August 10, 2009

The Quick 10: What 10 Movie Props Later Sold For-mental floss

1. The sled from Citizen Kane. One of the balsa wood sleds (there were a couple, and one pine sled) was sold for $60,500 in 1982. Its new owner? Steven Spielberg.

2. The fiberglass “stone” tablets the 10 commandments were written on in The Ten Commandments sold for $81,700 in a 1995 auction at Christie’s.

3. The Aston Martin DB5 James Bond drove in Goldfinger and Thunderball brought in a cool $275,000 at a 2005 Sotheby’s auction. Many of the car’s special features remained intact, included an oil-slick ejector, a smoke-screen system, and two .30 caliber machine guns that come up from behind the headlights. They don’t work, but they’re there. The ejector seat, however, was removed for safety purposes.

4. Wilson, Tom Hanks’ buddy in Cast Away, sold for $18,400. He now resides in the office of FedEx CEO Ken May. At least, he did… when May announced his retirement last year, there was no word of whether he would keep Wilson or leave him for the incoming CEO.


5. Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber from The Empire Strikes Back was sold at an auction in December for the bargain-basement price of $240,000.

6. John Travolta’s white disco suit from Saturday Night Fever was bought in 1978 for just $2,000 by a famous fan: movie critic Gene Siskel. Ebert asked him once if he ever wore it. Siskel confessed that it was too small, but he was just happy to own a piece of his favorite movie. Siskel later sold it for $145,000.

7. The maltese falcon from the movie of the same name went for $398,000 at a Christie’s auction, but even better is the $8 million replica based on the real thing. It’s 10 pounds of 18k gold with ruby eyes and a 42.98-carat diamond hanging from its beak.

8. Speaking of rubies, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz have sold for varying amounts over the years. There are multiple pairs of shoes that are considered authentic, since Judy Garland wore a couple of pairs on set; her double had some as well. One pair sold for $15,000 in 1970 – these are the ones you can see at The Smithsonian today. Another pair was sold to Christie’s auction house in 1988 for $165,000, and was later sold to a memorabilia dealer for $666,000 in 2000.



9. Al Pacino’s hat from The Godfather raked in $20,315 in 2006.


10. One of Michelle Pfeiffer’s catsuits from Batman Returns sold for $8,050 in 1994

No comments:

Daisypath Anniversary tickers