# Greatest Movie Props? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042 "2009-09-06T06:21:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/41 "2009-09-07T02:57:12Z")
The idol from the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark. And Indy’s whip. The gold watch from Pulp Fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/42 "2009-09-07T03:19:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I thought I heard that Steven Spielberg bought the Rosebud sled at auction. The results of a Google search indicate that there were three sleds made for the movie, of which two burned. He paid $55,000 (plus the ten percent premium) for the sled. That price sounds ridiculously low. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/43 "2009-09-07T03:25:28Z")
My brother works at Lucas Film, and he says the carbonite Han Solo prop decorated the lobby of the building he works at. There’s probably an entire Boba Fett costume around there somewhere. I don’t know if costumes count, but isn’t the white suit from S_aturday Night Fever_ buried with Gene Siskel? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/44 "2009-09-07T04:04:34Z")
I second the Maltese Falcon, and what’s more, [you can have your own](http://www.hauntedstudios.com/original-maltese-falcon_HUMPHREY-BOGART-MALTESE-FALCON-STATUE.htm)! I have one, and it’s very good. ---
**Author:** ![stevejarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@stevejarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stevejarrett)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/45 "2009-09-07T04:30:08Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > Not sure about that. > > The Maltese Falcon was sold at auction in 1994, fetching a sum just shy of $400,000. I don’t think that’s been beaten. On the other hand, I could swear I read recently that a pair of Oz slippers (four were used in the film) went up for auction very recently. I could be imagining this. Actually, I run The Ruby Slipper Fan Club and a pair of ruby slippers sold in May 2000 for $660.000.00. (I actually got to hold them by the invitation of the then owner, Tony Landini.) [http://rainbowz.deltacomm.com/rubyslipperfanclub/auctiongallery.html](http://rainbowz.deltacomm.com/rubyslipperfanclub/auctiongallery.html) The pair that was stolen in August 2005 (which were never recovered) were said to have an insurance policy on them for $1,000,000.00. I also made the ruby slippers (they only used one of them for the 2009 production of “Night at the Museum - Battle for the Smithsonian” visit this link and click the clip called (of all things) Ruby Slippers: [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810028001/trailer](http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810028001/trailer) Hope that wasn’t TMI, but start talking about movie props and someone mentions ruby slippers, I jump in. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/46 "2009-09-07T04:40:58Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Multiple incarnations of the Batmobile from the various movies. One of them is on display at Hollywood Casino in Tunica. Smaller than you’d think, and the cockpit is really cramped. There’s also a model of the back half of the Titanic that’s pretty cool…but would be a pain in the ass to display in a private collection. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/47 "2009-09-07T05:03:09Z")
I once met a propmaster who had come up with one of the more iconic props of the last 25 years. A few years ago I was working on a pilot whose offices were in a bungalow on the CBS Radford backlot in Studio City. The bungalow next door housed the offices for _Disturbia_, which was prepping some additional photography (I had worked on the movie 4 or 5 months earlier during principal photography, and ended up working a few days on this as well). Outside the offices one day, my boss introduced me to a guy that he had worked with years earlier. We chatted a bit, and after he departed, I was informed that he had designed the mask used in _Scream_. Regarding some other great props, some of my own favorites would include the horse’s head, Moe Greene’s glasses (after being shot), and the gun used by Michael in shooting the Turk and McCluskey; _Pulp Fiction_ has a few that are memorable, though my fave would be the Red Apple cigarettes, because all the others (except for the wallet, which is pretty common now) are fairly generic (syringe, samurai sword, boxing gloves, briefcase, watch). ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/48 "2009-09-07T05:13:54Z")
Oh, more mad scientist’s 80s props! The transporter pods from Cronenberg’s _The Fly_! Those were fantastic. I also nominate the wheelchair from _The Changeling_ (1980). ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/49 "2009-09-07T06:41:04Z")
> [@stevejarrett](#): > > Actually, I run The Ruby Slipper Fan Club and a pair of ruby slippers sold in May 2000 for $660.000.00. (I actually got to hold them by the invitation of the then owner, Tony Landini.) > > [http://rainbowz.deltacomm.com/rubyslipperfanclub/auctiongallery.html](http://rainbowz.deltacomm.com/rubyslipperfanclub/auctiongallery.html) > > The pair that was stolen in August 2005 (which were never recovered) were said to have an insurance policy on them for $1,000,000.00. > > I also made the ruby slippers (they only used one of them for the 2009 production of “Night at the Museum - Battle for the Smithsonian” visit this link and click the clip called (of all things) Ruby Slippers: [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810028001/trailer](http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810028001/trailer) > > Hope that wasn’t TMI, but start talking about movie props and someone mentions ruby slippers, I jump in. 😃 Not at all. Welcome to the SDMB. I just love that there’s a Ruby Slipper Fan Club. A fan club for a movie prop. People are weird (but this is a good kind of weird). ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/50 "2009-09-07T06:46:36Z")
