Auction gavel drops for Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood costumes

Audrey Hepburn's Ascot dress in My Fair Lady

sold for $3.7 million

Felt a little bit sad today when thinking of these iconic costumes being sold. I still am befuddled that there weren't any supporters of the film industry interested in maintaining this collection of four decades' worth gathered by Debbie Reynolds. I ended up staying awake until 3 a.m. just to watch the live auction, curious to see the sale of Hepburn's dress from My Fair Lady!

According to Indiewire, in the end, many items went to Saudi Arabia or Japan. "With an hour to go before the auction was scheduled to begin, the theater of the Paley Center in Beverly Hills was already full and the downstairs gallery was filling up. When Debbie Reynolds walked in, looking perky in a white pants suit, the crowd rose and applauded as she took the podium to say a few last words before hundreds of her costumes and props went under the gavel. “I’ve been collecting for 45 years and I’m only forty,” brought appreciative laughs and her eyes welled up as she thanked everyone for coming—and bidding. While she has passionately and lovingly tried to save this slice of Hollywood history, the years of accumulated bills necessitated this sale. But the anticipation hung heavy in the room. The people filling the theater looked more like observers and fans than capable of coming up with major bucks, but one truth of auctions is that all it takes is two people who want the same thing to drive prices sky high."

Here are some of the items that sold:

Worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch
Sold for $4.6 million

Worn by Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
$1.2 million

Worn by Judy Garland during first 2 weeks of filming The Wizard of Oz
Sold for $910,000 - more than ten times the estimate

Original shoes worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz
$510,000

Worn by Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief
$450,000

Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music
Dresses (L-R) sold for $550,000 / $45,000 / $42,500

Outfits for Marta and Gretl (The Sound of Music) sold for $35,000
Autographed guitar - $140,000, movie poster - $6000

Worn by Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc
Sold for $50,000

Worn by Bette Davis and Joan Collins (middle dress) in The Virgin Queen
$7500, $3000 and $22,500

Worn by Charlie Chaplin in Little Tramp
$110,000

Marlon Brando and Merle Oberon
as Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine in Desirée
$60,000 and $22,500


1952 red MG TD used by Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant in Monkey Business
$210,000

Charlton Heston in Ben-Hur
$320,000
(sandals sold for $14,000, poster sold for $5500)

Worn by Katharine Hepburn as Jo in Little Women
$9000

Worn by Greta Garbo in Anna Karenina
$40,000

Deborah Kerr as Catherine Parr in Young Bess
$6500

Angela Lansbury as Queen Anne in Three Musketeers
$6500

Elizabeth Taylor in Little Women
$13,000

Katharine Hepburn in Mary of Scotland
$35,000

Laurence Olivier in Pride and Prejudice
$6500

Other items sold:
Orson Welles' outfit as Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre - $20,000
Elizabeth Taylor's riding outfit from National Velvet - $60,000
Yul Brynner's outfit in The King and I - $9500
Elizabeth Taylor's headdress from Cleopatra - $100,000
Richard Burton's tunic and cape from Cleopatra - $85,000
Grace Kelly's Princess Alexandra dress from The Swan - $110,000
Lydia Bennett's dress from Pride and Prejudice (1940) - $5000
Marilyn Monroe's outfit from There's No Business Like Show Business - $500,000
(and poster from same movie sold for $7500)
Marlon Brandon's Mutiny on the Bounty naval outfit - $90,000
Barbara Streisand's Hello Dolly gold dress - $100,000
Leslie Caron's plaid dress & cape from Gigi - $65,000
Joan Crawford's waitress outfit from Mildred Pierce - $22,500
Vivien Leigh's robe from A Streetcar Named Desire - $18,000

Profiles in History: "The Debbie Reynolds Collection is deemed to be the most significant collection of Hollywood costumes and props since the liquidation of the MGM and FOX studios in the 1970’s. Profiles in History plans to sell this massive collection through a series of auctions starting with part one in June 2011 and part two in December 2011. This entire collection contains over 3,500 costumes, 20,000 original photographs, several thousand original movie posters, original costume sketches and hundreds of key props from film history."

View: Auction Results
Highlighted items on auction block

Photobucket: 100+ Period Costumes in Auction
CBS