Bonhams will offer on auction on November 25, in conjunction with Turner Classic Movies (TCM), an iconic statuette used in John Huston’s classic film noir The Maltese Falcon. This special auction, “What Dreams Are Made Of: A Century of Movie Magic at Auction as Curated by Turner Classic Movies” will be held in New York and the black figurine will be the highlight of it.
The current owner has had the statuette for decades and will be the first time that the statuette will be offered on auction. It was the most important prop in the classic John Huston film, which starred Humphrey Bogart as a private eye dealing with several crooks who covet the bird. It’s etched with a Warner Bros, inventory number, and is the only version known to have appeared in the movie. In the movie, the Bogart describes the falcon as “The stuff that dreams are made of.”
The statuette has the most impressive exhibition history, including appearances at the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Warner Bros. Studio Museum in Los Angeles. In addition to the statuette, this remarkable event will feature a stunning array of costumes, props, scripts, production designs, production memos, movie posters and other rare gems from some of the greatest films of all time.
