(image source: Nate D. Sanders/CNN)
BY ALLEX CONLEY
Ever wanted to own a tall golden man? Well you’ll be paying a pretty penny - Orson Welles’ 1941 Academy Award for Best Screenplay is up for auction. KSWB has more.
Citizen Kane has long been widely regarded as the greatest film ever made and is considered the iconic writer’s best work.
Oscar winners are asked to sign an agreement with the Academy not to sell their statuettes -- unless they want to sell them back to the Academy. But Welles never gave his John Hancock. So, the golden statuette has gotten around -- seeing some drama of its own. It’s been sold left and right, and -- after a couple of lawsuits -- was finally turned over to Welles’ daughter, Beatrice, who in 2003 gave it to charity group the Dax Foundation.
The Nate D. Sanders auction house now has its hands on the statue, and expects it could fetch up to $1 million. A spokesperson told CNN the house plans to spotlight the statue to get a good price.
“An attempt to sell it at auction in 2007 failed to draw a buyer, Heller said. It was included in a lot of historical manuscripts, not movie memorabilia...”
A writer for HitFix says the statue does deserve a high price -- in fact, it’s only right.
“ … one would hope that … some plucky and disposable income-endowed lover of cinema and kitsch alike will step forward and do the right thing by Orson Welles's Oscar.”
And The Hollywood Reporter says this might be the perfect time -- as movie memorabilia has been in high demand.
“Welles' Academy artifact is just the latest in a slew of Hollywood memorabilia being sold to the public as of late. Items from Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor,Michael Jackson, Steve McQueen and The Wizard of Oz have all been sold recently.”
Indeed, Marilyn Monroe’s famous dress from “The Seven Year Itch” went for $4.6 million. The bidding has begun online, and will end on the evening of December 20.
