Many have died trying to posses the Maltese Falcon, but you can acquire it for far less effort, providing you’re the top bidder.
One of the prop statuettes from director John Houston’s 1941 classic film noir will be the centerpiece of the upcoming “What Dreams Are Made Of: A Century of Movie Magic” auction of classic film memorabilia being held by New York fine art auctioneers and appraisers Bonhams and Turner Classic Movies. A portion of the proceeds will be going towards Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, to hwlp fund its ongoing mission of preserving and protecting motion picture history.
Although the complete auction catalog is not yet available, it has been revealed that other items up for auction include a polka-dot dress worn by Joan Crawford in 1945’s Mildred Pierce, Theda Bara’s tiara and earrings from 1917’s Cleopatra, Shirley Temple’s majorette costume from 1936’s Poor Little Rich Girl and John Huston’s handwritten and typed draft of his screenplay for 1948’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Prior to the November 25th auction, there will be a preview of items for sale October 22-27 at Bonhams’s location in L.A. and in New York from November 20-25.
The Falcon up for auction is just one of a small number that were created by the prop makers at Warner Brothers Studios for the film. A prop replica created by the studio for publicity purposes had been on display at the San Fransisco eatery John’s Grill, a favorite of Maltese Falcon novelist Dashiell Hammett back in the 1920s, but was stolen in 2007. It has not yet been recovered.
