Movies
not including Cars in movies and Celebrities by Warhol
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Screen worn Textiles Rolex
Chronology : 1939 1941
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Screen worn Textiles Rolex
Chronology : 1939 1941
1930 Gary Cooper as The Texan by Rockwell
2007 SOLD for $ 5.9M by Sotheby's
In 1930 Norman Rockwell got some issues about a conflict between two contracts. For keeping cool, he accepted an invite for a leisure stay near Hollywood.
Rockwell desired a model for preparing a drawing for the Saturday Evening Post that would mingle the cowboy attire and the movie industry. He imagined an actor dressed in chaps, boots, and spurs having his lips painted by a make-up man in an offstage scene.
Gary Cooper was a nice guy and a handsome man. He accepted. Rockwell pictured him perched on a saddle having his makeup applied, wearing his full Texan costume, including his boots with spurs, leather chaps, holstered gun and embroidered vest. The tools of the assistant are tucked behind his ears, draped on his lap, and dropped at his feet.
The Western film The Texan was released on May 10. The picture was the cover page in color of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, including a chalkboard inscribed with the movie title and the name of its director John Cromwell.
The oil on canvas 89 x 69 cm was sold for $ 5.9M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M by Sotheby's on November 28, 2007, lot 36.
On the romantic side, Rockwell met his second wife while he was painting Cooper.
Rockwell desired a model for preparing a drawing for the Saturday Evening Post that would mingle the cowboy attire and the movie industry. He imagined an actor dressed in chaps, boots, and spurs having his lips painted by a make-up man in an offstage scene.
Gary Cooper was a nice guy and a handsome man. He accepted. Rockwell pictured him perched on a saddle having his makeup applied, wearing his full Texan costume, including his boots with spurs, leather chaps, holstered gun and embroidered vest. The tools of the assistant are tucked behind his ears, draped on his lap, and dropped at his feet.
The Western film The Texan was released on May 10. The picture was the cover page in color of The Saturday Evening Post on May 24, including a chalkboard inscribed with the movie title and the name of its director John Cromwell.
The oil on canvas 89 x 69 cm was sold for $ 5.9M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M by Sotheby's on November 28, 2007, lot 36.
On the romantic side, Rockwell met his second wife while he was painting Cooper.
1939 Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz
2024 SOLD for $ 32.5M by Heritage
A dream world can not become obsolete because, since its inception, it is timeless. Released in August 1939, The Wizard of Oz, film adaptation of a children's book, is the most watched film in the history of cinema. The project had been conceived by the Metro Goldwyn Mayer to compete with Disney's growing success.
The new Alice is named Dorothy, played by Judy Garland with her long braids of a young girl.
The ruby slippers have a major role in this story. They are in possession of the teenager Dorothy, but a wicked witch tries to recover them because of their magical power. They are somehow symbolizing home, innocence and childhood. It has been said that the MGM management had refused silver shoes because that color did not demonstrate the Technicolor.
The Ruby Slippers were conceived by the chief custom designer of the MGM. They were assembled over white silk commercial pumps with red silk heels while uppers and heels are covered with hand-sequined silk georgette, lined in white leather, and the leather soles are painted red with orange felt.
Four pairs of screen worn slippers survive. One of them passed at Profiles in History on December 16, 2011 and was brokered in a private sale in February 2012 by that auction house to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Another pair was supposedly used for close up shots where Dorothy was tapping her heels together. It is burgundy colored because ruby red could not be properly caught by the Technicolor. The pair was exhibited in the 1980s and 1990s by Michael Shaw in his Shaw's Hollywood Tour and was nicknamed the Traveling Shoes.
The slippers were stolen in 2005 during a ceremony from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The thief was caught in 2023. He said that he had stolen the shoes only because he thought the sequins were genuine rubies. Unable to sell the slippers on the black market, he ditched them. They had resurfaced in 2018.
