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American Morning
Christie's to Auction off Star Memorabilia
Aired July 18, 2001 - 09:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "JEZEBEL")
FAY BAINTER, ACTRESS: Are you out of your mind. You know you can't wear red to the Olympus Ball.
BETTE DAVIS, ACTRESS: Can't I? But I'm going to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: You know that face and those famous eyes. You're looking at a clip of Bette Davis in "Jezebel." She won an Oscar for her role back in 1938. She, in fact, renamed the award Oscar because she said its derriere reminded her of her husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson.
It's true, Leon.
It's being auctioned along with many other celebrity items at Christie's Auction House in New York.
And joining us now, live, from New York is the woman who put this auction together, Margaret Barrett, head of the Popular Arts Department at Christie's.
Good morning, Margaret.
MARGARET BARRETT, CHRISTIE'S: Good morning.
PHILLIPS: OK, lead us through. Tell us about the main attractions.
BARRETT: OK. Well, the main attraction is Bette Davis' Oscar from "Jezebel," 1938 Warner Brothers film, and we have it in for $150,000 to $250,000.
PHILLIPS: Wow! Small price, right?
BARRETT: It's not too bad.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: OK. Now 57 personal items, right, of Bette Davis?
BARRETT: Yes, 57 Bette Davis items, that's right, and then a number of other celebrity items, including this one right here which is a complete outfit from "Planet of the Apes" -- the original 1968 version staring Charlton Heston.
PHILLIPS: Well that's appropriate, the movie coming out.
BARRETT: And here it is. Right. This is from the original, so it is topical. It was worn by one of the extra apes and it -- here's his utility belt and the leather jacket. It's fun.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Margaret, how did you come -- how did you come across these items?
BARRETT: Well, they come from a number of different people, sometimes the stars, sometimes people who knew the stars or collectors of this type of property.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's move on to "The 10 Commandments." I understand you have some...
BARRETT: OK.
PHILLIPS: ... interesting items.
BARRETT: We do. We have the golden calf, actually, right here. This is the golden calf seen in the last scene of the 1956 biblical epic starring Charlton Heston again.
PHILLIPS: Wow! All right, and behind you Christopher Reeves' Superman. Is that...
BARRETT: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Is that the -- that's his original superman outfit?
BARRETT: This is one of the ones from the original version, and he wore this in all the flying sequences. This turquoise is a slightly different color than the normal one -- used for the flying scenes.
PHILLIPS: Wow! Now, how much does that...
BARRETT: And we had this in for -- oh, I'm sorry, $14,000 to $16,000.
PHILLIPS: OK, that's what I was wondering. OK. All right. What else do you have behind there? I see some...
BARRETT: Well, we have...
PHILLIPS: ... red boots behind the superman outfit. Whose red boots?
BARRETT: Yes
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Behind in the...
BARRETT: These are Superman's red boots.
PHILLIPS: Oh no, in the case.
BARRETT: Oh, behind him?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
BARRETT: Oh, these are -- these are Jerry Lewis' from partners.
PHILLIPS: Oh wow!
BARRETT: That's a movie he starred in with Jerry Lewis.
PHILLIPS: Sure.
BARRETT: I'm sorry, with Dean Martin,...
PHILLIPS: Dean Martin.
BARRETT: ... and these are very fun. These are vintage cowboy boots. We have these in for $400 to $600.
PHILLIPS: Wow! Oh, Leon's saying that's a pretty good price.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I know guys that'll pay that much for boots today.
(LAUGHTER)
BARRETT: Right, exactly. And...
PHILLIPS: All right. Marilyn Monroe, you've got some neat stuff,...
BARRETT: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... right? OK, take us to Marilyn's...
BARRETT: And Marilyn is over here.
PHILLIPS: ... area. Wow!
BARRETT: This is a suit she wore in 1951's "Love Nest." which was an early comedy from 20th Century Fox.
PHILLIPS: Did she have the most perfect figure or what?
BARRETT: She did. She was -- she was small but very curvaceous. This is probably a modern day size four so it's actually quite small. And the lapels were changed for different actress's use. When Marilyn wore it, it -- they were white lapels but they changed them to this rust colored velvet. PHILLIPS: Now speaking of clothes, you also have something of Elvis Presley's, is that right?
BARRETT: We do. Elvis is actually...
PHILLIPS: Is that close?
BARRETT: It's at the back of the room here. We have two jackets he wore. He wore one in "Girls, Girls, Girls" and he wore one in "Spinout."
PHILLIPS: As our producer was saying, the jackets have not left the building.
All right, what else...
BARRETT: No, they're still here.
PHILLIPS: What else is interesting?
BARRETT: Well, this -- I like this prop a lot. This is a prop ax that Russell Crowe used in his Academy Award winning film "Gladiator."
PHILLIPS: Wow!
BARRETT: And he uses this in one of the famous battle sequences.
PHILLIPS: All right. Now I know you have a number of photos, too. I see them behind you. Now rumor has it there's a nude photograph in your collection, is that true?
BARRETT: We have a nude photograph of Greta Garbo that has never before been published that was taken by a friend that was very close to her.
PHILLIPS: I can imagine.
BARRETT: And that's -- that's also being sold with a lock of her hair and a piece of her toothbrush and one of her shoes.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's amazing what people keep.
All right, Margaret, before we let you go,...
BARRETT: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... give us the details for tomorrow.
BARRETT: The sale will be here at Christie's in New York July 19 starting at 10:00 a.m.
PHILLIPS: All right. Margaret Barrett for Christie's, thank you so much for being with us and giving us a little sneak preview.
BARRETT: Right. Thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
