The lobby card for the movie The Wizard of Oz is a still image of American actress Judy Garland (1922-1969) (as Dorothy) wiping tears from the eyes of actor Bert Lahr (1895-1967). Shows (as a timid lion), Jack Haley (1898-1979) (as Tinman) (left), Ray Bolger (1904-1987) (as a sword), seen in 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming.
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A planned auction of a long-lost dress worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz is at stake after a federal judge ordered a hearing on Monday why pending sales shouldn’t be blocked. On the verge of The result of the proceedings over its ownership..
A hearing in the US District Court in Manhattan was set on May 23, the day before Bonham’s auction house is now auctioning dresses on behalf of the Catholic University.
Judge Paul Gardef’s order, which is scheduled for a court session, was issued after a Wisconsin-based lawyer, Barbara Hartke, asked him to stop selling dresses until the proceedings were finalized.
Hartke, 81, in a lawsuit alleges that the dress is the property of his late uncle, Rev. Gilbert Hartke, who founded the Catholic University’s drama school.
As an heir, Barbara Hartke could be one of the heirs to the dress if he wins the proceedings.
The blue and white checkered gingham dress worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz is on display at Bonhams, New York on Monday, April 25, 2022.
Katie Basquez | AP
But the University of Washington DC It says it is a “legitimate owner” Of the dress given to Hartke in 1973 by the Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes McCambridge.
The university said Gilbert Harkte’s poverty vow as a Roman Catholic priest prohibited him from receiving gifts as his personal property.
“Father Hartke’s property has no property rights,” the school said in a statement on May 6.
The blue and white gingham dress is one of two of what Garland is considered to be the six dresses made for wearing the classic “Oz” film. Bonham’s estimates that dresses will sell between $ 800,000 and $ 1.2 million.
Other dresses It was auctioned by Bonham’s in 2015 for over $ 1.5 million.
The possession of a dress by Gilbert Hartke was well known at the Catholic University after giving him a dress in appreciation of Macan Bridge’s help in fighting alcoholism.
However, the dress was missing for decades until it was found in a trash bag above the teacher’s mail slot during a renovation of the school’s Hartke Theater last June.
Amin Al Saraf, a lawyer at the Catholic University, said in a statement to CNBC that he and other lawyers at the school will file a statutory document in support of the auction later this week.
Al-Sarraf said that the temporary restraint order issued by Gardephe on Monday to ban the auction “is valid only until the hearing, so unless the court grants an injunction on the 23rd, the auction will proceed. Does not interfere with.
“We look forward to the opportunity to submit to the court next week the overwhelming evidence that the Catholic University owns the dress,” he said.
Barbara Hartke and Bonham’s lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