That pair was returned to its rightful owner Michael Shaw in 2024 by the FBI supported by Heritage Auctions. Please watch the video shared by Heritage to narrate that restitution. Still in a beautiful condition, the 'traveling shoes' were sold for $ 32.5M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Heritage on December 7, 2024, lot 89182.
One of these pairs of slippers is a highly popular attraction at the Smithsonian. It is mismatched with the pair stolen in 2005. Taken together, the two pairs are the predominant ruby slippers worn in the film.
Another one was sold for $ 670K by Christie's on May 24, 2000, lot 148.
At the first sale of the Debbie Reynolds collection by Profiles in History on June 18, 2011, a pair of slippers used for test shots was sold for $ 610K, lot 111 here linked to the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform. This one is identified as the Arabian pair.
The new Alice is named Dorothy, played by Judy Garland with her long braids of a young girl.
The ruby slippers have a major role in this story. They are in possession of the teenager Dorothy, but a wicked witch tries to recover them because of their magical power. They are somehow symbolizing home, innocence and childhood. It has been said that the MGM management had refused silver shoes because that color did not demonstrate the Technicolor.
The Ruby Slippers were conceived by the chief custom designer of the MGM. They were assembled over white silk commercial pumps with red silk heels while uppers and heels are covered with hand-sequined silk georgette, lined in white leather, and the leather soles are painted red with orange felt.
Four pairs of screen worn slippers survive. One of them passed at Profiles in History on December 16, 2011 and was brokered in a private sale in February 2012 by that auction house to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Another pair was supposedly used for close up shots where Dorothy was tapping her heels together. It is burgundy colored because ruby red could not be properly caught by the Technicolor. The pair was exhibited in the 1980s and 1990s by Michael Shaw in his Shaw's Hollywood Tour and was nicknamed the Traveling Shoes.
The slippers were stolen in 2005 during a ceremony from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The thief was caught in 2023. He said that he had stolen the shoes only because he thought the sequins were genuine rubies. Unable to sell the slippers on the black market, he ditched them. They had resurfaced in 2018.
That pair was returned to its rightful owner Michael Shaw in 2024 by the FBI supported by Heritage Auctions. Please watch the video shared by Heritage to narrate that restitution. Still in a beautiful condition, the 'traveling shoes' were sold for $ 32.5M from a lower estimate of $ 3M by Heritage on December 7, 2024, lot 89182.
One of these pairs of slippers is a highly popular attraction at the Smithsonian. It is mismatched with the pair stolen in 2005. Taken together, the two pairs are the predominant ruby slippers worn in the film.
Another one was sold for $ 670K by Christie's on May 24, 2000, lot 148.
At the first sale of the Debbie Reynolds collection by Profiles in History on June 18, 2011, a pair of slippers used for test shots was sold for $ 610K, lot 111 here linked to the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform. This one is identified as the Arabian pair.
1941 Rosebud Slug from Citizen Kane
2025 SOLD for $ 14.8M by Heritage
Citizen Kane, produced by RKO and released in 1941, was the first feature film by Orson Welles. It is arguably considered as the greatest investigation film ever made.
The eponymous hero, played by Welles, is a press tycoon, in part inspired from the life of W.R. Hearst.
The opening sequence features Mr Kane in his deathbed. He clearly utters "Rosebud" in a close up of his lips, drops a snow globe from his hand and dies. The whole film narrates the investigation to understand the mysterious word.
It happens that Rosebud was the name and inscription of a snow sled happily used by the boy while an arrangement was negotiated by his parents for him to leave them for a better education. Rosebud, as well as the snow ball, is the symbol of the lost innocence.
The sled is visible twice in the film, when the boy played by child actor Buddy Swan, knocks with it to the ground his will-be guardian for defending his liberty, and when it is destructed in a bonfire after Kane's death.
Three examples are known. One of them, in balsa, was used for the incineration. It was acquired at auction in 1982 by Steven Spielberg.
Another one, in pine, had been won by a boy in an RKO contest and kept by him for half a century until it was sold for $ 234K by Christie's in 1996.
