Nuno Miranda's Original Film & TV Props Collection

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Call sheet for day No. 267

2018-06-22T20:23:00.001+01:00

A call sheet used in the production of the Peter Jackson movie Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. This call sheet is for day #267 of filming and is dated “13th December 2000”. It has the name of the film as “Jamboree” which was what it was called originally to keep it secret. It has Peter Jackson’s name printed at the top as Director and it tells us that they were filming in Minas Tirith with the fellowship. There are 7 sheets in all, including the Call Sheet, travel directions for the "wet set", and a map to reach it, the "Mud Map 1A", location logistics anda map for "Dry Creek Quarry / Minas Tirith" and finally a map of Minas Tirith itself. [PSoL]

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)German cap

2018-06-06T14:52:00.000+01:00

This is a very rare cap from one of the German soldiers. These caps were made specifically for the movie and were not part of the actual Nazi uniform. Not many were made, for the number of soldiers using it is very limited. For all I know, this one could even be the one Indy himself wears in the U-Boat pen, but there's no way of knowing, for it is not marked. [RP]

Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) Warner Bros. Security Hat Badge

2018-06-06T12:45:00.000+01:00

A Warner Bros. Security Hat Badge from the 2003 comedy film, Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Badges of this style can be seen attached to hats worn by Warner Bros. Studios guards throughout the film. This metal badge features an elegant engraving of an eagle with its wings spread apart at top, and has been decorated with the Warner Bros. emblem with 'Security Officer' engraved below. [PSoL]

Errol Flynn's personal cufflinks and cigarette case

2017-02-21T15:20:00.004+00:00

These are Errol Flynn's personal gold cufflinks monogrammed "EF" and alligator-pattern cigarette case with initials "EF" initials in gold.finish metal. They are accompanied by extensive paperwork detailing their provenance.

"Errol Flynn (1909-1959) was an Australian-born film star who gained fame in Hollywood in the 1930s as the screen's premier swashbuckler. Tall, athletic and exceptionally handsome, Flynn personified the cavalier adventurer in a string of immensely popular films for Warner Brothers, most often co-starring with Olivia deHavilland in such screen classics as "Captain Blood" and "The Adventures of Robin Hood."

Flynn was born in Hobart, Tasmania, the son of professor Theodore Thomson Flynn, a world renowned Marine biologist, and Lily Mary Young. After an unhappy childhood that included physical and mental abuse by his mother, Flynn ran away to New Guinea where for several years he lived a life of adventure as a copra plantation overseer, constable, gold miner and guide up the dangerous Sepik River. In 1933, back in Australia, he was cast in a low-budget film, "In the Wake of the Bounty," which gave him the idea of becoming an actor. He drifted to England where he landed work as a bit player with the Northampton Repertory Theater and, after appearing in one film, "Murder at Monte Carlo," was discovered by a Warner Brothers talent scout.

Coming to America in 1934, Flynn was cast in two insignificant films before Warner Brothers took a chance on an unknown and starred him in "Captain Blood." Flynn shot to international stardom overnight, and throughout the 1930s he was arguably the most recognizable movie star in the world. His striking good looks and screen charisma won him millions of fans, including legions of women who threw themselves at him.

Flynn also became as famous for his hedonistic lifestyle as for his swashbuckling movie roles. By his own estimate he slept with 10,000 women in his lifetime, and his penchant for alcohol, drugs and brawling aged him prematurely. By 1950 his best days were behind him both professionally and personally. Dropped by Warner Brothers in 1952, Flynn roamed the world in his yacht making substandard films abroad, as well as one short-lived television show, "The Errol Flynn Theater." Near the end of his life he returned to Hollywood where he was rediscovered; playing drunks and washed out bums, he brought a poignancy to his performances that had not been there during his glamorous heyday."

