The Maltese Falcon sells at auction; dreams made of $4 million

Dorothy’s red slippers. Rosebud. The One Ring. Wilson. Certain film props have become so iconic that they are beyond any sensible or estimable value. These objects have become part of our cultural history. How much worth can you assign to something as storied as the wood chipper from Fargo or Butch’s gold watch in Pulp Fiction?

As it ends up, you can assign a lot of value to these things. The eponymous Maltese Falcon from The Maltese Falcon was auctioned for a whopping $4 million yesterday, making it perhaps the most expensive non-automotive item of film memorabilia ever sold. It’s a shocking number, but it shows the weight and meaning that we attach to films. Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre have long been dead, but the Maltese Falcon will live on as a physical attachment to an indelible cultural work.

Would you pay $4 million for a connection to a great classic film?

If you don’t feel like dropping that much on the statue, you can always just borrow our copy of the movie from the AU Library (HU DVD 130) .