The third item, also in pine, has been picked in an RKO storage area in 1982 and presented to film director Joe Dante who hoarded it in a basement until it was sold for $ 14.8M by Heritage on July 16, 2025, lot 89108. The unrestored artifact bears signs of production wear. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The low resolution does not enable to identify which Rosebud had been screen used in the childhood sequence.
The eponymous hero, played by Welles, is a press tycoon, in part inspired from the life of W.R. Hearst.
The opening sequence features Mr Kane in his deathbed. He clearly utters "Rosebud" in a close up of his lips, drops a snow globe from his hand and dies. The whole film narrates the investigation to understand the mysterious word.
It happens that Rosebud was the name and inscription of a snow sled happily used by the boy while an arrangement was negotiated by his parents for him to leave them for a better education. Rosebud, as well as the snow ball, is the symbol of the lost innocence.
The sled is visible twice in the film, when the boy played by child actor Buddy Swan, knocks with it to the ground his will-be guardian for defending his liberty, and when it is destructed in a bonfire after Kane's death.
Three examples are known. One of them, in balsa, was used for the incineration. It was acquired at auction in 1982 by Steven Spielberg.
Another one, in pine, had been won by a boy in an RKO contest and kept by him for half a century until it was sold for $ 234K by Christie's in 1996.
The third item, also in pine, has been picked in an RKO storage area in 1982 and presented to film director Joe Dante who hoarded it in a basement until it was sold for $ 14.8M by Heritage on July 16, 2025, lot 89108. The unrestored artifact bears signs of production wear. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The low resolution does not enable to identify which Rosebud had been screen used in the childhood sequence.
1941 The Maltese Falcon
2013 SOLD for $ 4.1M by Bonhams
In 1941 the Maltese Falcon, produced by Warner Bros. and directed by John Huston, is a milestone in the history of cinema. The public will abandon the horror movies in favor of the film noir displaying a complex detective story.
This evil bird that is succeeding the terrible monsters seldom appears in the film. It is an object of intense desire until it is discovered and provides the evidence that it was not made of precious materials.
The detailed on-screen inspection of the handling of this statuette 30cm high shows that it is very heavy. The version made in lead weighing 20.5 kg is authenticated in two units by Warner.
Only one of them was used in the film. It was sold for $ 4.1M by Bonhams on November 25, 2013, lot 225.
During filming, this heavy prop had fallen from the hands of an actress on the toes of Humphrey Bogart and a lead feather from the tail was bent by the accident. This damage is visible during an action on screen and ensures that the copy for sale by Bonhams is the actual bird of the film.
On November 7, 2013, a Maltese Falcon in gray plaster of same size passed at Guernsey's. It is signed with the initials of the artist : Fred Sexton.
This evil bird that is succeeding the terrible monsters seldom appears in the film. It is an object of intense desire until it is discovered and provides the evidence that it was not made of precious materials.
The detailed on-screen inspection of the handling of this statuette 30cm high shows that it is very heavy. The version made in lead weighing 20.5 kg is authenticated in two units by Warner.
Only one of them was used in the film. It was sold for $ 4.1M by Bonhams on November 25, 2013, lot 225.
During filming, this heavy prop had fallen from the hands of an actress on the toes of Humphrey Bogart and a lead feather from the tail was bent by the accident. This damage is visible during an action on screen and ensures that the copy for sale by Bonhams is the actual bird of the film.
On November 7, 2013, a Maltese Falcon in gray plaster of same size passed at Guernsey's. It is signed with the initials of the artist : Fred Sexton.
1955 Marilyn Monroe's Subway Dress
2011 SOLD for $ 5.6M by Profiles in History
It was the most successful seduction scene in motion picture history. In 1955, Marilyn Monroe plays the role of The Girl in the film by Billy Wilder, The Seven Year Itch. In a burst of laughter, she went to stand on a subway vent. The wind made the dress fly as superb scrolls that reveal her thighs.
This lovely ivory white gown was a technical achievement. It must be heavy enough to stay graceful while walking, and light enough to fly above the wind tunnel. The designer Travilla chose a rayon-based fabric. A photo of the famous scene illustrates the article shared by the Daily Mail.