-- IMDB

Incense for the Damned / Bloodsuckers (1970) Peter Cushing's costume as Dr. Walter Goodrich

2017-02-21T12:56:00.002+00:00

Film: Bloodsuckers / Incense for the Damned (1970)
Actor: Peter Cushing (as Dr. Walter Goodrich)
Director: Robert Hartford-Davies
Costume designer: Unknown

Incense for the Damned (also released as Bloodsuckers, Freedom Seeker and Doctors Wear Scarlet) is a 1970 British horror film starring Patrick Macnee, Patrick Mower and Peter Cushing, based on the 1960 Simon Raven novel Doctors Wear Scarlet.

The film centers on Richard Fountain, an Oxford don who has fallen under the influence of a mysterious Greek girl and her suspicious associates. Fountain's friends visit Greece to get him back and notice that wherever he has been a number of murders have taken place. They find their friend under the spell of a beautiful vampire, whose blood-sucking methods include the use of S&M sex. Believing that they have killed her, the group return to Great Britain, unaware that their friend is now a vampire.

Filmed in Greece and Cyprus, they ran out of money in the Spring of 1969, having resumed later on. New scenes were written and new actors were added, the result being that the director disowned the film and prints only exist under a directorial psydonym (Michael Burrowes) or with no director credit at all.

The costume -- jacket, trousers, suspenders and vest -- was acquired in auction, originally from the Peter Cushing estate, as personal wardrobe and not associated with a film. All pieces sport M. Berman Ltd. labels with "Peter Cushing" handwritten. Production woes might explain why the costume ended up with Cushing and not returned to Berman.

"Incense for the Damned is one of the more unusual films in the canon of cinematic vampire lore. It is also one of the more controversially debated films in the genre – and more than anybody by its director Robert Hartford-Davies who hated the ending that was forced onto the film and substituted a pseudonym.
What one does find is an impressive attempt to pare away to the centre of the vampire myth. The central metaphor the vampire film operates on – that vampirism is sublimated sexuality – is here spun out as literal fact. Edward Woodward has a scene where he potently explains vampirism is a perversion brought on by sexual impotency where the drinking of and having blood drunken serves as surrogate orgasm. This is wound into a complex metaphor that sees the Oxford academic structure as vampiric in nature – Patrick Mower has a striking speech where he stands up and denounces the parasitism of the academic system, calling provost Peter Cushing in effect the head vampire. (As a perfectly sardonic after-note, Peter Cushing stands up, apparently oblivious to Patrick Mower’s meaning and demands order). The double-side of the coin the film presents is also striking – that the only relief from a rigidly ingrained system is to be found in the youth movement. However, the youth movement is not seen as liberating, as it usually was in most films of this period, but is instead painted as inhabited by Satanic orgiastists, drug takers and murderers – exactly what some of the more extreme critics were denouncing it as. Incense for the Damned in its condemnation of both the repressive order of the class system and the wild liberation of the youth movement – yet also seeing both as deeply intertwined – makes a striking metaphor.

What does mar Incense for the Damned is the ending that was forced on against director Robert Hartford-Davies’ wishes (resulting in him having his name substituted) wherein Johnny Sekka takes Alex Davion to Patrick Mower’s coffin and hammers a stake through his heart. It is an ending that vilifies the rest of the film, which has up until that point explained vampirism away as being purely a psychological perversion."

Moria - Science Fiction, Horror and Film Review

"If you ever wanted to see Patrick Macnee and Imogen Hassall ride donkeys in a British vampire picture, then INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED is the film for you."

RED WEED | Unusual British Film, TV and Beyond

A Mexican lobby card.

As an added bonus, Cushing may have also worn the suit when he appeared in the programme "Looks Familiar" (February 2nd, 1976 according to Wikipedia; UKPCAS states January 25th, 1979) , alongside Burgess Meredith, as can be seen by this photo from the excellent "Peter Cushing Appreciation Society".

"Looks Familiar", February 2nd, 1976. Left to right: Peter Cushing, Dilys Powell
(journalist and TV critic), Dennis Norden (presenter) and Burgess Meredith

Apollo 13 (1995) Jim Lovell's daughter's Midge doll

2016-12-03T14:26:00.002+00:00

This doll was used in the 1995 Ron Howard film "Apollo 13" by actress Emily Ann Lloyd, who played Jim Lovell's (Tom Hanks) daughter Susan Lovell.

