GUADALUPE, Calif. (AP) — Archaeologists working in sand dunes on the central California coast have dug up an intact plaster sphinx (above) that was part of an
Egyptian movie set built more than 90 years ago for Cecil B. DeMille’s silent film
epic "The Ten Commandments” (1923).
The 300-pound sphinx is the second recovered from the Guadalupe-Nipomo
Dunes.
Cecil Blount DeMille
(August 12, 1881 – January 21, 1959)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A San Francisco home that served as the setting for
the popular 1993 movie "Mrs. Doubtfire," starring Robin Williams, has sold for
$4.15 million.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the four-bedroom Victorian in the
Pacific Heights neighborhood sold this week after being listed in September
for $4.45 million. It did not identify the buyer.
The previous owner of the home was a plastic surgeon who bought it in 1997
for about $1.4 million.
Last year, a disgruntled former patient set two small fires that didn’t cause
much damage to the home.
The iconic "Mrs. Doubtfire" house served as a temporary shrine to Williams after his suicide in 2014.
One of the four pairs of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the
1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — It will take more than three clicks of the heels to restore
the ruby slippers that whisked Dorothy back to Kansas at the end of “The
Wizard of Oz.”
The slippers, which for more than 30 years have been one of the most beloved
items at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, were crafted
almost 80 years ago by the MGM Studios prop department. Like most movie
props, they weren’t built to last. Now, the frayed shoes aren’t even ruby-
colored anymore — they’re more like a dull auburn.
The Smithsonian has asked the public to help save the slippers, launching
a Kick starter campaign to raise $300,000. In addition to restoring the shoes’
color, the money will go toward a technologically advanced display case that
will preserve them for future generations.
The Smithsonian’s museums are federally funded, but the institution frequently
solicits private and corporate contributions for major projects that its budget
doesn’t cover.
