Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Best-Picture Oscars Up for Sale in Rare Auction
By admin
Published 7 years ago on
November 19, 2018

Share

LOS ANGELES — Two Academy Awards for best picture are going up for sale in a rare auction of Oscars.

Auction house Profiles in History announced Monday that an Oscar awarded to “Mutiny on the Bounty” in 1936 and another given to “Gentleman’s Agreement” in 1948 will go up for auction in Los Angeles starting Dec. 11.

The “Mutiny on the Bounty” best-picture statuette is expected to go for between $200,000 and $300,000. Frank Capra presented the award to Irving Thalberg at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles when the Academy Awards were less than 10 years old. The award is being put up for sale for the first time by the family of Thalberg, an essential figure in the early history of Hollywood.

Auctions of Oscar statuettes are very uncommon because winners from 1951 onward have had to agree that they or their heirs must offer to sell it back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for $1 before selling it to anyone else. The Academy has said it firmly believes Oscars should be won, not sold.

The best-picture Oscar for “Gentleman’s Agreement,” the 1947 film starring Gregory Peck that took on anti-Semitism and won three Academy Awards, is expected to fetch between $150,000 and $200,000. Its seller wants to remain anonymous.

Hans Dreier’s art-direction Oscar for 1950’s “Sunset Boulevard” and Gloria Swanson’s Golden Globe for best actress in a drama for the film are also on offer in the December auction along with other historic movie awards.

Auctions of Oscar Statuettes Are Very Uncommon

Auctions of Oscar statuettes are very uncommon because winners from 1951 onward have had to agree that they or their heirs must offer to sell it back to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for $1 before selling it to anyone else. The Academy has said it firmly believes Oscars should be won, not sold.

Still, occasionally Oscars beyond the reach of the rules go up for sale and sell for large sums of money.

The late Michael Jackson acquired David O. Selznick’s “Gone With the Wind” Oscar for a record $1.5 million in 1999.

Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” statuette sold for $861,542 in 2011.

And in 2014, James Cagney’s best-actor Oscar for 1942’s “Yankee Doodle Dandy” failed to sell when no one would meet the minimum bid demand of $800,000.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

DON'T MISS

Israeli Settlers Raid West Bank Town, Troops Kill 3 Palestinians

DON'T MISS

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

DON'T MISS

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

DON'T MISS

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

DON'T MISS

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

DON'T MISS

Upscale Woodward Park Area Apartments Sell for $19 Million

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Learn the Latest on the Caleb Quick Murder Hearings

UP NEXT

Mariska Hargitay Comes to Terms With a Lifetime of Family Secrets

UP NEXT

The Secret to Finding the Best Travel Bargains

UP NEXT

Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 Levels Up With Four Days of Deals Starting July 8

UP NEXT

Fresno Now Has a Professional Shakespeare Co. Thanks to Measure P Sales Tax

UP NEXT

Hips Don’t Lie, and Neither Do Ticket Sales: Shakira Adds Fresno Show

UP NEXT

Canseco, Cheechoo to Sign Autographs When Chukchansi Cuts Ribbon on Top Golf

UP NEXT

Netflix Set to Launch Third Themed Venue in Las Vegas

UP NEXT

‘GTA VI’ Delay Weighs on Global Videogame Market Growth, Data Shows

UP NEXT

Protester Killed at Utah ‘No Kings’ Rally Was Fashion Designer From ‘Project Runway’

UP NEXT

Five Weeknight Dishes: Seven Ingredients or Fewer, Because Summer

Trump Administration Has ‘No Imminent Plans’ to Refill Nation’s Emergency Oil Reserve

1 hour ago

Why Is Usually Sleepy Fresno County Schools Superintendent Race Suddenly Hot?

1 hour ago

Tulare County Authorities Seek Leads After Armed Robbery in Earlimart

1 hour ago

US Justice Department to Probe Hiring Practices at University of California

2 hours ago

White House Wants Major Cut in US War Crimes, Accountability Funding, Sources Say

2 hours ago

No Known Intelligence That Iran Moved Uranium, US Defense Chief Says

2 hours ago

What Does the Fresno County Schools Superintendent Do? Read This Q&A to Find Out

2 hours ago

Israel Says Iran’s Supreme Leader Avoided Assassination by Going Underground

2 hours ago

Much of LA’s Community of Immigrants Is Hiding, Leaving a Hole in the Fabric of the City

3 hours ago

US Supreme Court to Issue Term’s Final Rulings on Friday

3 hours ago

Feds Charge Bullard High Teacher With Child Porn, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

A federal grand jury Thursday charged a former Bullard High photography teacher with sexual exploitation of a child, receipt of child sexual...

11 minutes ago

11 minutes ago

Feds Charge Bullard High Teacher With Child Porn, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

New data shows Kamala Harris lost the 2024 election not because of low turnout, but because millions of young, nonwhite, and irregular voters either stayed home or shifted their support to Donald Trump. (Shutterstock)
12 minutes ago

New Data Clarifies a Lingering Question on 2024 Turnout

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at the start of a NATO leaders summit in The Hague, Netherlands June 25, 2025. (Reuters File)
44 minutes ago

US Announces New Fentanyl-Related Visa Restriction Policy

A boat sails along the Brazos Harbor in Freeport, Texas, U.S., June 23, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Trump Administration Has ‘No Imminent Plans’ to Refill Nation’s Emergency Oil Reserve

1 hour ago

Why Is Usually Sleepy Fresno County Schools Superintendent Race Suddenly Hot?

Two armed suspects robbed customers and a clerk at a gas station in Earlimart Wednesday, June 25, 2025, night before fleeing in a blue vehicle. (Tulare County SO)
1 hour ago

Tulare County Authorities Seek Leads After Armed Robbery in Earlimart

2 hours ago

US Justice Department to Probe Hiring Practices at University of California

A view of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 20, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo
2 hours ago

White House Wants Major Cut in US War Crimes, Accountability Funding, Sources Say

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend