Lions, Pianos And Boomboxes, Oh My: Movie Artifacts Hit The Auction Block

Transcript

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Lions, pianos and boomboxes, oh my. Last night was a Hollywood night at Bonhams Auction House in New York City. As NPR's Jasmine Garsd reports, artifacts from some of the most iconic films sold for millions.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CASABLANCA")

INGRID BERGMAN: (As Ilsa Lund) Play it once, Sam. For old times' sake.

DOOLEY WILSON: (As Sam) I don't know what you mean, Ms. Ilsa.

JASMINE GARSD, BYLINE: That's Ingrid Bergman and asking Dooley Wilson to play the piano in the 1942 Academy Award-winning film "Casablanca."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CASABLANCA")

WILSON: (As Sam, singing) You must remember this. A kiss is just a kiss. A sigh is just a sigh.

GARSD: That very same piano sold for more than $3,000,000.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE WIZARD OF OZ")

BURT LAHR: (As The Cowardly Lion) What makes a king of a slave? Courage. What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage.

GARSD: Late actor Burt Lahr played the cowardly lion in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz." The movie was an instant American classic and won three Oscars. Last night the Lion's suit sold for more than three million. Also, in last night's auction, the giant boombox carried by Radio Raheem in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DO THE RIGHT THING")

BILL NUNN: (As Radio Raheem) Let me tell you the story of Right Hand, Left Hand. It's a tale of good and evil. Hate. It was with this hand that Cain iced his brother.

GARSD: When "Do the Right Thing" came out in 1989, it was ranked one of the top films of the decade by Siskel and Ebert. The boombox sold for more than $9,000. Jasmine Garsd, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.