Follow the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood memorabilia auction LIVE, going on now- Page 4

[artscallion]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 8:00am

Why do I keep picturing David Geffen standing in front of a gilded mirror in a cream sundress, with an overturned fan at his feet?

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 8:36am

I'm sure he has an overturned fan at his feet almost every night.

But the sundress makes the picture!

[nygrl232]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 8:55am

Yeah--there are insanely rich people trying stuff on right now, or hiring really petite people to do so. Especially in the case of the Ascot dress. That thing wouldn't fit around a standing halogen lamp.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 9:05am

I just hope some rich guy's "non-Audreyesque" daughter doesn't try to squeeze into it for the prom.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 9:10am

Daddy, I wanna try on that purty dress you done bought!!!

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 9:12am

My eyes, my eyes!

EDIT: That's Marilyn Mon-NO!!!

Updated On: 6/19/11 at 09:12 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 9:26am

According to this blog, from an eye-witness of the auction, you'll have to look overseas for many of those big-ticket items ...

I was a little surprised that Streisand's dresses didn't sell better from Funny Girl and Hello, Dolly! Of course, I say that only in context of how well other iconic dresses sold that were worn by iconic stars. Her duds fetched prices above their estimates, but no crazy bidders at all. The most was $100K for the Harmonia Gardens dress in Dolly. The Funny Girl stuff did fine ($65K for her roller-skating dress "I'm the Greatest Star" but the "My Man" dress sold for "only" $16K).
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[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 9:37am

Thanks for posting that article. I'm glad to know a lot of those items will be in a museum. Even if that museum is in Japan.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 9:43am

... or Saudi Arabia.

Glad to know we could all pitch in with our gas prices to help them by a sundress ... or perhaps a pair of Arabian Shoes. Hey, maybe they're just bringin' 'em home.

[nygrl232]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 10:22am

Criminy. Well, no one wanted a museum here and no one wanted to take care of the collection, so Debbie didn't have a lot of recourse. If some creepy middle eastern dude who tells women to wear burquas and sh*t now owns a piece of Marilyn or whatever memorabilia, that's the fault of the morons who couldn't be bothered to curate the stuff in the first place.

Debbie said in an interview that a lot of her stuff came from auctions that were held because the moguls were more interested in money, space and real estate than props and costumes. Seems like not much has changed, at least in the immediate vicinity of Hollywood.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 11:05am

I'm just glad I got to see her collection together before it scattered around the globe. This is no different than multi-million-dollar paintings by Van Gogh, etc., that hang as "corporate art" in the board rooms of big Japanese corporations.

They're the ones with the money right now who can afford to buy. I just hope they take good care of the merchandise, but I would have the same concern (actually probably more concern) for some of the nutty collectors here in the States.

[Kad]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 3:50pm

Sorry, best12bars, I really didn't see that you had just posted that. I was scouring the thread for news about that dress, I guess I somehow missed that.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/19/11 at 4:48pm

No worries!

Hey, I just read the grand intake for this auction was $18.7 million.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 4:27am

I'm glad Debbie will be able to live out her life in comfort without worries of money problems. $18.7 million is an amazing total, though I somehow thought it would be a little higher, considering there was more than $9 million in just two items!

But the fact that these aren't being kept in a Hollywood film museum is just heart-breaking. And the prices for some of these items were just scandalous! I mean, I could afford some of them!!! A couple of hundred dollars for a piece of film history! And for costumes I can remember seeing in wonderful films...

The Funny Girl costumes actually broke my heart - I thought they were worth so much more! I was watching a lot of it live, and some things I thought would be valued through the roof (Singin' in the Rain, for example) actually surprised me for not going for all that much.

[nygrl232]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 5:14am

This is reminding me of an episode of Amazing Stories that Mark Hamill did in the 80's called "Gather Ye Acorns." He collects what others think is junk and just toys, and winds up with a majorly valuable array of items that wind up at an auction. He retires a millionaire.

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 8:05am

I should explain that the 18.7 million is Debbie's haul. That total does not include the commission being paid.

Many of the news stories that have been carrying this have misquoted the amounts, by including the commission. I suppose that's fine, but it's misleading, and that's not how the bidding is done.

The Seven Year Itch sundress sold for 4.6 million. The commission was $1,058,000, bringing the total spent to 5.6 million. Some people are reporting that it went for 5.6 million. Not true. It went for 4.6 million.

The My Fair Lady dress went for 3.7 million. Commission was $851K. Total spent was 4.5 million.

You have to realize, too, that even with these big-ticket items, the majority of the sale had items under $20,000. Probably 90 percent. And hundreds of items under $5K. It takes a whole lot just to rack up $1 million of those.

So at first I was surprised that it was "only" 18.7 million, until I looked it over more carefully and realized that was pretty accurate. Of course, I could pull out my calculator and give an exact total. If anybody wants to do that, be my guest! Here's the link with all the final amounts:

LINK

Updated On: 6/20/11 at 08:05 AM

[paradox_error]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 8:33am

Of course, I did know that. I guess the total commission was about 4 or 5 million...

I certainly wouldn't complain about an $18.7 million dollar haul being wired to me. But to me this collection was worth even more...

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 8:42am

I hope Debbie's happy, at least. (I'm sure she is!)

If you look closely at the sold prices, some are more impressive than they seem at first glance...the big Marilyn dress sold for 4.6m, four and a half times its start price, but some of the smaller items went down a treat as well, such as the Easter Parade poster which sold for $4,000, ten times (!) its start price.

