Rudolph, Santa figures soar to sale of $368,000 at auction
A buyer shouted out with glee that they would pay $368,000 for the Rudolph and Santa Claus figures used in the perennially beloved Christmas special “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.”Bidding for the figures soared past the projected sale price of between $150,000 and $200,000 on Friday at the Icons & Legends of Hollywood Auction held in Los Angeles by Profiles in History. The 6-inch-tall Rudolph and 11-inch-tall Santa were made in Tokyo of wood, wire, cloth and leather, and are still malleable. Other highlights from the two-day auction include Marilyn Monroe's tiger-striped gown from “The Seven Year Itch,” which sold for a whopping $593,750. Another Monroe gown that she wore when she met Queen Elizabeth II at a London film premiere went for $294,400. A Scarlett O'Hara dress that Vivien Leigh wore in “Gone With the Wind” and Gene Kelly's rain suit from “Singin' in the Rain” sold for $150,000 apiece.
Olivia de Havilland embodied old Hollywood, and shook it up
Olivia de Havilland, Oscar-winning actress has died, aged 104 in Paris, publicist says Sunday July 26, 2020. Fans and actors alike owe much to de Havilland, the Oscar-winning performer who became, almost literally, a law unto herself. De Havilland, who died Sunday at 104, was one of the last survivors of Hollywoods so-called Golden Age. De Havilland died peacefully of natural causes at her home in Paris, publicist Lisa Goldberg said. Flynn was a compulsive womanizer even by Hollywood standards, but de Havilland insisted that her bond with the dashing actor remained, somehow, platonic.
HBO Max removes 'Gone With the Wind,' will add context
NEW YORK HBO Max has temporarily removed Gone With the Wind from its streaming library in order to add historical context to the 1939 film long criticized for romanticizing slavery and the Civil War-era South. Protests in the wake of George Floyd's death have forced entertainment companies to grapple with the appropriateness of both current and past productions. The BBC also removed episodes of Little Britain," a comedy series that featured a character in blackface, from its streaming service. "These racist depictions were wrong then and are wrong today, and we felt that to keep this title up without an explanation and a denouncement of those depictions would be irresponsible, said an HBO Max spokesman in a statement. Gone With the Wind has long been denounced for featuring slave characters who remain loyal to their former owners after the abolition of slavery.