Profiles in History
On May 14-15, 2011, the auction house Profiles in History will hold one of its largest auctions of Hollywood memorabilia. More than 1,600 unique lots representing a century of movie history, from "Gertie the Dinosaur" to "Pirates of the Caribbean," will go on the block in Beverly Hills, Calif. The sale includes costumes and costume sketches, props, special effects and makeup elements, animation artwork, posters, photographs, film reels, scripts and other cinematic artifacts - including one of the most famous cars in movies, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
By CBSNews.com producer David Morgan
Profiles in History
Marilyn Monroe is shown in costume for the musical number "Heat Wave," from "There's No Business Like Show Business" (1954). The 8 X 10 Kodachrome color transparency of this costume test is expected to fetch $1,500-$2,000; the actual costume, which will go up for auction separately, will likely bring much more.
Profiles in History
At left are two full-length dresses worn by Keira Knightly in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003). The purple taffeta on left features a dark red silk lining, gold embroidery, black brocade underskirt, lace sleeves, a hook-and-eye and button closure at the rear, a bustle of creme colored fabric, and silk buckle shoes. ($10,000-$12,000) At right: Beach slip of creme colored cotton with laceup bodice. ($3,000-$5,000)
Profiles in History
Charlize Theron wore this black spandex catsuit in the 2005 action film "Aeon Flux." Now you can, too, for $8,000-$10,000.
Profiles in History
A large trove of artwork by Tim Burton is on the block, including this original ink, marker and gouache drawing of Jack Skellington from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993). ($6,000-$8,000)
Profiles in History
Look into the crystal ball - the same that Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West gazed upon in "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). Hidden away for years in a prop house, the 25-inch-diameter glass ball had previously appeared on screen in "The Mask of Fu Manchu" and "Chandu the Magician," and was kept by special effects man Kenneth Strickfaden. The ball was authenticated by "Oz" experts who matched bubbles in the hand-blown glass with corresponding blemishes that appeared in the film. ($40,000-$60,000)
Profiles in History
Innumerable rare studio portraits and publicity stills are up for sale, including an oversized gelatin silver matte portrait of Bela Lugosi ($1,000-$1,500), and a camera negative by Roman Freulich of Lugosi in character in the 1931 horror classic "Dracula" ($4,000-$6,000)
Profiles in History
They indeed had faces then: Louise Brooks, in a vintage custom print portrait from Howard Hawks' "A Girl in Every Port" (1928), from Hawks' personal collection. ($400-$600)
Profiles in History
Hollywood glamour photography didn't get much more glamorous that this striking photograph by Jack Freulich of Elsa Lanchester as the Monster's Bride, in "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935). ($4,000-$6,000)
Profiles in History
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ... millions of heads were scratched as moviegoers wondered why the second "Star Wars" film was labeled "Episode V." [Yes, we were blissfully unaware of prequels back then.] The opening crawl for the 1980 blockbuster "The Empire Strikes Back" was comprised of a 21-in. x 29 1/2-in. Kodalith acetate featuring white text on a black background, backlit and photographed at an angle to sweep up to infinity. ($15,000-$20,000)
Profiles in History
This 22 1/2-inch x 32-inch tempera and airbrush illustration of RKO Pictures' logo is one of the most identifiable movie logos, from the studio that brought us "Citizen Kane" and "Cat People." ($40,000-$60,000)
Profiles in History
The sacred and the profane: Costume sketch by Edith Head for "A New Kind of Love" (1963), and J. Arlington Valles' sketch for the character Miriam in "Ben-Hur" (1959). ($400-$800)
Profiles in History
This Anthea Sylbert costume sketch of a maternity mini-dress for Mia Farrow in "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) is signed for approval by director Roman Polanski, and initial OK'd by producer William Castle. ($3,000-$5,000)
Profiles in History
A one-piece bathing suit that adorned Marilyn Monroe in the 1951 Fox film "Let's Make It Legal." The black and gold-metallic jacquard bathing suit with internal stretch-warp sateen insert by Renie and elaborate fully-wired internal flesh-tone nylon and pink taffeta brassiere, adapted by Renie from a Helene of Hollywood original (size C-34). ($20,000-$30,000)
Profiles in History
A black pinstriped vest worn by James Dean in "Giant" (1956). Its missing buttons match what was missing in the film. ($8,000-$12,000)
Profiles in History
A vintage Mollie Parnis-designed green satin dress worn by Christina Hendricks in the series "Mad Men."