In 1971, 20th Century Fox sells many of their movie props, due to financial difficulties. The actress Debbie Reynolds, who was the dance partner of Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain, acquires prestigious pieces before they are auctioned.
She split her extraordinary collection, in two sales held by Profiles in History. The subway dress was sold for $ 5.6M from a lower estimate of $ 1M on June 18, 2011.
This lovely ivory white gown was a technical achievement. It must be heavy enough to stay graceful while walking, and light enough to fly above the wind tunnel. The designer Travilla chose a rayon-based fabric. A photo of the famous scene illustrates the article shared by the Daily Mail.
In 1971, 20th Century Fox sells many of their movie props, due to financial difficulties. The actress Debbie Reynolds, who was the dance partner of Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain, acquires prestigious pieces before they are auctioned.
She split her extraordinary collection, in two sales held by Profiles in History. The subway dress was sold for $ 5.6M from a lower estimate of $ 1M on June 18, 2011.
1956 Robby of Forbidden Planet
2017 SOLD for $ 5.4M by Bonhams
The conquest of space is a poorly guarded secret : in 1954, appealed by early informations in the magazines, Hergé sends the Tintin team to walk on the Moon. In the following year the United States and the Soviet Union announce their competing programs a few days apart one another.
In 1956 the MGM prepares Forbidden Planet. The intelligent humanoid robot named Robby is the star of the movie, especially as the terrible evil monster named Id is invisible. In this Shakespearian drama whose scenario is apparently inspired by The Tempest, the robot dies atrociously : obliged to respond to Asimov's laws that forbids it to harm a human being, it breaks up because it cannot oppose Id which is actually a psychic emanation of the mad scientist.
In the following year Sputnik I is the first artificial satellite of the Earth. Less advanced than the nice Robby it only says "beep beep beep". Meanwhile the real Robby receives a huge popular success and it will then be reused in many science fiction movies.
Robby is a complex machine for its time : talking, walking, reaching out and flashing with all its lights. It is activated incognito by a small man hidden inside. The rubber hands and the dome have not survived the test of time and were changed in the early 1980s by a careful collector. Accompanied by its Jeep, remote control console and some spare equipment, it was sold for $ 5.4M by Bonhams in association with Turner Classic Movies on November 21, 2017, lot 1070.
Other robots aroused also later the fervor of the public. R2-D2, shaped like a more modern 1 m high electronic equipment mounted on small wheels, has been continuously modified from 1977 for the needs of the Star Wars series. It was sold for $ 2.75M by Profiles in History on June 28, 2017.
In 1956 the MGM prepares Forbidden Planet. The intelligent humanoid robot named Robby is the star of the movie, especially as the terrible evil monster named Id is invisible. In this Shakespearian drama whose scenario is apparently inspired by The Tempest, the robot dies atrociously : obliged to respond to Asimov's laws that forbids it to harm a human being, it breaks up because it cannot oppose Id which is actually a psychic emanation of the mad scientist.
In the following year Sputnik I is the first artificial satellite of the Earth. Less advanced than the nice Robby it only says "beep beep beep". Meanwhile the real Robby receives a huge popular success and it will then be reused in many science fiction movies.
Robby is a complex machine for its time : talking, walking, reaching out and flashing with all its lights. It is activated incognito by a small man hidden inside. The rubber hands and the dome have not survived the test of time and were changed in the early 1980s by a careful collector. Accompanied by its Jeep, remote control console and some spare equipment, it was sold for $ 5.4M by Bonhams in association with Turner Classic Movies on November 21, 2017, lot 1070.
Other robots aroused also later the fervor of the public. R2-D2, shaped like a more modern 1 m high electronic equipment mounted on small wheels, has been continuously modified from 1977 for the needs of the Star Wars series. It was sold for $ 2.75M by Profiles in History on June 28, 2017.
