Oscar Statuettes to Go On Sale Next Week

Several Oscar Statues will be auctioned off next week. And no, I’m not talking about big budget movies buying critical acclaim. The Brentwood Auction House will be putting 15 Academy Awards up for sale on Tuesday.

The Academy has publicly condemned the auction, since award winners aren’t allowed to sell their statues. But all of the Oscars going up for sale this weekend were handed out before 1950 when the “you are not allowed to sell your Oscar” rule went into effect.

Academy Award spokeswoman Janet Hill said:

“The academy, its members and the many film artists and craftspeople who’ve won Academy Awards believe strongly that Oscars should be won, not purchased. Unfortunately, because our winners agreement wasn’t instituted until 1950, we don’t have any legal means of stopping the commoditization of these particular statuettes.”

The LA Times reports that some of the statuettes could fetch millions. Oscars given out for “Citizen Kane,” “Wuthering Heights,” and “How Green Was My Valley” are all expected to bring in big cash on Tuesday.

The Academy may have no power to stop the auction but a few celebrities may decide to purchase a few of the Oscars in the collection. And no, not the losers on Sunday night. Steven Spielberg purchased Bette Davis’ and Clark Gable’s Oscars for more than $1 million in order to return them to the Academy. Kevin Spacey did the same thing for George Soll’s Oscar.