Although identified in the CoA as a Barbie, it is actually a Midge, manufactured by Mattel in 1963 (straight legs version, #860), wearing an original Evening Splendor dress (#961) from 1959-64.

The prop belongs to my wife Vera, and it ties in nicely with her collection of vintage barbie dolls and accessories.

[SU]

Coming to America (1988) Two five pound coins from the Bank of Zamunda

2013-06-26T12:24:00.003+01:00

Two 'Bank of Zamunda' coins made for the 1988 John Landis hit comedy "Coming To America", with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall. These small round bright silver coins were made by Continental Coin Corp, who were especially contracted by Paramount.

One of these is also my baby daughter's first prop. She was born on June 9th and I hope one day she catches her father's "collecting bug". :)

[Private puchase]

The Rocketeer (1991) "Bigelow's Air Circus" buttons and banner

2013-05-17T11:35:00.002+01:00

These two buttons and the banner were custom-made for the production of 1991's "The Rocketeer", and feature the Bigelow's Air Circus logo. [SU]

Two Tickets to Broadway (1951) Call sheet

2013-02-01T16:41:00.000+00:00

This item is a call sheet from the 1951 musical play “Two Tickets to Broadway” starring the original scream queen, Janet Leigh. This call sheet lists the entire cast, as well as the director Busby Berkley. Other information listed includes: the production company RKO Radio Pictures, the shooting call time, and the date of November 11, 1950.

"The Producers" (Broadway, 2001-2007) Playbill signed by Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane

2013-01-31T19:23:00.001+00:00

"The Producers", based on the Mel Brooks film, ran on the Saint James Theatre, New York, from 2001 to 2007. It then became a film with the same actors in 2005. Signatures intentionally blurred to avoid duplication. This is a real playbill from the stage production, signed by Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

The Producers (2005) "Funny Boy!" Playbill

2013-01-31T19:19:00.001+00:00

A "Funny Boy!" playbill from the 2005 film "The Producers", with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. [PSoL]

The Producers (2005) "Springtime for Hitler" Playbill & Ticket

2013-01-31T15:46:00.000+00:00

Details were blurred in the digital image to avoid duplication.

Playbill and ticket for the production of "Springtime for Hitler" in 2005's "The Producers", starring Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane. [PSoL]

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) "Club Obi Wan" Dancer Costume

2013-01-30T15:49:00.000+00:00

"Yi wang si-i wa ye kan duo
Xin li bian yao la jing bao jin tian zhi
Dao
Anything goes."

―Willie Scott

Designed by Anthony Powell, this costume was worn by Lisa Mulidore as one ofShangai's "Club Obi Wan" dancers in 1984's "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". The dancers can be seen in the unforgettable opening scene and then when Indy looks for the antidote.

The opening number was originally from "Radioland Murders" (released 1994) that was being developed by George Lucas, Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz. Spielberg reflected,

"George's idea was to start the movie with a musical number. He wanted to do a Busby Berkeley dance number. At all our story meetings he would say, 'Hey, Steven, you always said you wanted to shoot musicals.' I thought, 'Yeah, that could be fun.'"

The song was written by Cole Porter in 1935.

Lisa Mulidore amongst the Club Obi Wan dancers, Spielberg in the centre and Kate Capshaw in the foreground.
[Photo from the book "The Complete Making of Indiana Jones"]

Dancer costume sketch (not in the collection)

Danny Daniels choreographed the opening music number "Anything Goes". Kate Capshaw learned to sing in Mandarin and took tap dance lessons. However, when wearing her dress, which was too tight, Capshaw was not able to tap dance. One of her red dresses was eaten by an elephant during filming; a second was made by costume designer Anthony Powell.

