Debbie Reynolds, actress, dancer and mother of Carrie Fisher, put up many of her Hollywood memorabilia on Saturday at the latest Profiles in History auction, but the one that would make any Star Wars fan drool over was a camera. Not just any camera, but the Panavision PR 35 that Lucas himself used to film Star Wars: The New Hope. The item was certainly a rare piece indeed, a piece that sold for over $625,000.
Even in the Star Wars Universe, that bid was extremely high and reserved either for one of the movie’s biggest fans or it’s a collector who is hoping to get more for it as time passes. It did set the record for the highest paid ever for a camera, which is pretty impressive itself.
Question is will the person who bought it make their own movie or keep it locked away some where. The camera is still in perfect working order and comes with quite a bit to give a budding or even experienced filmmaker the chance to step into George’s shoes and start filming. Items and features include a Panaspeed motor, follow focus, a matte box, lens, camera dolly and a Mony geared head. Not sure what that last one is, but I’m sure it a cool feature. And finally there are two 1000 foot film magazines ready to start shooting perhaps the next big thing.
Of course, the camera is old school and it’s not even clear if the film is available anymore, beyond what it came with, so takes may be limited. But just the fact that this is a rare piece that is the start of the Lucas legacy is enough to make it one of the most unique grabs ever and we congratulate whoever walked away with it.
If you are disappointed that you missed this one, but still want to own a piece of Hollywood gold, check out the Profiles in History auction next week (December 15-16), in which they plan to actually auction off the Cowardly Lion costume (made of real lion skin) and Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, in addition to a Delorean from Back t o the Future III. Great Scott!
