Hollywood Treasure “Vampires, Swords, and the Queen of the Night” Greg Cannom, Whitney Houston and Goldfinger!

Hello again Hollywood Treasure fans!

It is going once, going twice, and DONE for this season of Hollywood Treasure. On the Season Two finale, Profiles in History is ready as always for another round of auction madness.

Where in the world are we?” is a pretty accurate statement from Profiles in History owner Joe Maddalena as the viewer takes in some very non-Los Angeles looking sights.

Tracey McCall,  Client Relations, is in the passenger seat and informing Joe that we are about to meet an owner of a reputed screen-used car, the famous “General Lee” vehicle from The Dukes of Hazzard featuring Tom Wopat, John Schneider, Catherine Bach and Denver Pyle.

Joe Maddalena states that although this is a potentially exciting find, Profiles In History has to be very careful since the General Lee is one of the most replicated television and movie cars on the market.

We then meet Johnny Oz, who exits the iconic car where else but out of the window and gives an overview of the General Lee vehicle. He states this is the only one remaining from the California shoot and the vehicle’s gashes and wear could be a tell tale sign of this. Joe points out the dings and gashes could help authenticate, alongside the signatures of the cast, but hard evidence is needed.

Johnny says he bought the car 11 years prior when his father had a mechanic store and the stunt driver AKA then owner of the car originally wanted to do some repairs, but ended up selling it to Johnny the very same day.

Joe says that he needs more to show that this is the actual stunt car, to which Johnny again points out the signatures. Joe states that they essentially mean nothing in regards to this not being a replica, warranting a look of shock from the potential consignor.

We finally see some paperwork from the car’s manufacturer and he says again how he bought it from the stunt rider who owned it previously. Joe says that when it comes down to it, there needs to be paperwork linking back from the studio which authenticates that the car was screen used.

Johnny reveals that the car is his “baby”, but he is going to be married soon, so he needs at least $50,000 for the car to pay for the wedding and honeymoon. Joe thankfully reveals this is possible, however, he cannot help sell the car until the current owner can track down paperwork from the studio to authenticate the General Lee.

Back at Profiles headquarters, Brian Chanes, Head of Acquisition, speaks with Joe about a conversation he had with special effects guru Greg Cannom about selling his items.

They immediately head out and meet the man responsible for helping transform films such as Benjamin Button with Brad Pitt. Greg tells the boys that he is trying to fund a big future project, so he wants to let go of some items from Bram Stoker’s Dracula film with a truly star-studed cast headed by Gary Oldman.

The first piece revealed is the display for Gary Oldman’s aging makeup with a wig, followed by a creepy creature maquette.

Greg wants to know how much the items are worth before even putting them up for auction, so he brings Brian and Joe into another room where they are wowed to see the hero body suit from Dracula, the severed heads Anthony Hopkins throws off of a ravine, and finally the “Wolf-Drac” creature.

After the buffet of Dracula items is presented and Joe tells him the items are priceless, a visibly emotional Greg agrees to put his items up for auction.

Back at the loft, Tracey is having a heck of a time trying to find the supposed stunt driver who sold the car to Johnny, but she is trying to find someway to help the future wedding groom out. Joe insists they need paperwork to be able to sell it, but he says if she has any leads on how to further verify the prop, have at it.

Bob Hartwig of Cinema Vehicle Services is just the man Tracey wants to see, as he not only owns a screen used General Lee, but he seems to also know cars better than 90% of people in Hollywood. Out of 235 cars that were used for the show, 19 survived and 17 were sold in the 1990’s while 2 were kept by the studios.

He continues to tell Tracey that the cars were marked on the speedometer with “WGL” (for Warner General Lee) and a two digit number on red labels. Tracey states while she is a tad bit concerned because she doesn’t remember Johnny’s car having a label, this was only towards the end of the series that they did this.

He also shows her how the push-bar looks and what on the front end what look like dirt marks are actually weld marks from the bumpers of the older cars.

When it comes down to the final point, Bob says his original General Lee in driving condition is worth close to a quarter of a million dollars and with so many replicas out there, paperwork or a “solid chain of ownership” is needed.

It is not a total loss for Tracey – even though she fails to get Bob to sell his treasure, he takes her for a wild spin in the General Lee blaring the iconic horn. To her delight, the car is cool enough to keep Bob from being pulled over by a cop who gives a warning chirp of his siren telling him to at least keep it down.

We cut to auction time for Greg Cannom and his Dracula items. Greg hopes for $100k, but with the first items of Winona Ryder’s head selling for $4k, the Lucy head at $2k, and the severed head trio at $6,500, he expresses concern.

