USA: ITEMS FROM FILM "THE WIZARD OF OZ" GO TO AUCTION AT CHRISTIE'S

Record ID: 862134

  • Title: USA: ITEMS FROM FILM "THE WIZARD OF OZ" GO TO AUCTION AT CHRISTIE'S
  • Date: 24th May 2000
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MAY 22, 2000) (REUTERS) SLV ZOOM OUT EXTERIOR CHRISTIE'S EAST AUCTION HOUSE SLV/HOLLYWOOD MEMORABILIA ON DISPLAY/PAN TO RUBY SLIPPERS; CU RUBY SLIPPERS; CU LABEL INSIDE RUBY SLIPPERS/FULL VIEW OF THE SLIPPERS (3 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA921V96KNNRI37ETX151QBZEAV
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  • Story Text: One of the world's most famous pairs of shoes, Dorothy's magical ruby slippers from "The Wizard of Oz", will go on sale, along with the Cowardly Lion's costume, this week at Christie's.
    The ruby slippers and the cowardly lion costume are two highlights of the Christie's auction, "A Century of Hollywood"."No place like home" will be someplace new after the auction, this Wednesday (May 24).
    The ruby slipper made for Judy Garland's Dorothy that were supposed to have magical powers in the film, are expected to fetch in the high six figure range.While uncertainty surrounds the number of pairs actually made for the shooting of the MGM production, the provenance of this pair is pristine: they were the second-place award in a promotional contest held by MGM in 1939.Christie's East sold these in 1988 for a then record-establishing $150,000.
    Margaret Barrett, is Department Head of Popular Arts at Christie's said that expectations are high for the Ruby Slippers,
    "We think they will sell on the high six figure range, as will the lion, that's what we're projecting - just because they are so special and they are from one of the most beloved movies ever made"
    Christie's is also offering the Cowardly Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr.The costume, contructed of an Afican lion hide, is archivally mounted on a fiberglass form bearing a replica of Lahr's inimitable face - with glass eyes, whiskers, acrylic teeth and intracate Italian wig work.
    James Comisar of the Los Angeles-based Comisar Collection, the consigner of the sale, explains, "In 1938, when the Wizard of Oz went into production, there was no such thing as fake fur, so the cowardly lion costume is actually constructed out of real African lion hide and like any living animal the lion has very specific markings, whether its hair patterns, the direction of the hair, scratches from fights that the real lion got into before it went to use in the motion picture industry and you can match them like a fingerprint.It's exact"
    Other highlight items in the sale include a Superman costume worn by Christopher Reeve and a rare "six-sheet"
    Casablanca poster.
    But Christie's expects buyers to follow the yellow brick road and break records with "The Wizard of Oz" items.And on Wednesday, Christie's will find out if the yellow brick road is paved with gold.
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