1964 The Ascot Dress of Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady
2011 SOLD for $ 4.4M by Profiles in History
Adapted directly from the musical of the same title, My Fair Lady, produced in 1964 by Warner Bros., is one of the greatest successes in cinema. Spectators loved the story of the young cockney woman, played with great charm by Audrey Hepburn, who would like to be taken for a duchess.
Cecil Beaton was commissioned with the sets and costumes for the film as he had done for the play. His work was rewarded with one of the six Tony Awards attributed in 1957 to the Broadway version and with one of the eight Oscars awarded to the film in 1965.
Horse racing is a pretext for the ladies to exhibit the most showy clothing. The great scene of the film takes place during the Royal Ascot in 1910. In that crowd from which 400 women have been individually costumed, Audrey's dress shall be the most beautiful.
Audrey wears for this action a very tight clear dress in silk, velvet and embroidery, with a few ornaments, a short train and a gigantic hat decorated with ostrich feathers. The scene in which this sumptuously dressed young woman instinctively resumes her cockney accent to encourage a horse is one of the most comical in the history of cinema.
This Ascot dress belonged to Debbie Reynolds. It was sold for $ 4.4M by Profiles in History on June 18, 2011, lot 506 linked here on the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
Cecil Beaton was commissioned with the sets and costumes for the film as he had done for the play. His work was rewarded with one of the six Tony Awards attributed in 1957 to the Broadway version and with one of the eight Oscars awarded to the film in 1965.
Horse racing is a pretext for the ladies to exhibit the most showy clothing. The great scene of the film takes place during the Royal Ascot in 1910. In that crowd from which 400 women have been individually costumed, Audrey's dress shall be the most beautiful.
Audrey wears for this action a very tight clear dress in silk, velvet and embroidery, with a few ornaments, a short train and a gigantic hat decorated with ostrich feathers. The scene in which this sumptuously dressed young woman instinctively resumes her cockney accent to encourage a horse is one of the most comical in the history of cinema.
This Ascot dress belonged to Debbie Reynolds. It was sold for $ 4.4M by Profiles in History on June 18, 2011, lot 506 linked here on the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform.
Star Wars
1
1977 Original Poster Art
2025 SOLD for $ 3.9M by Heritage
In 1977 the first opus of the Star Wars franchise is A New Hope, later numbered Episode IV in the chronologic narrative of the series.
The original art executed by Tom Jung for the poster advertising that breakthrough was painted in acrylic and airbrush on a 21 x 34 inch board, 240 times larger than the half sheet poster. It features all the major protagonists and artifacts the series.
Treasured by the late Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, the painting was sold for $ 3.9M by Heritage on December 10, 2025, lot 38321.
Original Star Wars art, sold by Heritage on December 10, 2025, lot 38321. Significance of this art in Star Wars history and in the critical acclaim in period for the first Star Wars film.
The Artwork: Tom Jung's Original Painting for the Star Wars Half Sheet Poster
The item in question, auctioned by Heritage Auctions on December 10, 2025, as lot 38321, is the original gouache and acrylic painting by renowned poster artist Tom Jung for the "half sheet" (22" x 28") promotional poster of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). This iconic artwork, consigned directly from the family of producer Gary Kurtz, depicts a dramatic composite scene featuring heroes Luke Skywalker (wielding a lightsaber), Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, and Chewbacca poised against a starry cosmic backdrop, with Darth Vader's silhouette looming menacingly in the foreground. It sold for a record-breaking $3.875 million after bidding started at $1 million, underscoring its status as a pinnacle of cinematic memorabilia.
Jung, a prolific illustrator whose work graced posters for films like Blade Runner and The Day After, created this piece in late 1976 as one of several key art concepts for 20th Century Fox's marketing campaign. The half sheet format was a standard size for lobby displays and newspaper ads, making this design one of the earliest and most widespread visual introductions to the film's characters and aesthetic for American audiences. As Heritage's director of pop culture consignments Charles Epting noted, "For most of America, this was the first time they got a glimpse of the galaxy far, far away.
