Moe Howard Personal Hand-Annotated and Signed Script for The Three Stooges "Men in Black"
The bridge between vaudeville to Hollywood wasn't always an easy path, but certain performers made it look easy. The Three Stooges -- which consisted of a rotating cast of members such as Moe Howard, Shemp Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Joe Besser, and "Curly" Joe DeRita -- started as a vaudeville act in 1922 as Ted Healy and His Stooges, before finding fame on their own.
The trio would create hundreds of shorts over a 40-year span. While the trio may not be as popular today, their influence on comedy and Hollywood can still be seen today.
This screenplay of 1934's Men in Black features hand-annotated notes and is signed by Moe Howard. Heritage has included a COA and notes that the screenplay has aged and has wear to it.
Meinhardt Raabe "Munchkin Coroner" Screen-worn hat from The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz changed the landscape of cinema when it was released in 1939. The movie is one of the highest-regarded movies in history and is studied and collected to this day. In fact, The Wizard of Oz is the most-watched film of all time, per The Library of Congress -- which also happens to house many Oz-related items.
The Smithsonian has a pair of its own that are on display for all to see inside of the National Museum of American History. Props and costumes from the 1938 MGM film go for insane prices -- and they do not come up too often.
This purple top hat as worn by the Munchkin Coroner, as played by Meinhardt Raabe, is one of the more well-known pieces from the Munchkin Land scene. The coroner announced that the Wicket Witch of the East, who died due to Dorothy's house falling on her, announced to Munchkin Land that the witch was "Really, most sincerely dead" to the cheers of everyone. This hat was last for sale in 1998. This piece could easily end up over $80,000.
Walt Disney's First Professional Motion Picture Camera
While this camera may appear to be insignificant, the history behind it it incredible. This Universal 35mm Model A hand-crank motion picture camera belonged to Walt Disney himself. As I said, the history behind this piece is incredible. Per Heritage:
Laugh-O-Gram was started by Disney in 1922 and produced a series of fairytale cartoons including Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Cinderella and, in the spring of 1923, the Alice's Wonderland series which combined live action and animation. With money raised from stock, the company purchased equipment including a used Universal camera. During the declining months, the company's Universal camera was used by Walt Disney and Red Lyon to shoot news for Pathé and Universal newsreels.
The camera is in working order and was discovered missing the hand crank and front metal panel which have been faithfully recreated. This Universal camera remains as the first known professional movie camera owned by Walt Disney. The fact that it was also used by Rudy Ising, Hugh Harman and Max Maxwell is an added bonus since they later formed the core team at Warner Bros. animation studio.
Putting a price on this item is impossible. It could very well sell for over $60K, if not higher. If you're a fan of animation, do not overlook this piece.
