Yeaggy at an October 2010 auction for £2,600,000 ($4,600,000 with auction fees included).[48] A fully restored promotional DB5, with all the Bond modifications working, sold for $6,400,000 in a 2019 auction.[49]
There were several statuettes made of the Maltese Falcon—two lead ones weighing 47 pounds (21 kg) each, and a 7-pound (3.2 kg), more finely crafted, resin model—all handled by Humphrey Bogart. Christie's auctioned off one of the lead ones, a gift from Warner Bros. studio head Jack Warner to William Conrad, on December 6, 1994, for $398,500 to Ronald Winston, president of Harry Winston, Inc.[54][55] A lead falcon, the only one confirmed to have appeared in the movie, was sold at auction to an unidentified buyer for $3,500,000 ($4,085,000 including buyer's premium) on November 25, 2013.[56][57] It was later revealed that the Falcon was bought by a representative of Steve Wynn.[54] Documentary director Ara Chekmayan (Children of Darkness) and "Internet entrepreneur" Hank Risan each claimed to have the resin version.[54] Chekmayan's was sold at auction in 2000 for $92,000; ten years later, a group that included Leonardo DiCaprio bought it for over $300,000.[54]
The chess set used in the match between the knight and Death, missing the white king (which was damaged during production), sold for one million Swedish krona ($143,000 at the time).[59]
A still-functioning Panavision PSR 35mm camera used to film Star Wars (1977) went for $625,000 in the December 2011 Reynolds auction, breaking records for Star Wars memorabilia and vintage cameras.[60]
In June 2017, an R2-D2 droid "compiled from parts" used during filming of the trilogy sold for $2,760,000, setting the record for Star Wars memorabilia.[15]
Only two Everlasting Gobstopper props are known to exist. The first was sold for $42,500 at auction in May 2011; the second was kept by Julie Dawn Cole, who played Veruca in the film, and was sold from the Dreier Collection in July 2012 for $40,000.[2]
An original poster set a record by selling for $690,000 in 2006.[64][65] The ninth most expensive poster is also for this film, going for $357,750 in 2000.[66]
Producer Hal B. Wallis's "working copy of the shooting script" sold for $68,750, including buyer's premium, on November 25, 2013.[68]
Citizen Kane (1941)
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 manila cover. The Christie's lot also included a working script from The Magnificent Ambersons.[69] 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.[70]
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