Significance in Star Wars History
This artwork holds profound historical weight as the visual vanguard of what would become a cultural juggernaut. Prior to its creation, George Lucas's script for Star Wars—a sprawling space opera blending elements of Flash Gordon serials, Akira Kurosawa samurai epics, and Joseph Campbell's mythological archetypes—struggled to secure studio backing. Ralph McQuarrie's earlier concept paintings (e.g., of Darth Vader's armored visage or the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 crossing Tatooine's dunes) had convinced Fox executives in 1975 to greenlight the $11 million project by vividly illustrating its epic scope. However, Jung's poster art shifted from internal pre-production visualization to public-facing promotion, serving as the franchise's de facto "calling card.
Role in the Critical Acclaim of the First Star Wars Film
While A New Hope (initially just Star Wars) was a runaway commercial hit—lines snaking around blocks and theaters booking it indefinitely—its critical reception in 1977 was more polarized, blending awe at its technical wizardry with dismissals of its "juvenile" narrative. Jung's poster art played a subtle but crucial role in bridging this divide, serving as a pre-film ambassador that primed viewers (and indirectly critics) for the movie's blend of nostalgia and novelty. Many reviews praised the visuals as a highlight, with the poster's imagery often echoed in descriptions of the film's "ingenious special effects" and "subliminal history of the movies."
The original art executed by Tom Jung for the poster advertising that breakthrough was painted in acrylic and airbrush on a 21 x 34 inch board, 240 times larger than the half sheet poster. It features all the major protagonists and artifacts the series.
Treasured by the late Star Wars producer Gary Kurtz, the painting was sold for $ 3.9M by Heritage on December 10, 2025, lot 38321.
Original Star Wars art, sold by Heritage on December 10, 2025, lot 38321. Significance of this art in Star Wars history and in the critical acclaim in period for the first Star Wars film.
The Artwork: Tom Jung's Original Painting for the Star Wars Half Sheet Poster
The item in question, auctioned by Heritage Auctions on December 10, 2025, as lot 38321, is the original gouache and acrylic painting by renowned poster artist Tom Jung for the "half sheet" (22" x 28") promotional poster of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). This iconic artwork, consigned directly from the family of producer Gary Kurtz, depicts a dramatic composite scene featuring heroes Luke Skywalker (wielding a lightsaber), Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, and Chewbacca poised against a starry cosmic backdrop, with Darth Vader's silhouette looming menacingly in the foreground. It sold for a record-breaking $3.875 million after bidding started at $1 million, underscoring its status as a pinnacle of cinematic memorabilia.
Jung, a prolific illustrator whose work graced posters for films like Blade Runner and The Day After, created this piece in late 1976 as one of several key art concepts for 20th Century Fox's marketing campaign. The half sheet format was a standard size for lobby displays and newspaper ads, making this design one of the earliest and most widespread visual introductions to the film's characters and aesthetic for American audiences. As Heritage's director of pop culture consignments Charles Epting noted, "For most of America, this was the first time they got a glimpse of the galaxy far, far away.
Significance in Star Wars History
This artwork holds profound historical weight as the visual vanguard of what would become a cultural juggernaut. Prior to its creation, George Lucas's script for Star Wars—a sprawling space opera blending elements of Flash Gordon serials, Akira Kurosawa samurai epics, and Joseph Campbell's mythological archetypes—struggled to secure studio backing. Ralph McQuarrie's earlier concept paintings (e.g., of Darth Vader's armored visage or the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 crossing Tatooine's dunes) had convinced Fox executives in 1975 to greenlight the $11 million project by vividly illustrating its epic scope. However, Jung's poster art shifted from internal pre-production visualization to public-facing promotion, serving as the franchise's de facto "calling card.