There is some tension when the bronze colored “Bat-Drac” maquette is up and no interest is shown, but when the Gary Oldman production head with a wig sells for $20k, then the “Wolf-Drac” body suit for $20k and “Bat-Drac” body suit for $30k, Greg is overall happy with the results.

Another day, another dollar as Joe and Jonathan Mankuta, Special Projects Manager,  take on appraisal duties at the Frank & Son Collectible Show. While they have a booth, they both also go around and look to see where the hot leads are.

While some people have interesting items, Joe is initially not floored by anything and refers to the appraisals as “one big show and tell.” His appetite is wetted by someone who brings in a miniature, screen-used Batmobile from Batman Returns and says it is worth $20k to $25k, but the owner states he cannot sell it or his father would be upset.

Finally, things get interesting when a fan named Johnny presents to Joe the hero William Wallace character sword from Braveheart with Mel Gibson.

The owner states he got the sword from a prop guy who worked that set and it is revealed the sword retracts and has interchangeable blades. Johnny wants to sell the sword instead of putting it up for auction and says he wants $10k for it. We watch some intense haggling and Joe ultimately pays $5k, taking a gamble on an item with no documentation.

At Global Effects, a sci-fi prop house, Brian meets up with Chris Gilman to go over items from movies such as Watchmen and stumbles on character Gort’s helmet from The Day the Earth Stood Still (you know, the black and white, CLASSIC version of the science fiction film from 1951?)

Brian informs  Chris that this is a huge item, but the prop man reveals he has an even bigger reason he called his expertise in. They turn a corner and voila, Brian is certainly not disappointed in the least!

The breath taking Queen of the Night outfit from the unforgettable film The Bodyguard with pop culture icon Whitney Houston sits on a mannequin.

Chris reveals they built this outfit, plus they hold onto the costume design that is personally signed by the singer, and it is the one on display in the movie poster. He also talks about how many calls he had gotten on the outfit since the singer’s untimely passing, but he wants someone who is passionate about the singer to own it.

Brian states at that time, it was worth $29k to $30k, or even more!

However, he wants to treat it with respect and advises that they build up the anticipation and put it up for auction at a later date. Chris says it is not about money – he just wants it to go to a good home, so he agrees to consign it for auction.

Brian refers to Whitney’s death as a tragedy and says it is an honor getting the permission to  to sell it at auction.

Segue to the Collectible show where Joe stumbles upon the booth of Jason Court who is holding some heavy artillery in the giant movie posters department. He boasts rare,  vintage one sheets he inherited from his grandparent’s movie theater from films such as Psycho, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Birds and more.

They go outside to have a conversation about selling the items at auction and Jason reveals he would use the money to put his sister through college. Joe assures him with his large collection, he cannot go wrong going to auction. Jason reluctantly decides to, as he puts it, sell away his family’s legacy, but Joe says it is only to benefit his sister’s future.

We return to Profiles In History, Brian brings in a photographer to take photos of the Whitney outfit on a live model and displays rips in the outfit where in the film, fans tear at her leather. Joe is bowled over by the find and says it is a great way to remember the singer’s legacy.

As for the Claymore sword Joe bought earlier, he asks for the aid of Gary Tunnicliffe to try and distinguish if there is a makers mark on the under side of handle or if this is a replica. The handle should be smooth on one side, and have notches on the other. After the break, we turn it over and the handle has notches or marks on the edge, much to Joe’s relief. “You’ve got nothing to worry about,” Gary says after inspection.

The sword at auction has a target of $5k, but it slowly climbs up and lands at an amazing selling price of $45k! When it comes time for Jason’s movie posters to go up, the results are wild. The goal to fund his sister’s education is $20k, but when a poster for The Incredible Shrinking Man goes for $375 and other one sheets go for small amounts, it is getting dicey.

It is proven that Joe is a man of his word and the auction gets a lot better for Jason. With some examples of Goldfinger making $1800 and Rear Window going for $4750, the classic movie posters owner makes over $22k. “I can breathe,” he states, his cheeks flushed and a smile forming.

We close out the season finale with Joe stating that this is why he loves this business and is glad the auction went even better than he imagined for both the sword in regards to his gamble, and the sale of the posters for Jason’s family. My only qualm – why such a bland closing shot for the end of the season?! But in all seriousness, congratulations to Profiles in History for their continued work on connecting pop culture enthusiasts with these treasures and for changing lives, on camera and off!

Thanks to Kenn for final audio, video/image staging, and many thanks to you for reading and for visiting WormholeRiders News Agency to read about our news coverage of Destination Truth!

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Love and regards,

Amanda