The following is a press release regarding next month’s Christies South Kensington Film and Entertainment Memorabilia auction on December 19, 2007:
NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOWBUSINESS AT CHRISTIE’S SOUTH KENSINGTON
Film and Entertainment Memorabilia
Christie’s South Kensington
Wednesday 19 December 2007, 10.30amLONDON – Over 200 lots of memorabilia from the stars of the stage, screen and musical worlds will be offered on 19 December 2007. Spanning 50 years of show business, the sale offers props, property, costume, scripts and all manner of autographed memorabilia from some of the most iconic actors and actresses of all time. Estimates start from £400 for a signed publicity photograph of Laurel and Hardy circa 1930s, but for those with deeper pockets, highlights include:
Steve McQueen – Crash Helmet
Steve McQueen’s personal crash helmet worn by him for off screen driving in the late 1950s and early 1960s and given by him to the vendor, a mutual speed enthusiast and prop-hand working on The War Lover (1961) at Shepperton Studios, London where McQueen was filming. The vendor didn’t wear a helmet on his own bike which is probably why McQueen gave him his own at the end of filming before returning to the States, writing inside it “Wear it in good health, Steve McQueen” (estimate: £25,000-30,000).
Michael Caine
A collection of key costumes used by both Caine and his stuntman-double Joh Morris with whom he worked for over 14 years in the 1960s-1970s. Items on offer include: the black Aquascutom trench coat worn by Caine as Jack Carter in the 1971 classic Get Carter, (estimate: £2,500-4,500); Harry Palmer’s Russian ‘style’ fur hat used in Billion Dollar Brain (1967) (estimate: £2,000-3,000); and the distinctive think-framed spectacles used by Morris when standing in as Palmer in The Ipcress File (1965) and the nest two films in the Harry Palmer trilogy (estimate: £1,000-2,000). There are also scripts from various Caine films including The Italian Job (1969), estimates from £300.
Audrey Hepburn – Charade
A three-quarter length yellow wool coat by Givenchy, and a cream wool short-sleeved dress, made for Audrey Hepburn in the 1963 thriller Charade, co-starring Cary Grant (estimate: £10,000-15,000)
Walt Disney – Animation
A selection of original celluloids used during production of some of Disney’s best-loved classics including Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937), Fantasia (1940), Pinocchio (1940) and Peter Pan (1953), estimates range from £1,500 to £6,000.
Star Wars – C-3PO
A hand from the android C-3PO from Star Wars (1977) – the hand was donated by George Lucas to The Friends of The Joffrey Ballet of Sacramento, California to raise funds via a sealed bid auction in 1989. It has remained with the successful bidder until now. (estimate:
£4,000-6,000)Marilyn Monroe
A strong Marilyn Monroe section leads with her personal script for her notorious last film Something’s Got to Give, 1961. The script – heavily annotated in pencil in Marilyn’s hand with her observations, questions, criticisms and suggestions for dialogue and direction amendments – provides a fascinating insight into Monroe’s thought process and the intensity of her involvement with the development of her character (estimate: £14,000-16,000). Other rarities in this section include a Marilyn Monroe calendar from 1955 comprising four revealing images of Monroe inside a “peep-hole” sleeve printed with the tag-line “The Most Talked of Calendar In the World, all for the bargain price of 50c!” (estimate: £4,000-6,000). Also two scarce editions of Playboy magazine, one a first issue from 1953 features Monroe on the cover and inside nude as the first ever “Sweetheart of the Month” (estimate: £1,000-1,500). The other, a Seventh Anniversary Issue, December, 1960, features a pictorial toast to Playboy’s very first playmate The Magnificent Marilyn, signed by Monroe herself and by Hugh Hefner and others elsewhere (estimate: £2,000-3,000).
The view is free and open to the general public from Saturday 15 December:
For opening times please see below.
The view will close at 5pm on Tuesday 18 December.
Christie’s Film and Entertainment sales are held annually at Christie’s South Kensington in December. In the last two decades, Christie’s has sold memorabilia ranging from Bette Davis’ Academy Award for Jezebel to the sled from Citizen Kane. Most recently in June 2005,
Christie’s New York auctioned The Personal Property of Marlon Brando which totalled $2,378,300 and set a new world auction record for any film script with Marlon Brando’s working script for The Godfather, 1972 which sold for $312,800. Exceptional prices have included $666,000 for Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz film and $1,267,500 Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” Dress. Christie’s also sold Audrey Hepburn’s Iconic little black dress from the 1961 classic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s in December 2006 for £467,200, breaking the world record for a dress made for a movie.Christie’s holds annual entertainment memorabilia sales in South Kensington, London and New York.
CHRISTIE’S SOUTH KENSINGTON
85 Old Brompton Road, London, SW7 3LD
Monday 9.00am – 7.30pm
Tuesday to Friday 9.00am – 5.00pm
Saturday & Sunday 10.00am – 4.00pm
Public Information: www.christies.com / 020 7930 6074
Jason De Bord