DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions’ Hollywood & Entertainment Signature® Auction, held Saturday, was a thrilling, rollicking affair defined by its numerous bidding wars over some of filmdom’s most recognizable props, costumes and vehicles. And by the time end credits rolled on the blockbuster event, it had realized more than $7.9 million.
More than 1,700 bidders followed the yellow brick road to the century-spanning auction, whose top lot was among its most fabled offerings: The Wicked Witch of the West’s hourglass from The Wizard of Oz, which sold for $495,000. The auction’s final item was the meticulously constructed piece made of wood, papier-mâché and handblown glass filled with red glitter and decorated with gargoyles. The hourglass sold just before time ran out on bidders for whom this auction wasn’t a dream but a place quite literally filled with golden tickets and holy grails.
“From the moment this auction was announced last month, there was extraordinary interest in and affection for every single thing being offered,” says Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena. “I knew it would do well, but from first lot to last, it exceeded every expectation. What’s most rewarding is that these pieces are going to new caretakers as dazzled as I am by the memories and magic they carry with them.”
Two more Oz icons also sold in this auction: A “test” dress that comes closest to matching the blue-and-white gingham pinafore Dorothy wore during her trip to see the Wizard realized $125,000. And an Emerald City townsman’s jacket sold for $37,500. Both classic garments will now reside in The Wizard of Oz Museum in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Bidders sought to do more than just touch the hem of beloved garments: The calf-length red and black-and-white-striped robe Charlton Heston wore as Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic The Ten Commandments realized $447,000. The white ivory cotton bikini worn by Ursula Andress’ Honey Ryder in 1962’s Dr. No sold for $300,000, twice what it brought when first offered in 2001. The candy-colored jacket Dick Van Dyke sported in the “Jolly Holiday” sequence from Mary Poppins danced to a $200,000 finish.
The dress worn by Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music while the Von Trapp children performed “So Long, Farewell” realized $100,000. That’s the same amount for which Marilyn Monroe’s pearl-encrusted mermaid gown from The Prince and the Showgirl sold on Saturday. Speaking of Andrews – while, perhaps, singing “Do-Ri-Me” – the acoustic Goya guitar she used during The Sound of Music sold for $93,750.
Ferris Bueller might have taken a day off, but bidders didn’t as they clamored for two pieces from John Hughes’ film: The patterned sweater vest Matthew Broderick wore while twisting and shouting through Chicago sold for $143,750. But the big-ticket item from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was the precious convertible that belonged to Cameron’s dad: The prop Ferrari 250 GT California replica last seen diving out of the garage sold for $337,500.
Bidders likewise went bananas for cinema’s most famous Volkswagen: A modified 1961 Beetle from Herbie Goes Bananas drove off the lot for $212,500. And all but one lucky bidder had to bid hasta la vista, baby, to the 1991 Harley-Davidson FLSTF Fat Boy that Arnold Schwarzenegger rode in James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which also realized $212,500.
One of the most recognizable rides in this auction was a miniature – the first Y-wing ever built for the Star Wars franchise, the one upon which every subsequent model was based. The so-called “hero buck” historic sculpture realized $175,000.
Bidders frequently tussled over this auction’s props – thankfully, not with the props themselves. The event included some of the most well-known weapons in Hollywood history, including William Wallace’s Claymore sword and sheath from Braveheart. Mel Gibson’s heavy blade, crafted by armorer Simon Atherton, drew a clan of bidders, with the victor claiming the sword for $275,000.
Far smaller but no less sharp and lethal was Freddy Krueger’s razor glove used by Robert Englund in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, which realized $112,500.
The only prop in this auction capable of fending off such weapons sold for $162,500: a Captain America shield used by Chris Evans in Avengers: Endgame. The shield, used in close-ups during the making of the film that helped close Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was created by Marvel Studios Senior Prop Master Russell Bobbitt and initially raffled off in 2020 on behalf of youth empowerment nonprofit Sand Sisters Los Angeles Inc.
The only thing shinier than Cap’s shield was a golden ticket from 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. A gold-foil, screen-used ticket gaining its lucky recipient admittance to Wonka’s candy factory sold for $137,500.
And then, there was the Holy Grail itself, the cup of a carpenter from 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which realized $50,000. No guarantees of eternal life were included with the sale.
