Maltese Falcon Sold!

The movie prop used in the 1941 film “The Maltese Falcon” has been bought at auction at Bonham’s in New York City. The purchase price is reported by NPR on their webpage: “‘The final price on the 12-inch-tall prop was $4,085,000, which includes a buyer’s premium,’ the AP reports.

The source of the winning bid, which came via a phone call, was not identified by Bonhams.” (NPR-The Two Way) A headline that might have been seen in the very movie for which it was created, in 1941 if not for the unusual indescribable value. The most interesting thing, perhaps, is the item’s nature in the film. Sam spade (played by Humphrey Bogart)(Movieclips.com via youtube.com) said the falcon is made up of the stuff of dreams near the end of the film, and apparently according to the actual result of this auction it was indeed. “Dreams included.” says NPR.

“The spectacular price achieved reflects the statuette’s tremendous significance. The Maltese Falcon is arguably the most important movie prop ever and is central to the history of cinema,” Catherine Williamson, the director of the Bonhams entertainment memorabilia department, said in a statement.

The value of the statue in the film, in which it was an extraordinarily valuable artifact was but $5000, but now it’s value as an otherwise worthless movie prop has peaked at over four million. Perhaps a collector of Bogart memorabilia is now the proud owner of the item, but we may never know.

On The Web:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/25/247162646/for-sale-one-maltese-falcon-dreams-included).