From 2 to 13 October, the annual BFI London Film Festival is coming to the capital. Stars and special screenings, gala events, art house and indie films, documentaries and tons more films and events come with the programme.
The only problem, of course, is that come 14 October, the festival will be over – and all you’ll have in lieu of the event is your memories.
If you’ve ever walked away from a film or festival or special screening and wished you could take something away with you, something more tangible, then let us introduce you to Prop Store.
Prop Store is an auction house dedicated to film props: it’s a place for movie buffs and avid collectors to congregate and find coveted and treasured items from the big and small screens.
Prop Store’s upcoming auction is one of their biggest and most exciting sales of the year. Entertainment Memorabilia: Treasures from Film and Television, in partnership with BFI Imax, is taking place on 30 September and 1 October. Adding to the excitement, the auction is being held at Odeon BFI Imax in London.
Items big and small from all sorts of films are being offered: among the 898 lots are Cruella de Vil’s car hood ornament from 101 Dalmatians (1996), the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch from Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Jan’s ‘Beauty School Dropout’ dress from Grease (1978), a light-up remote control R2-BHD droid from Star Wars: Rogue One (2016), and a 15-foot kosmoceratops skeleton from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018).
It’s impossible to highlight all of the incredible lots, but here are our favourite few.
Batman’s Batsuit from Tim Burton’s 1989 superhero film Batman: Bruce Wayne wore his Batsuit throughout the film, donning it whenever he fought crime on the streets of Gotham City and when he ultimately defeated the villainous Joker (Jack Nicholson).
The Batsuit was conceived and developed by Academy Award-nominated costume designer Bob Ringwood, along with Vin Burnham.
This special effects facehugger is recognisable from Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi masterpiece, Alien.
After the mining vessel Nostromo received a transmission from a desolate moon, the crew discovered mysterious eggs in the bowels of a crashed vessel. Kane (John Hurt) got too close to one, and a creature attached to his face. Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt) and navigator Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) brought him aboard the Nostromo, placing the rest of the crew in danger.
The facehugger skin is made of latex and features realistic detailing, including veins, wrinkles and ligaments.
And lastly this screen-matched Tantive IV Stormtrooper Helmet is from George Lucas’ Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).
The stormtrooper uniforms are just one of many indelible, iconic designs from the original trilogy, borne out of concept sketches by celebrated concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, who worked directly with Lucas on the Imperial foot soldiers' appearance. The stormtrooper helmets created for the first Star Wars film were sculpted by artist Liz Moore and vacuum-formed by an outside vendor.
This superb helmet is complete, unrestored from its original first-film finish, and screen-matches to the scene early in the movie where stormtroopers bring Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) to Darth Vader aboard the Rebel corvette Tantive IV. Unique characteristics in the textured finish of the paintwork, as well as the hand-cut teeth and eye openings, match the on-screen helmet exactly.