Also, the items which don't list a sold price remain unsold, right?

Updated On: 6/20/11 at 08:42 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 10:09am

Yes, there were some items that didn't sell (Bob Fosse's jacket, some furniture pieces, and others). One sofa from some movie (I forget now) had a starting price of $30K. If they can't get an opening bid to match it, the item goes unsold. There were very few, though, and most sold higher than expected. I remember hearing that they valued her collection, pre-auction, at "over $10 million." So $18.7 is nearly double that.

I agree that, as a movie lover, I think it's worth more, and I believe history is showing us that many of these items are increasing in value the same way fine art or antiques increase.

There are certain stars that have faded in their recognition, and as a result, some of their costumes and belongings are either just maintaining value or even losing it.

I look at it this way ... if you still see them on coffee cups, T-shirts, ads, and billboards, this is a sign that their fame is holding up incredibly well. It's a small group of icons, really:

Marilyn Monroe
Elvis
Audrey Hepburn
Shirley Temple
James Dean
Marlon Brando
Charlie Chaplin
John Wayne
Judy Garland
Elizabeth Taylor
Grace Kelly

Second-tier icons (not everywhere, but still seen a lot in merchandise and most people, not all, still know who they are, even if they've never seen a film of theirs):

Greta Garbo
Joan Crawford
Bette Davis
Rudolph Valentino
Laurel & Hardy
Gene Kelly
Clark Gable
Vivien Leigh
W.C. Fields
Mae West

One that should be on that list, but isn't, due to an estate (aka widow) who rarely licenses his likeness: Fred Astaire. I fear if she doesn't loosen up soon, he will fade away as an iconic image. Sure, his films will be left, but most of the fame and popularity of the people listed above has little to do with their film work, at this point. Everybody knows who Marilyn Monroe is, and her image is everywhere, but I'll bet a whole lotta younger people out there have never seen one of her films, even if they can identify her. Same with James Dean, Charlie Chaplin, and others. That's what I mean by "icon status."

With these costumes, if you have an icon wearing an iconic costume (seen and recognized), you've got a hot ticket item that will only increase in value in years to come. I wouldn't be surprised if 20 years from now, one of those Monroe dresses sells for over $10 million. Same thing with the (authentic) Ruby Slippers, if/when a pair ever comes up for sale again.

On the flip-side, I'm starting to see items from Mary Pickford, Ginger Rogers, Harold Lloyd, Betty Grable, Montgomery Clift, and so many others starting to fade. They will always be remembered and celebrated by classic movie fans, but their "icon status" is beginning to wane. And so will the value of items associated with them.


EDIT: I think that's what I find most fascinating about this auction. In most cases, not all, it's a bunch of rich people trying to buy fame.

I wonder if the person who shelled out 4.6 million for Marilyn's sundress has ever seen "The Seven Year Itch." Or even knows who the dress designer is (it's Travilla, by the way). This isn't someone who is appreciating the artist so much as appreciating fame in today's "market." That may be a cynical opinion, but it's how I see it. And let's face it, "The Seven Year Itch" isn't in a class with Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music, Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane, King Kong, Star Wars, etc. It's a decent film version of a Broadway comedy. The price-tag has nothing to do with the movie or Travilla, the creator of the dress, however. I have no doubt that true fans also bid on (and won) items in this sale. But I have no doubt that others who merely see them as marketable commodities also walked away with big items. That's what is fascinating to me and always has been: the "business" part of the "show." Art and commerce together in the same room.

Updated On: 6/20/11 at 10:09 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 11:46am

Besty, didn't you say this was just the first of a few auctions she was going to have?

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 12:37pm

I didn't say that myself, but I've heard it from several people, including one bidder.

The weird thing, and I know it's been 15 years now, but when I saw her "entire" collection displayed at her hotel in Las Vegas, this was pretty much it. I remember everything that just sold, except for the documents and posters. Only some posters were on display.

I don't know what she has left, honestly. The only dress I recall seeing at her hotel that wasn't auctioned here was the red party dress from Unsinkable Molly Brown. I imagine she's keeping that for sentimental reasons.

But I can't think of another piece from her museum that didn't already come up for auction.

Yet, I've heard from several people that this is the first of several, even as many as four auctions. I'm really curious to know if that's true and what she has left.

... and why it was not on display in her hotel, 15 years ago. Unless it's all more recent stuff (?). Don't know.

Updated On: 6/20/11 at 12:37 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 12:39pm

Like most hoarders, she probably had multiple storage lockers filled with her stash.
Updated On: 6/20/11 at 12:39 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 12:49pm

I should add that there were a few more things in her museum in Vegas that she sold earlier on to try to help finance her dream of a new museum. I remember that BOTH red-sequined dresses from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes were on display, side by side. She sold Jane Russell's dress previously, plus Irene Malloy's Harmonia Gardens dress from Hello, Dolly.

I saw both of those in Vegas, but I didn't expect them to be in this auction.

I'm anxious to know if:

a) I'm just not remembering everything she has(had), although I was such a crazy film buff even then, and seeing her collection made an enormous impact on me.

b) it's all new stuff, acquired in the past 15 years.

c) it's not true, and this was the only auction.

d) it's mostly paperwork, posters, and scripts, etc.

e) she's a hoarder and she owns everything ever worn in every movie ever, and she needs to seek counseling.

[Q]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 1:04pm

Reports I've read indicate one other auction to take place in December.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 6/20/11 at 1:05pm

That's what I read somewhere also, Q. Although I can't find the original source anywhere now.