- Pivotal Marketing Role: Released in teaser form months before the film's May 25, 1977 premiere, the half sheet poster (and its full one-sheet variant) adorned theaters, bus stops, and magazines, generating buzz in an era when sci-fi was niche and effects-heavy blockbusters were unproven. It encapsulated the film's hero-vs.-villain dynamic, blending pulp adventure with innovative futurism, and helped propel Star Wars from a risky gamble to a box-office phenomenon that grossed over $775 million worldwide (equivalent to about $3.5 billion today). Without this artwork's evocative imagery—Luke's defiant stance, Vader's shadowy menace—it might not have captured the public imagination so swiftly.
- Cultural and Franchise Legacy: The painting influenced merchandising from day one, inspiring action figures, novelizations, and comics that expanded the universe. It symbolizes the "hero's journey" motif central to Lucas's saga, with its layered composition evoking classic fairy tales amid high-tech spectacle. In broader Star Wars lore, Jung's design has been reprinted in tie-in books like The Art of Star Wars (1979), which chronicled the film's creative evolution, and it informed later poster aesthetics across the saga. Its 2025 auction price reflects its artifactual value: a tangible link to the original trilogy's handmade magic, before CGI dominated, and a testament to how visual art birthed a $100+ billion empire spanning films, TV, games, and theme parks.
Role in the Critical Acclaim of the First Star Wars Film
While A New Hope (initially just Star Wars) was a runaway commercial hit—lines snaking around blocks and theaters booking it indefinitely—its critical reception in 1977 was more polarized, blending awe at its technical wizardry with dismissals of its "juvenile" narrative. Jung's poster art played a subtle but crucial role in bridging this divide, serving as a pre-film ambassador that primed viewers (and indirectly critics) for the movie's blend of nostalgia and novelty. Many reviews praised the visuals as a highlight, with the poster's imagery often echoed in descriptions of the film's "ingenious special effects" and "subliminal history of the movies."
- Praise for Visual Innovation: Enthusiastic critics lauded Star Wars as a triumphant return to escapist wonder, with Jung's artwork amplifying this by promising—and delivering—a "grand and glorious" spectacle. Time magazine called it "the best movie of the year so far," highlighting its "universe of plenty" that mirrored the poster's cosmic grandeur. Roger Ebert, in the Chicago Sun-Times, described an "out of body experience," crediting the film's pulp-fantasy reactivation of childhood thrills, much like the poster's heroic tableau evoked Flash Gordon serials. The New York Times' Vincent Canby noted its "breathless succession of escapes" and "most ingenious special effects," tying into the artwork's dynamic energy. These accolades often spotlighted the Mos Eisley cantina's alien bustle or the Death Star trench run, visuals that Jung's composition foreshadowed, helping cement Oscars for Visual Effects, Editing, and John Williams' score.
- Skepticism and the "Childish Fantasy" Critique: Detractors viewed the film as lightweight nostalgia, a sentiment that the poster's comic-book vibrancy sometimes exacerbated. Pauline Kael in The New Yorker deemed it an "assemblage of spare parts" lacking emotional depth—an "epic without a dream"—implying its appeal was superficial, like a Saturday matinee poster. The Wall Street Journal's Joy Gould Boyum labeled it a "comic book movie," while New York magazine's John Simon critiqued its "puerile" characters and "paltry verbiage," unfavorably comparing it to Edgar Rice Burroughs' more inventive pulps. Derek Malcolm in The Guardian acknowledged its "huge and slightly sinister success" but questioned its artistic merit beyond box-office terms. Yet, even skeptics conceded the visuals' pull; the poster's widespread circulation softened some blows by framing the film as intentional fun rather than pretentious sci-fi.
2
1980 Star Wars Lightsaber
2025 SOLD for $ 3.65M by Propstore
The lightsaber is the essential dueling weapon in the Star Wars. It is made like a saber with a handle and a blade. The laser effects of the blade are added in the studio by animation techniques.
The 32 cm prop is recuperated from a flash attachment, improved with decorative components, plastic grips, electrical wires and a circuit board with magnifying bubbles. The 90 cm blade is in colored wood.
