Piano from film 'Casablanca' sells at auction for US$3.4 million

The painted upright piano that adorned Rick’s Café in the classic movie, Casablanca, was sold for US$3.4 million at auction on Monday after a frenzied sale in New York. The orange piano – on which Sam, played by actor Dooley Wilson, performs As Time Goes By at the request of Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) – was among 200 items from Hollywood’s golden age that went under the hammer at Bonham’s in New York. There was also keen interest in the Cowardly Lion costume worn by actor Bert Lahr in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz - including the sculpted likeness of Lahr’s face - which was auctioned for nearly US$3.1 million. The piano featured prominently in the Oscar-winning 1942 romantic drama, set in the Moroccan port city of Casablanca. Leading man Humphrey Bogart, who played café owner Rick Blaine, uses it as a hiding place for the letters of transit that ultimately secure safe passage of his former lover, Ilsa, to the United States. Ilsa sees Sam at the piano on her first visit to the café. She asks him: “Play it once, Sam. For old times’ sake.” However, Sam replies: “I don’t know what you mean, Miss Ilsa.” Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By Ilsa, played by Ingrid Bergman, in Casablanca Ilsa says: “Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By." Sam lies to her, saying: “Oh, I can't remember it, Miss Ilsa. I’m a little rusty on it.” So Ilsa says: “I’ll hum it for you. Da-dy-da-dy-da-dum, da-dy-da-dee-da-dum ... Sing it, Sam.” And so Sam sings: “You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss, A sigh is just a sigh. The fundamental things apply as time goes by ...” Dresses worn by Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Rita Hayworth were also auctioned, as well as a jacket worn by Clark Gable in Gone With the Wind. The winning bid for the lion costume - worn by Lahr in the 1939 film - was US$3,077,000, Bonham’s spokeswoman Vyoma Venkataraman said on Tuesday. "It was created from real lion hide," she said. The Wizard of Oz, featuring scenes in black and white and also colour, follows the adventures of a young girl, Dorothy Gale, played by Garland, and her three friends, played by Lahr, Jack Haley as the Tin Man and Ray Bolger as the Scarecrow, as they search for home, courage, love and knowledge. Auctioneers had declined to estimate the Casablanca piano’s likely price, saying only that they expected it to fetch “the low- to mid-seven figures”. Bidding opened at US$1.6 million and escalated rapidly before closing three minutes later at US$3.4 million including taxes. The piano was specially adapted to allow Bogart’s character to perform his sleight of hand with the transit papers, hiding them in plain sight of the clientele at Rick’s. The writers decided that the papers – earlier stolen by actor Peter Lorre's character, Ugarte – should be hidden in the top of the piano, but had to alter the opening of its lid to make it work on camera. “The only way this works, however, is if the lid opens from the rear, otherwise Rick would have to reach over Sam’s shoulder to hide the papers, a hardly subtle move,” the auction house said. “The solution to this staging problem was to have the prop department completely remove the top of the piano, leaving the piece secured by a hook and eye only.” Most likely made in 1927, the piano also has only 58 keys, 30 fewer than a classic piano. It had been owned by a dentist, Gary Milan, in Los Angeles since the 1980s. Bonham’s said the painted Moroccan designs were restored about three decades ago under the direction of film company Warner Bros. The piano was offered for sale with a signed photograph of actor Wilson – who did not know how to play the piano in real life – and a copy of the film, Casablanca, and even came with a wad of petrified chewing gum found stuck beneath the keyboard. A faint outline of a fingerprint could be seen on the gum, but its owner was unknown. A winner of three Academy Awards, Casablanca is ranked as the second greatest movie of all time by the American Film Institute, behind Citizen Kane and just ahead of The Godfather. Items related to the film generated frantic business at Bonham’s, with a draft screenplay entitled Everybody Come to Rick’s fetching US$106,250, well above its US$40,000-US$60,000 estimate. The doors featured in the entrance of Rick’s Café sold for US$115,000, having been estimated at US$75,000 to US$100,000. The famous letters of transit at the heart of the film, estimated to sell for between US$100,000 and US$150,000, were bought for US$118,750. One of the chairs from Rick’s Café fetched US$5,000. Several dresses featured in other movies fetched hefty sums as well, including a gown worn by Garland in Easter Parade that sold for US$11,875 and another worn by Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were that earned US$8,750. A gown worn by Hayworth in The Loves of Carmen fetched US$6,000. However, a dress worn by Grace Kelly in Mogambo, co-starring Gable, which was estimated to be worth between US$15,000 and US$20,000, failed to secure a buyer at the auction.