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Citizen Kane fails to sell
12/12/2007 10:27 - (SA)
New York - Orson Welles' personal working script of Citizen Kane sold for almost $100 000 on Tuesday, but his Oscar for the 1941 film classic failed to attract a buyer willing to write a big enough check.
Sotheby's said the Academy Award for best screenplay was withdrawn from the sale after bidding failed to rise above the minimum price set by the seller.
It had been estimated to fetch $800 000 to $1.2m.
The auction house said it immediately received inquiries about the golden statuette and may consider selling it privately.
The Oscar for Citizen Kane, considered one of the greatest movies of all time, was believed to have been lost by Welles himself.
It resurfaced in 1994 and was eventually acquired by the Dax Foundation, a Los Angeles-based charity.
Anonymous buyer
The proceeds from Tuesday's sale had been earmarked for the organisation.
Welles' 156-page script, the last revised draft before the final shooting script, was sold for $97 000 to an anonymous buyer bidding by telephone.
Its pre-sale estimate was $80 000 to $120 000.
The 1940 mimeographed manuscript is stamped "second revised final," and "Mr Welles" is written on it in large lettering and circled in pink crayon. It contains numerous annotations, revisions and deletions.
Citizen Kane, the story of a power-hungry publishing magnate played by Welles and widely believed to be based on the life of William Randolph Hearst, was voted the top film in history by the American Film Institute in 2007.
- AP
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