A Hollywood classic — the famous red shoes worn by Judy Garland in the film “The Wizard of Oz” were purchased at a Heritage Auctions sale for $32.5 million, writes Pravilamag.
The auction started at $1.55 million, and initial estimates were around $3 million, but the result astonished everyone. This price became a historic record for the “Ruby Slippers”.
Several pairs were used in the film, and only four have survived to this day. One of them was sold in 2000 for $666,000, and another was bought in 2012 by Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio for $2 million, then donated to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.
The pair that was sold is considered the “highest-quality” sample. It was used in the film in scenes where Dorothy’s feet were shown in close-up.
The shoes previously belonged to collector Michael Shaw, were displayed in a museum in 2005, and in the same year were stolen. The FBI found them only in 2018 and returned them to the owner. It turned out that Terry John Martin was behind the incident, believing the shoes were made of real rubies.
In the film, these shoes were the key to Dorothy’s return home: the heroine had to click her heels three times and repeat: “There’s no place like home”.
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