USA: NEW YORK: MARILYN MONROE AUCTION скачать в хорошем качестве

USA: NEW YORK: MARILYN MONROE AUCTION

(28 Oct 1999) English/Nat Nearly 40 years after her death, Marilyn Monroe continues to enthral fans with the beauty and tragedy of her life. If Christie's auction of Monroe's personal possessions was any indication of the superstar's enduring popularity, Marilyn will be in the public's hearts for decades to come. Record after record was broken during Wednesday's sale with each succeeding lot that went up for sale. But nothing underscored Monroe's legendary status more than the sale of her skin-tight dress in which she sang "Happy Birthday" to President John Kennedy. It took in more than a million dollars. The buyers said they got a bargain. The auction house earned more than 5 million (m) dollars (U-S) during the first night of the sale. The auction started big and stayed big. With crowds ready to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for the simplest of items, Christie's was ready for what they called "The Sale of the Millennium." On Wednesday, 55 items of Marilyn Monroe's were up for auction. Item number one was nothing more than a photograph of the starlet adorned with original signatures by the likes of Jimmy Stewart, Clarke Gable and Groucho Marx. Pre sale estimates were set at 10,000 dollars (US). Final sale price: 88,000 dollars (US). UPSOUND (Singing over shot of dress): Monroe sings Happy Birthday to President The biggest ticket of the evening was the legendary dress Monroe wore in 1962 while singing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy. There was no stopping the bidding war. When the gavel finally came down the garment earned more than 1.2 million (m) dollars (U-S). Crowds cheered the buyers from a Manhattan collectibles stores who were ecstatic with their buy. Not as well known, but nearly as valuable was a white piano. The lacquered baby grand sold for 690-thousand dollars (US). It originally belonged to Monroe's mother and was expected to bring in 15-thousand (US). But the most sentimental lot of the evening was the wedding ring Joe DiMaggio gave Monroe after their 1954 wedding. Bidder after bidder tried their best to take home the "Eternity band." Originally slated to bring in about 50,000 dollars (US), the final asking price was 772-thousand (US). SOUNDBITE (English): "I did think that the Eternity Ring was a high price. Certainly was based on the one which I bought my wife which was markedly similar." SUPER CAPTION: Lord Charles Hindlip, Christie's Auction House The buyers of the famous "Happy Birthday" dress felt they were lucky to get such a bargain on a piece of history. SOUNDBITE (English): "This is a personal effect of 20th century's most famous female icon. And we think it's actually akin to a sculpture, a popular art sculpture. Similar to maybe even a future Rodin-type sculpture." SUPER CAPTION: Peter Siegel (Left) and Robert Schegrin (Right), buyers Those who once worked with Monroe felt that Wednesday's sale was a tribute to the late actress. SOUNDBITE: "She wouldn't denigrate it or do anything about it. She would be just stunned. The way you saw her. You know Marilyn's personal life was more important than her screen life. We remember Marilyn for her personal dilemma's not necessarily for the films she made, although she made a number of excellent films." SUPER CAPTION: Tony Curtis, Actor The sale will last two days, the second sale taking place on Thursday. All in all, more than 1500 items are expected to go up for auction. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...