Gown Trumps Bond Guns At Auction
Guns and a gown were the most sought-after items at a memorabilia auction at Christie's International in London on Tuesday, CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata reports.
Dozens of prop guns used in the James Bond film franchise were auctioned off including the Walther sniper rifle from "The Living Daylights" and Halle Berry's Beretta from "Die Another Day."
A Walther PPK 7.65 mil that has been 007's weapon of choice since 1962's "Dr. No" was the centerpiece of the Bond items, with a winning bid of $89,000.
But the item with the most firepower of all was the famous Givenchy gown Audrey Hepburn wore in the 1961 film "Breakfast At Tiffany's."
The black, sleeveless, floor-length gown fetched the equivalent of a staggering $920,000 — more than six times the pre-sale estimate.
Photos: Bond meets the Queen
Photos: A peek at "Casino Royale"
Photos: Daniel Craig, the blond Bond
According to the Christie's Web site, it is a world record for a dress made for a movie.
Proceeds from the sale will go to the charity City of Joy Aid, which helps India's poor.
"There are tears in my eyes," said Dominic Lapierre, who was selling the dress on behalf of the charity. "I am absolutely dumbfounded to believe that a piece of cloth which belonged to such a magical actress will now enable me to buy bricks and cement to put the most destitute children in the world into schools."
Hepburn wore the dress for one of her best-known roles, as eccentric Manhattan socialite Holly Golightly in the 1961 film adaptation of Truman Capote's novel.
The opening scenes of the film show Holly in the dress emerging from a taxi on Fifth Avenue with her brown-bag breakfast to ogle diamonds and luxury goods in the storefront windows of Tiffany & Co.
Images of Hepburn dressed as Holly— with gloves, an elaborate pearl choker and trademark cigarette holder — still endure.