The ruby slippers from 1939’s The Wizard of Oz are now the most expensive piece of film memorabilia in history.
The shoes, worn by Judy Garland as Dorothy in the beloved film, sold at auction in Dallas for $28 million — $32.5 million including taxes and fees — on Saturday, December 7, Heritage Auctions announced. They are now considered the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia.
One of four surviving pairs worn by Garland in the classic film, the slippers sold for vastly more than the $10 million that the auction house’s executive vice president, Joe Maddalena, initially anticipated. The auction house did not immediately disclose the identity of the buyer.
“There is simply no comparison between Judy Garland’s ruby slippers and any other piece of Hollywood memorabilia,” Maddalena said in a press release. “The breathtaking result reflects just how important movies and movie memorabilia are to our culture and to collectors. It’s been a privilege for all of us at Heritage to be a part of the slippers’ epic journey over the rainbow and off to a new home.”
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The record-breaking ruby slippers were famously stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in the summer of 2005 and recovered 13 years later by the FBI. They were returned to owner Michael Shaw earlier this year before he handed them over to Heritage for inclusion in the December 7 Heritage’s Hollywood/Entertainment Signature Auction, which drew more than 1,800 bidders worldwide.
The single pair of shoes helped Heritage set the record for an entertainment auction: $38,615,188. That shatters the $22.8 million realized during the 2011 Debbie Reynolds auction held by Maddalena.
The sale was also the largest sum spent at an auction for a piece of entertainment memorabilia, exceeding the previous record-holder, Marilyn Monroe’s subway dress from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, which sold in 2011 for $5.52 million with fees, the auction house said.
During the auction, which was reportedly peppered with Wicked and Wizard of Oz references and puns, the auctioneer excitedly held a crouching position à la the Wicked Witch of the West as he pointed to bidders around the room.
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The auction also featured other pieces of Wizard of Oz memorabilia, including a Wicked Witch of the West hat worn by the actress Margaret Hamilton, which sold for nearly $3 million, the auction house said.
Other items that were included in the auction: producer Mervyn LeRoy’s copy of the script from the MGM art department, which sold for $50,000; the screen door from Dorothy’s Kansas home, which sold for $37,500; Garland’s “Dorothy Gale” wig from the first week of shooting, which earned $30,000; and the MGM contract signed by “Over the Rainbow” songwriters Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg, which sold at a final price of $23,125.