Anthony Powell was nominated for Best Costume at the Saturn Awards (1985). He then notably designed the costumes for "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989), "Hook" (1991), "101 Dalmatians" (1996), "The Avengers" (1998) and "102 Dalmatians" (2001).

Acquired from PropMasters.

Sources: Wikipedia, IMDB, "The Complete Making of Indiana Jones" (Ebury Press, 2008)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) Avery Brooks, signed photo as "Captain Sisko"

2013-01-30T13:09:00.003+00:00

Signed photo of Avery Brooks as "Captain Sisko" from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Photo was signed at the "Official Star Trek Convention", held in Las Vegas, USA, in August 2008.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) Alexander Siddig, signed photo as "Dr. Bashir"

2013-01-30T13:06:00.000+00:00

Signed photo of Alexander Siddig as "Dr. Bashir", from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Photo was signed in the "Weekend Trek" convention, held in Barcelona, Spain, in June 2011.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) Andrew Robinson, signed photo as "Garak"

2013-01-30T13:02:00.001+00:00

Signed photo of Andrew Robinson as the Cardassian "Garak", from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". Photo was signed at the "Weekend Trek" convention, held in Barcelona, Spain, in June 2011.

Doctor Who (1963-1996) Sylvester McCoy, signed photo as the Seventh Doctor

2013-01-30T12:54:00.003+00:00

Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor, signed at "Weekend Trek" convention, held in Barcelona, Spain in June 2011. McCoy was the Doctor from 1987 to 1989 and then in 1996 and was also, notably, the Wizard Radagast in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" (2012).

Star Wars: A New Hope (1977) Garrick Hagon, signed photo as "Biggs Darklighter"

2013-01-30T12:48:00.002+00:00

"Take it easy buddy, you'll always be the best friend I ever had."
―Luke Skywalker says goodbye to Biggs Darklighter.

Garrick Hagon as "Biggs Darklighter", photo signed at "Weekend Trek" convention, held in Madrid, Spain in October 2010.

Star Trek: Voyager (1995) Original cast-signed script for "Warhead"

2013-01-11T16:43:00.000+00:00

This 53 page production script is titled "Warhead" and is dated February 25, 1999, for episode 25 of season 5. Written by Michael Taylor and Kenneth Biller, the script has been autographed on the cover by:

Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway)
Robert Beltran (Chakotay)
Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres)
Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris)
Ethan Phillips (Neelix)
Robert Picardo (The Doctor)
Tim Russ (Tuvok)
Garrett Wang (Harry Kim)
Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine)

Although the Internet (and mostly eBay) is full of signed scripts, 99% of them are fake. This particular one has impeccable provenance, having been purchased from ScreenUsed.

"Assemble the staff. We're going to find a way to outsmart a smart bomb."
- Captain Janeway, to Chakotay

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) Third Draft Screenplay

2013-01-04T15:22:00.000+00:00

A production used screenplay of the 1987 Christopher Reeve superhero movie Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. This revised third draft is dated August 30th 1986 and has approximately one hundred and eight pages, with additional pink revisions from various dates slotted into the relevant places in the script. The script is numbered “133” and was assigned to Bob Bridges, second unit clapper loader. [PSoL]

Other Superman scripts in the collection:

Unknown Production - Have you seen this costume?

2012-12-13T13:18:00.002+00:00

This costume vest is a puzzle. It sports a Western Costume label and I'm told by someone who can actually interpret the labels that it comes from 1952 or a bit later. The actor, J. WEIDEMAN, is an unknown and I can find no reference to him. Notice the sun pattern in front. If you have seen this somewhere, please drop a note -- thank you!

Enemy Mine (1985) Annotated production-used script

2012-12-13T11:49:00.001+00:00

This is a production-used script for the 1985 film "Enemy Mine". It was written by Edward Khmara, based on the book by Barry B. Longyear. This script is annotated by John Dysktra, who handled the ILM part of the special effects through his company Apogee Special Effects. The original script was copied in order to be used as reference by the SFX crew, and this is one of those copies. It was part of the materials from Apogee and acquired privately.

