2001: A Space Odyssey remains one of the most important science fiction films in cinematic history, and the extremely rare props used in filming almost never appear at auction. Rumour has it that most of the costumes and production items were destroyed at the end of filming or at a later date. Any object from the production of Kubrick's feature film is therefore considered the holy grail for collectors. For the first time in 20 years, an auction house presented one of the film's most iconic costumes: a silver spacesuit accompanied by a helmet.
The Hollywood: Legends & Explorers auction, hosted by Julien's Auctions in July, featured around 900 items from films and TV series. According to the auction house, the spacesuit was an amalgamation of components worn by different actors in several scenes throughout the film. The helmet, for example, is coated with four separate coats of paint (a white base, a green coat, then yellow, and finally its current white colour), indicating that it was used in multiple scenes.
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The coat of green paint, sprayed over the entire surface of the helmet and visible under cracks, suggests that it is the helmet worn by actor Keir Dullea, who played Dr Dave Bowman, in the third act of the film, as he walks into Explorer One's antechamber to deactivate HAL, the all-knowing computer, one the most famous sci-fi scenes of all time.
A memo from director Stanley Kubrick to screenplay author Arthur C. Clarke dated 10 February 1966 confirms the theory of experts regarding the green helmet worn by Dullea in the scene. The note opens with, "I think I found a very credible way to get Bowman into the airlock," and then describes the action and logistics of the scene. Dr Dave Bowman is the only character to wear a green helmet in the film, and it's only worn in this scene.
According to experts, the silver spacesuit is original and shows no changes or traces of paint. Composed of a piece of reflective fabric and patches with the 'United States Astronautics Agency Clavius Base' logo, it is similar to the silver suits worn by astronauts in the pivotal scene where they approach the original black monolith alien, in Tycho Crater. These outfits also appear during the sequence aboard the Moon Bus.
The set, although modified and worn in several scenes, remains an invaluable collectors item for science fiction enthusiasts and was sold for $325,000 (£247,500). The universe of Kubrick never fails to amaze.
