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Christie's, New York City

Bette Davis Oscar Realizes $578,000

by Richard de Thuin

Tourists doing the town flooded into Christie's Rockefeller Plaza showroom in New York City on the morning of July 19 to catch a glimpse of property from the estate of Bette Davis (1908-1989) crossing the block. One could spot the tourists. They were the people without paddles in their hands or auction catalogs on their laps. The tourists sat among collectors and dealers throughout the salesroom, and almost every seat was occupied. Cameramen and reporters from major New York television stations converged in the rear, ready to record the auction highlights for their evening audience.

When lot 93, the Oscar that Davis won for her role in Jezebel (Warner Bros., 1938), came up for bid, a collective sigh filled the room, perhaps in anticipation of how frantic the bidding might be. Nobody appeared disappointed over the final price of $578,000 (includes buyer's premium), given the applause that erupted after the lot went under the hammer, but the cameramen and reporters were left idle. The winning bid came over the phone, and you can't photograph or interview a phone for a television audience.

When the next lot, a script from Jezebel, was about to cross the block, the tourists exited en masse, leaving the serious attendees behind.

Kathryn Sermak, a girl Friday to Davis, consigned to Christie's the actress's property that had been in her possession for many years. (Sermak and Michael Merrill, the son of Davis and her ex-husband, actor Gary Merrill, ensured the continuation of the legacy of Bette Davis when they created the Bette Davis Foundation in 1997.)

There were 68 lots that reflected the career of Davis, and all but one of those lots sold. There were bar items, desk items, kitchen items, credit cards, portrait paintings, cigarette and matchstick holders, many ashtrays (remember, Davis smoked throughout her life, although it's rumored that she didn't inhale), dresses, fashion accessories, hats, luggage, jewelry, scripts, photographs, vintage books, and a Holy Bible.

A top item that came up for bid after the last Davis lot was an archive of material from the collection of Mercedes de Acosta (1893-1968), the Spanish aristocrat and lover of Greta Garbo (1905-1990). Here were black-and-white unpublished snapshots of a topless Garbo with the negatives, taken when the two women had a fling in Silverlake, Nevada; nude negatives of de Acosta shot by Garbo; a lock of Garbo's brown hair in an envelope; pressed flowers; de Acosta's and Garbo's astrology charts; newspaper clippings; magazine articles and biographies about Garbo; and an original screenplay, The Life of Jehanne d'Arc, that de Acosta wrote for MGM and hoped that Garbo would star in. The collection was estimated at $10,000/12,000 and sold to a phone bidder for $23,500.

A photograph of Greta Garbo, one of 12 oversized original print black-and-white photographs in the sale by Hurrell, the resident photographer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the 1930's, sold for $5640. It was from a limited-edition series, numbered 8/50, and depicted Garbo wearing a white fur collar. It was signed by Hurrell in white ink in the lower right-hand corner.

Other property came from the estate of Jock Carroll (1919-1995), a Canadian photographer. There were 11 lots of original still negatives and their associated copyrights to images shot by Carroll that depict Marilyn Monroe in the film Niagara (20th Century-Fox, 1953). Each lot consisted of four 2 1/4 inches x 2 1/4 inches black-and-white or color negatives. Five of the lots passed. A group of color negatives brought the highest bid of $15,275.

Movie memorabilia is becoming younger and younger. Buyers no longer need to wait for decades before a particular film item becomes collectible. A 30 inches prop ax from Gladiator (Universal Pictures/DreamWorks/SKG), released just last year, and used by Russell Crowe, the film's star who portrayed Maximus Decimus Meridius and won an Academy Award for his efforts, was estimated at $1200/1400 and went to a phone bidder at $5875.

The leather and nylon prop scissorhands gloves worn by Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands (20th Century-Fox, 1990), adorned with prop scissors, knives, cutting shears, and pliers for fingers, sold for five times the high estimate at $28,200 to the phone. A color publicity photo signed by Depp and his co-star, Winona Ryder, was included.

A pair of black plastic square-shaped prop eyeglasses designed by Cutler and Gross of London and worn by the comedian Mike Myers in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (New Line Cinema, 1997) had been given to a crew member by the prop master, who predicted that the film would flop. It didn't, and grossed a small fortune at the box office. Included with the eyeglasses were a letter of authenticity and a crew list with the recipient's name on it. The glasses sold above estimate for $3290.

A 10 inches x 7 inches signed letter of reference for Miss Elsa Timner was typed on Walt Disney's personalized stationery by a third party and dated March 27, 1943. Disney's large and bold signature penned in black fountain pen ink appears in the lower right-hand corner of the matted and framed letter that realized $1116.25.

A light-blue metallic bikini and matching striped top worn by the supermodel Daniela Pestova on the cover of the February 20, 1995, issue of Sports Illustrated, with the magazine cover included, sold to the phone above estimate for $1292.50.

A 20-page Official Score Book from Comiskey Park in Chicago was signed on the cover in pencil by Babe Ruth, Fred W. Thylin, and A.J. Mason next to a handwritten date of May 22, 1923. The two interior pages are scorecards that list Yankee players Witt, Dugan, Ruth, Pipp, Meusel, Schang, Ward, and Scott and White Sox players Hooper, McClellan, E. Collins, Sheely, Mostil, Kamm, Elsh, and Schalk. The scorebook brought $1057.50.

The lots had no reserves and, according to the morning auctioneer, Francis Wahlgren, had to sell regardless of the price. So it was that a couple of lots opened bidding at $10 or $25. An original signed sepia print of Carmen Miranda dressed in her typical tutti-frutti costume brought $70.50, and an original script from Secret Service in Darkest Africa (RKO, 1943) starring Rod Cameron and Joan Marsh insulted its $200/300 estimate to sell to the phone for $23.50. Who said there aren't bargains at auctions?

During the afternoon session, when auctioneer Paul Provost stood at the podium, large-scale movie memorabilia items such as a golden calf statue, decorative vase, and cat and jackal statuettes from the 1956 production of The Ten Commandments crossed the block. There were also props from Blade Runner, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Star Wars, and Superman, along with Beatles-related items and baseball and football artifacts.

Too bad the tourists didn't stick around.

For more information, call Christie's at (212) 636-2000 or visit the Web site (www.christies.com).