Below is an excerpt from an interview with screenwriter Edward Khmara, published in "Starlog Magazine" #103, February 1986. The first part of the interview deals mostly about "Ladyhawke" (there is also a script for this film in the collection), but here is the part about "Enemy Mine".

Ed Khmara

Scripting Fantasy & Science Fiction in a world of medieval magic,on a planet of alien intrigue, this wordsmith crafts the relationshipsat the centers of "Ladyhawke" and "Enemy Mine."

(...)

"At the same time he was getting the cold shoulder on Ladyhawke, Khmara got another job.

"Steve [All of Me] Friedman had found Barry Longyear's 'Enemy Mine' and asked me if I thought there was a movie in it," Khmara smiles. "I needed a job, so I said yes."

Though he agreed there was a movie in Longyear's novella, Khmara admits that it wasn't easy to find.

"The story was not structured," the writer explains. "I had to create a linear time structure that could only be inferred from the book. The other major problem was that the story had no real ending. There was just a second story tacked on. I needed somehow to integrate these two things and create something for Davidge to do at the end that was more riveting than what he had to do in the story. "

Apparently, Khmara's script was sufficiently riveting. 20th Century Fox picked up the project — and Khmara with it. They also picked up director Richard {The Haunting of Julia) Loncraine. And then the real work started — nine months of rewriting.

"The script went through an expanding process when I worked with Richard," Khmara remembers. "There are many things that Richard contributed when we were working together that improved the story and are still in there. But at the end, we had a script that was too long and, in some ways, too diffuse."

Loncraine took that script and started to film Enemy Mine in Iceland. He didn't get very far. After a few weeks of shooting, Fox closed down the production.

' 'Richard wanted to make a certain kind of movie," Khmara explains. "The studio did not see eye to eye with him. That association ended, but he's a wonderful guy to work with and a great deal of fun."

"Enemy " Employment

Rather than kill Enemy Mine altogether, Fox brought on a new director— Wolfgang Petersen, who had just finished the big budget fantasy, The Neverending Story. Petersen loved the script. He wanted to make the movie. And, contrary to all the rules of Hollywood protocol, he did not fire Khmara and replace him with his pet writer. Instead, he brought Khmara to Germany and began to work with him on refining the script.

"Wolfgang and I spent months putting it together," Khmara recalls. "Because the script timed out longer than the traditional one minute per page, we really had demands on us, budgetary and lengthwise, to tighten it, tighten it, tighten it. We tightened it far more than we ever imagined we could. We cut out about 45 pages from the previous draft.

"If I wanted to create a sequence and Petersen liked it, we would go to the production designer, and he would make us some drawings or models so I could work from them. It's so much easier than just creating a that and a that and a that and then being told by the studio, 'We can't really film that.' It's not very often a writer gets a chance to sit down with all those people and put all those elements together simultaneously and really see the film evolve. ' '

There were times, however, when it looked as if that evolution would be cut short.

"There were several changes in studio administration while we were working on the script," the writer says. "Each change brought new demands. There was a time when we didn't know if the new administration would decide this was just throwing good money after bad. During those times, Wolfgang and I would go to lunch, and afterwards, he would say, 'Should we go back to work, or just to the beer garden?' "

Fortunately for Khmara— and unfortunately for the German beer industry— each new Fox administration decided to continue with the project. And this screenwriter is delighted with the results.

"I can't say this is exactly the movie I saw in my head when I sat down to write the script," Khmara acknowledges. "It could never be totally that. But it is 80 or 90%. And that 80% is more than anybody has a right to expect. Filmmaking is a collaborative experience, and the movie that has been made came into my vision gradually by working with Petersen and Rolf Zehetbauer, the production designer. From what I've seen, the movie they've made is wonderful."

With Enemy Mine finally out of the way, Khmara is writing another genre project for producer Stephen Friedman.