($2,000-$3,000)
Profiles in History
Neighborhood trick-or-treaters will run for their lives if you answer your doorbell wearing this full costume from "Aliens" (1986), fashioned by Stan Winston Studios from H.R. Giger's original alien concept. A spandex jumpsuit is fitted with separate components (head, neck ring, ribs, hands, feet, tail, back "horns"), with parts secured by Velcro and the tail by a buckle system around the waist. The rib section, alas, is a replica; all the original alien costumes' rib sections were blown apart by squibs. That'll teach 'em. ($80,000-$120,000)
Profiles in History
An early version of Jerry Mahoney, the dummy of ventriloquist Paul Winchell. Measuring 37 inches, it has a hand-painted wooden head and hands, hand-applied hair and glass eyes, and is dressed in custom-made clothes and black toddler shoes. ($20,000-$30,000)
Profiles in History
The iconic Golden Calf from Cecil B. DeMille's "The Ten Commandments" (1956) is not exactly worth its weight in gold, as it's constructed of cast resin. ($15,000-$20,000)
Profiles in History
When the original poster artwork by Howard Terpning for the 1963 epic "Cleopatra" was unveiled, star Rex Harrison was incensed that it only depicted two of the film's three top-billed stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton - then the most famous couple in the world. Harrison sued, and 20th Century Fox had the artist add Harrison into his original painting. ($60,000-$80,000)
Profiles in History
Stanley Kubrick had many of the props from "2001: A Space Odyssey" destroyed so that they would not turn up again in other, cheaper sci-fi films and TV shows. (Alas, the Space Station model was found unceremoniously dumped in a field near the movie studio a couple of years after "2001" debuted, its faded glory captured in photos before it disappeared for good.) But some of the spacesuits did survive, including this highly-detailed chest-pack - fiberglass with aluminum, plastic and glass fixtures, intricate instruction labels, and three-point quick release buckles intact. ($12,000-$15,000)
Profiles in History
This fine four-fendered friend, built for the 1968 film version of Ian Fleming's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," is one of the most famous cars in movie history. Chitty was owned and cared for by Pierre Picton, who drove the car during shooting in England and on promotional tours. Though other models were built for stunt work (including flying and ocean sequences), this was the only fully-functional road purpose car. Production designer Ken Adam, Rowland Emmett, and the Ford racing team led by Alan Mann built Chitty on a custom ladder frame chassis, its bonnet crafted of polished aluminum, its boat deck hand-crafted of red and white cedar, and brass fittings obtained from Edwardian cars. The alloy dashboard plate is from a British World War I fighter plane.
Profiles in History
The car weighs approximately 2 tons, measures 17 1/2 feet in length, and is powered by a Ford 3 liter V-6 engine (automatic).. This car also carries the official GEN 11 registration plates.
It won't fly, but it does come with a sky-high price: $1,000,000-$2,000,000.
Profiles in History
The Dude's cardigan abides. Jeff Bridges wore this vintage sweater during filming of the Coen Brothers' cult favorite, "The Big Lebowski" (1998). ($4,000-$6,000)
Profiles in History
A complete Raphael costume from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" (1991) includes the head, shoulders, arms and hands, legs and feet, shell and kneepads. ($6,000-$8,000)
Profiles in History
This cop's not stopping for doughnuts! Peter Weller's costume from "RoboCop 2" (1990). Built of fiberglass and painted in iridescent pale blue, with helmet, breast plate, upper arm armor, thigh armor, greaves and feet. Includes solid-resin replica of RoboCop's gun, and is emblazoned with the registration code from the good people at Omni Consumer Products. ($15,000-$20,000)
Profiles in History
The auction is particularly rich in animation, with drawings, cels, background paintings and storyboards from the studios of Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, Walter Lantz and Hanna-Barbera.
At left are original production drawings of two of Disney's most memorable characters: The Evil Queen of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937), and the Blue Fairy of "Pinocchio" (1940). These pencil drawings on animation paper are expected to earn up to $2,000 and $800, respectively.
Profiles in History
This concept painting by Gustaf Tengren (in ink, gouache and watercolor) helped set the tone of the undersea settings of "Pinocchio" (1940). ($60,000-$80,000)
Profiles in History
This conceptual painting by artist Eyvind Earle (tempera on board, 6 in. x 14 in.) depicts Prince Phillip battling Maleficent as the Dragon in the animated "Sleeping Beauty" (1959). The film's dramatic, highly stylized look was shot in 70mm - a first for Disney. ($10,000-$15,000)
Profiles in History
"I'm not bad; I'm just drawn that way." So says Jessica Rabbit in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" (1988). But you can't say this original cel of Jessica (with matching background image of Bob Hoskins) is badly drawn. ($600-$800)
Profiles in History
Production drawings by Glen Keane of "Pocahontas" (1995). ($300-$500)
Profiles in History
An original model drawing, used as a guide for animators, shows facial expressions of Barney Bear, a character who appeared in a series of MGM cartoons from 1939-1954. ($300-$500)
Profiles in History
Pictured are rare two-panel storyboards from "The Snorkasaurus Hunter," a 1960 episode of "The Flintstones." ($600-$800 each)
Profiles in History
Among the many movie posters up for auction is this modernist Italian 4-folio poster by Giuliano Nistri for Mario Bava's horror classic "Black Sunday" (1960), which introduced cult heroine Barbara Steele. ($4,000-$5,000)
Profiles in History
This end title camera logo art for a late-1950s Warner Brothers film was hand-painted on glass. ($8,000-$10,000)