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  • Cowardly Lion Costume Sells For $3 Million

    The Cowardly Lion costume from the iconic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has sold for over $3 million at auction.

    During the Bonham Turner Classic Movies auction, a buyer purchased the costume, which was worn by Bert Lahr in the film and was owned by Los Angeles TV museum founder James Comisar, for a whopping $3,077,000. That price included a buyer’s premium of $477,000.

    As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the costume was found by a junk collector in an old MGM building.

    Cosimar purchased the costume and had it analyzed, which proved that it was worn on screen by Lahr. Cosimar later had the costume, which is made out of real lion’s fur, preserved by professional museum curators.

    According to the auction’s website, the costume was “designed by Adrian and constructed of lion skin and fur, featuring a hidden zipper front and an attached tail verso, now displayed on a custom figure featuring a photo-realistic head sculpture cast directly from actor Bert Lahr’s son replete with optical glass eyes and Italian human hair wig & mane and footwear constructed out of lion pelt.”

    Another item that fetched over $3 million at the auction was the piano that Dooley Wilson played in the classic film Casablanca. The very unique item, likely built in 1927, sold for $3.4 million which included a buyer’s premium of $513,000.

  • “Casablanca” Sequel Could Hit Theaters

    “Casablanca” Sequel Could Hit Theaters

    “Casablanca” is widely considered to be one of the best films classic Hollywood has to offer, with its iconic imagery and quotable lines which have snaked their way into pop culture’s consciousness. And now, some 70 years later, there might be a follow up.

    Apparently Howard Koch, one of the screenwriters of the original film, penned a sequel focused on the 20-something son of Ilsa and Rick–as well as the search for her lost love–but never did anything with it. When he let film producer Cass Warner read it before his death in 1995, she says, she was immediately gripped by it.

    “It was just gold,” Warner said. “When he pulled that out and showed it to me, I almost fainted.”

    Warner, who is the granddaughter of Warner Brothers co-founder Harry Warner, knew right away that she had something good. The problem was, Warner Brothers didn’t think they’d be able to find the right director and passed on it. But she hasn’t given up despite the protests of people like Stephen Bogart, son of Humphrey.

    “There are certain films, like The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and, of course, Casablanca, that need to stay as pristine and perfect as they are,” he said.