> [@stevejarrett](#): > > Actually, I run The Ruby Slipper Fan Club and a pair of ruby slippers sold in May 2000 for $660.000.00. (I actually got to hold them by the invitation of the then owner, Tony Landini.) > > [http://rainbowz.deltacomm.com/rubyslipperfanclub/auctiongallery.html](http://rainbowz.deltacomm.com/rubyslipperfanclub/auctiongallery.html) > > The pair that was stolen in August 2005 (which were never recovered) were said to have an insurance policy on them for $1,000,000.00. > > I also made the ruby slippers (they only used one of them for the 2009 production of “Night at the Museum - Battle for the Smithsonian” visit this link and click the clip called (of all things) Ruby Slippers: [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810028001/trailer](http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810028001/trailer) > > Hope that wasn’t TMI, but start talking about movie props and someone mentions ruby slippers, I jump in. 😃 No, it wasn’t TMI. Your Ruby Slipper credentials are impeccable. Excellent stuff, and thanks for the links. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2009, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/51 "2009-09-07T10:57:02Z")
I would love to have Robbie the Robot (Forbidden Planet version) as my best friend. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/52 "2009-09-08T23:07:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Either Eomer or Theoden’s armour from Lord of the Rings. That or Freddie’s blade-glove. I recall from the commentary track of LoTR that several of the actors were given their character’s swords at the end of shooting. _jealous_ 🙂 And that Theoden’s armour had his poem calling for the Rohirrim to arise was engraved on the _inside_ of the armour; where only he got to see it as it was being put on. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/53 "2009-09-09T01:33:10Z")
I believe that Elijah Wood also insisted in his contract that he get to keep the Ring, so in case the movie/his career flopped, he could make money by selling it to a collector. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/54 "2009-09-09T01:55:45Z")
not one of the greatest props, but I like the Neuralyzer…I remember when the movie’d been out in theaters a while and there was a half page ad with MIB and a close-up of the Neuralyzer with the caption: “See it again, for the first time!” Heck, there were LOTS of cool props in the first one. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/55 "2009-09-09T02:27:44Z")
Connery’s Aston Martin The Batmobile from the 60s TV show The Orb from Sleeper ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/56 "2009-09-09T03:54:11Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > Changing the OP’s question slightly from “greatest prop”, which would require lists in a whole lot of different categories, to “prop I would most like to own”, I’d say one of the scal models of the _Nautilus_ from Disney’s _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_. > > S In Early, early Disneyland, they had the props on display in a “walk through” “ride”. Very Cool.🆒 **stevejarrett** - thanks!🆒 ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/57 "2009-09-09T03:56:35Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > I keep thinking of _Back to the Future_’s DeLorean time machine and the _Ghostbuster_’s proton packs. Both seem to stem from the eighties tech look of vaguely ominous wires, tubes, and molded shapes that must house something. They looked clunky, yet cutting end back then. I suppose that perfectly reflects the two mad scientist who designed them in story. In what was surely a total coincidence, I actually saw a DeLorean today, driving into my place of work. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/58 "2009-09-09T04:09:31Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > I also nominate the wheelchair from _The Changeling_ (1980). As wheelchairs go, I would rather have Capt. Christopher Pike’s. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/59 "2009-09-09T04:23:10Z")
> [@Encinitas](#): > > I would love to have Robbie the Robot (Forbidden Planet version) as my best friend. [Funny you should mention that…](http://www.the-robotman.com/) Thirty grand, but hey, admit it—there are a lot of stupider things you could do with that kind of money. Plus there’s the good chance that, within a couple of decades, you’d be able to upgrade one for at least simple household tasks and light conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042/60 "2009-09-09T04:39:33Z")
This one’s easy - The Dude’s rug from _The Big Lebowski_. Without it, you have no movie - it’s right up there with the Maltese Falcon and the Ark of the Covenant, but, better, 'cause, you know, it really ties the room together, man. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-movie-props/509042.md?page=4)