An Academy Award trophy has sold for nearly 500,000 US dollars and a second for more than 200,000 dollars in a rare auction of Oscars in Los Angeles.
A best-picture Oscar for Gentleman’s Agreement, the 1947 film starring Gregory Peck, sold for 492,000 dollars (£390,850), while a best picture statuette for 1935’s Mutiny On The Bounty fetched 240,000 dollars (£190,650)
Both were outpaced by an archive of papers on the origin and development of The Wizard Of Oz that brought in 1.2 million dollars (£950,000).
Auction house Profiles In History announced the results after four days of bidding on Hollywood memorabilia that brought in more than eight million dollars (£6.3 million) in total.
Other items sold include a TIE fighter helmet from the original Star Wars that went for 240,000 dollars, a Phaser pistol from the original Star Trek TV series that fetched 192,000 dollars (£152,500), a hover board Marty McFly rode in Back To The Future II that sold for 102,000 dollars (£81,000) and a golden ticket from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory that brought in 48,000 dollars (£38,100)
The Mutiny On The Bounty Oscar price came close to auction-house projections, but the Gentleman’s Agreement statuette brought in more than twice what was expected.
The buyers of both Oscars and the Wizard Of Oz document chose to remain anonymous.
SOLD for $256,000 — TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet from Star Wars. (TCF, 1977) View & register to bid on our Hollywood Auction (running through Friday Dec 14) at https://t.co/0tuVJp2hbU pic.twitter.com/4tAthHFOtO
— Profiles In History (@pihauctions) December 14, 2018
Auctions of Oscar statuettes are very uncommon because winners from 1951 onward have had to agree that they or their heirs must offer it back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for one dollar before selling it elsewhere.
The academy has said it firmly believes Oscars should be won, not bought.
Neither of the Oscars sold this week approached the record of 1.5 million dollars (£1.19 million) paid by Michael Jackson to acquire David O Selznick’s Gone With The Wind Oscar in 1999.