Dorothy's Red Shoes Could Fetch $3/4M

You're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. You're on the auction block -- and those size 6-B ruby slippers custom made for Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz might sell for $750,000, according to collectors.

Those slippers will highlight a Christie's East sale of Hollywood and television memorabilia in the May 24th auction.

Also included in the auction are the Cowardly Lion's Oz costume, a Rolls-Royce from the James Bond classic Goldfinger and Christopher Reeve's Superman capes and body stockings.

The Lion getup, worn by Bert Lahr in the 1939 family classic, could fetch $600,000, collectors said. The Roll-Royce, a 12-cylinder, dual-ignition 1937 Phantom 111, probably could be driven home for about $200,000.

Costumes worn by Reeve in 1978's Superman and the 1980 follow-up, Superman II, are expected to sell for about $40,000 each.

Television memorabilia up for sale include the black wool yachting cap worn by Alan Hale, as the Skipper, in Gilligan's Island (estimate $10,000) and a cigarette lighter inscribed with a love note that Lucille Ball gave to Desi Arnaz ($1,000).

Christie's declined to place official sale estimates on the Oz treasures.

"Props from that period are very rare," Christie's pop art specialist Sarah Hodgson told the Daily News.

Christie's sold a pair of the Oz slippers in 1988 for $150,000, then a record. They were among seven or eight pairs worn by Miss Garland while filming the 1939 MGM classic.

Christie's will also be auctioning a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin that is expected to bring $1-1.5 million on May 5th.

The violin, an example of the master violinmaker's golden period, will be sold with other fine musical instruments.

"There's quite a bit of interest in "the Taft" (as the violin is called) by private parties," said Kerry Keane, the new head of Christie's Musical Instruments department.