"I seem to have gotten typecast as a genre writer," Ed Khmara says. "If I could, I would like to write films like Places in the Heart— simple, poignant, emotional. You listen to the songs of a singer like Bruce Springsteen whose lyrics seem like something someone could have said in a moment of pure emotion and feeling. The fact that they can be said so smoothly and poignantly and effortlessly — that's also the best plotting. But it's obviously the very hardest, the most difficult. It's real sleight of hand.

"Working with science fiction, I try to find the elements that are really human. I believe those are the elements that any story needs to make it work. That's what attracted me so much to Enemy Mine — it's that human relationship between the two characters. That's what's important."

---

Enemy Mine (1985) Polaroid reference photos of early models of Drac and BTA ships

2012-12-13T10:52:00.000+00:00

On a far distant planet, at the height of the war between the Dracon and Terran Empires, two military pilots crash in the heat of battle. One is Terran, one is Drac. Each is a repulsive alien to the other. Each is a professional warrior, filled with hatred for his blood enemy. Now, marooned on a hostile world, they have a choice. They can complete their missions in a mutual pact of violence and death. Or they can do the most painful thing any Human or Drac has ever done: reach out and begin the new age of understanding that is struggling to be born.

"Enemy Mine" was directed by Wolfgang Petersen, with Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr. in 1985.

These are large size original Polaroids of the early models for the Drac ship and the Bilateral Terran Alliance (BTA) ship. From information gathered from the web (here) these were reference shots taken from early models, when Richard Loncraine was set to direct, having later been replaced by Petersen. The Polaroids show some signs of production use, as there are pin holes in the corners. Three have individual Polaroid numbers in the back. Some are also protected by a transparent plastic pocket. These were part of the materials from John Dykstra's Apogee Special Affects Company and acquired privately for the collection.

Space: 1999 (1975) Original colour storyboards for "Devil's Planet"

2012-11-09T09:51:00.000+00:00

These special effects storyboards were drawn for the episode "Devil's Planet", the 22nd episode of Series 2 of "Space: 1999". At the start of the series they were drawn by Brian Johnson and Cyril Forster, but as Brian became busier Cyril took over most of the work. These are original hand-drawn images in different color markers and are exceedingly rare, and I know of only five others surviving examples (for "The Immunity Syndrome", see below). This one came directly from Brian Johnson.

The drawings/ description are either in pairs, on pieces of paper 32.5cm x 20.5cm (approx.), laid out in landscape format or a single 16.5cm X 20.5cm (approx.) portrait format eg: one of the big pieces cut in half, They are not regular A4 or A5. The drawings are then stuck to one large piece of black cartridge type paper and slid into a big ArtCare slip. The whole thing is approx. 85cm x 61.5cm.

The individual sheets of paper that the paintings/directions are executed upon are photocopied blanks with spaces to enter the story, scene and slate number. There's a bordered space for the picture and below it space for the "remarks" eg: direction/ description of the shot, plus "space sky" and "planet ext" to be crossed through as required. The "remarks" below the pictures, quoted below, are mostly reproduced from the script.

As a shot was completed a big cross was put over the relevant picture with a chinagraph (grease) pencil. The crossings out are still present and as they are on the plastic slip the drawings are unaffected. The picture for Slate 3X has a small inked stamp on its bottom right corner :

Date................................................... (Alas not filled in)
BRAY FILM STUDIOS
PINEWOOD STUDIOS
SPECIAL/VISUAL FX
ATTN BRIAN JOHNSON

(This text was adapted from the description of another example, for "The Immunity Syndrome", in the definitive "Space: 1999" reference website, The Catacombs.)

Here is Brian Johnson with another set of storyboards.

Star Trek - The Motion Picture (1979) Prototype Dress Uniform

2012-10-26T10:22:00.002+01:00

Originally purchased from Profiles as an unused tunic from the ill-fated "Star Trek - Phase II" series, thanks to David McLaughlin, specialist in TMP costumes, it was now identified as being a prototype for the dress uniform for "Star Trek - The Motion Picture". It was designed by Robert Fletcher, who took over for the film series from William Theiss. [PiH]