The intensity of the action left damages that enable a photo matching. A lightsaber which had been hoarded by a collector for decades is matched with the dueling arm wielded by the character Darth Vader played by the bodybuilder David Prowse or a stunt performer in the final scenes of the second and third films of the original trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983. A probable previous use in A New Hope has not been demonstrated.
It was sold for $ 3.65M from an estimate in excess of $ 1M by Propstore on September 4, 2025, lot 370. It is narrated by Brandon Alinger, COO of the auction house, in a video shared by the YouTuber Carly King and in a video shared by the YouTuber Adam Savage.
No screen used blade from the original trilogy has surfaced.
The 32 cm prop is recuperated from a flash attachment, improved with decorative components, plastic grips, electrical wires and a circuit board with magnifying bubbles. The 90 cm blade is in colored wood.
The intensity of the action left damages that enable a photo matching. A lightsaber which had been hoarded by a collector for decades is matched with the dueling arm wielded by the character Darth Vader played by the bodybuilder David Prowse or a stunt performer in the final scenes of the second and third films of the original trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983. A probable previous use in A New Hope has not been demonstrated.
It was sold for $ 3.65M from an estimate in excess of $ 1M by Propstore on September 4, 2025, lot 370. It is narrated by Brandon Alinger, COO of the auction house, in a video shared by the YouTuber Carly King and in a video shared by the YouTuber Adam Savage.
No screen used blade from the original trilogy has surfaced.
(1972)-1979 Rolex ex Brando in Apocalypse Now
2023 SOLD for CHF 4.6M by Christie's
Rolex launches in 1955 its GMT-Master range of products for the use of airplane pilots and frequent travelers. An adjustable bezel makes it possible to simultaneously read the time in two different time slots.
Rolex watches are loved by adventurers of all kinds who recognize their robustness. Marlon Brando wears a Rolex in several films : a Moonphase in The Fugitive Kind, a Datejust in Last Tango in Paris.
The actor had owned two GMT-Masters reference 1675. In 1976 he is working on the set of Apocalypse Now, which will be released in 1979. He refuses to leave his second GMT which thus will be visible on the screen. Brando was too indispensable for his demands to be denied, and moreover the director was more preoccupied with hiding the obesity of the actor.
His argument about the watch is known : If spectators are looking at my watch, it means that I am not doing properly my acting job. He nevertheless agrees to remove the bezel that is useless for his character of the crazy colonel spreading the terror in the depths of the jungle.
After Apocalypse Now, this GMT-Master is strictly kept by the family. Brando presents it in 1995 to his adoptive daughter Petra as a reward for a graduation. It has just resurfaced before being sold for $ 1.95M by Phillips on December 10, 2019, lot 30. It was sold for CHF 4.6M by Christie's on November 6, 2023, lot 2052.
This stainless steel watch made in 1972 is in its original state excepted the bracelet, the name of the actor clumsily incised by himself on the back case, and of course the absence of the bezel.
Rolex watches are loved by adventurers of all kinds who recognize their robustness. Marlon Brando wears a Rolex in several films : a Moonphase in The Fugitive Kind, a Datejust in Last Tango in Paris.
The actor had owned two GMT-Masters reference 1675. In 1976 he is working on the set of Apocalypse Now, which will be released in 1979. He refuses to leave his second GMT which thus will be visible on the screen. Brando was too indispensable for his demands to be denied, and moreover the director was more preoccupied with hiding the obesity of the actor.
His argument about the watch is known : If spectators are looking at my watch, it means that I am not doing properly my acting job. He nevertheless agrees to remove the bezel that is useless for his character of the crazy colonel spreading the terror in the depths of the jungle.
After Apocalypse Now, this GMT-Master is strictly kept by the family. Brando presents it in 1995 to his adoptive daughter Petra as a reward for a graduation. It has just resurfaced before being sold for $ 1.95M by Phillips on December 10, 2019, lot 30. It was sold for CHF 4.6M by Christie's on November 6, 2023, lot 2052.
This stainless steel watch made in 1972 is in its original state excepted the bracelet, the name of the actor clumsily incised by himself on the back case, and of course the absence of the bezel.
