Rare find in Australia
2008-09-02 12:00
Melbourne - Rare behind-the-scenes footage of screen goddess Marilyn Monroe, taken while she was filming her iconic 1959 hit Some Like it Hot, has been found in Australia, an auction house said on Tuesday.
The two-and-a-half-minute amateur film, featuring Monroe and co-stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, was taken by a US naval officer after Monroe invited him to visit the set at the famed Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, California.
The eight-millimetre film, still in its original box, was found among the sailor's possessions and brought to Australia by his daughter when she immigrated here.
It will be auctioned off in Melbourne later this month and is expected to fetch between AUD20 000 and AUD30 000 ($16 710 and $25 065), according to the auction house.
"Marilyn Monroe memorabilia is always in demand, but rarely do we get one-off material like this," said Charles Leski of Leski Auctions.
"It is also extremely rare for such important archival footage to be auctioned outside of the US before its domestic release, and for that we are extremely proud," he said in a statement.
Full commercial rights for the buyer
The film shows the late screen siren surrounded by sailors when Monroe visited the naval officer's base, and then has moments of Monroe acting "playfully" on the set with Lemmon and Curtis.
It was shot while she was rehearsing for a scene with Curtis while crew members and extras watching her.
The original film will be auctioned off along with a CD and a DVD copy, while the buyer will also acquire full worldwide commercial rights.
The auction house said an amateur film shot of Monroe on the set of her last completed movie, The Misfits, sold in the United States for $60 000.
Monroe died in August 1962 at the age of 36 after an overdose of pills that was ruled a suicide.
Tony Curtis is the only surviving key member of the cast of Some Like it Hot, a cross-dressing comedy directed by Billy Wilder.