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Two legendary bits of movie memorabilia just sold for some whopping prices.
The first is a bullwhip wielded by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade — the last movie in the original film trilogy released in 1989 — which sold for $525,000 through Heritage Auctions as part of its Summer Entertainment Auction, which runs through Friday, July 18.
“This David Morgan 450 series bullwhip was handcrafted from finely braided 12 plait, kangaroo leather, featuring two plaited bellies and built over on an 8[-inch] steel handle foundation with wrist loop affixed to the pommel and features a whitehide leather fall and twisted, black nylon popper,” the official description of the item reads.
Furthermore, the prop was once owned by royalty. Per the description, “Following Harrison Ford and the film’s producers presenting this Indy bullwhip to then-Prince Charles at the June 27, 1989 Royal Premiere, Diana, Princess of Wales gifted the bullwhip and by further descent to the present owner.”
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Hertiage Auctions, HA.com
“The bullwhip is the iconic symbol of an iconic character of cinema history, Indiana Jones, and has been a highlight of this auction,” Heritage Auctions Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena said in a statement to the Associated Press about the sale, which was finalized on Thursday, July 17.
Next up is a “Rosebud” sled from Citizen Kane (1941), which fetched a whopping $14.75 million final bid on Wednesday, July 16, per the auction house.
The sled is a huge plot point in the end of the Oscar-winning movie, providing long-awaited answers as well as the final word, “Rosebud,” spoken by Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles).
“Orson Welles stated that three balsa wood sleds were built for the climactic scene in which Rosebud is incinerated amid Kane’s possessions in Xanadu,” an official description reads. “Lightweight balsa was chosen to burn quickly on camera.”
The description also notes that the sled is one of only three props confirmed to have survived over the years. Of the three, one was purchased by Steven Spielberg at Sotheby’s in 1982 for $60,500.
The two high-price bids come seven months after one of only four known surviving pairs of the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz sold for $28 million at auction, surpassing its estimate by $25 million.
Auctioneers from Heritage Auctions called the shoes the “Holy Grail of Hollywood memorabilia,” according to the BBC.
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“There is simply no comparison between Judy Garland’s ruby slippers and any other piece of Hollywood memorabilia,” Maddalena told The New York Times following the sale in December 2024.
Including the auction house’s fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5 million for the footwear, making it the most valuable movie memorabilia ever sold at auction by far.
The record was previously held by Marilyn Monroe’s white dress that she wore in The Seven Year Itch (1955), which sold in 2011 for $5.52 million with fees, according to Heritage Auctions.
