Auction Review: Entertainment & Memorabilia

Beatles signatures showed just how enduring their value is at Ewbank’s on December 14, when one full set of autographs sold for a premium-inclusive £7,800. 

They were written on a menu from a March 1965, B.O.A.C. (British Overseas Airways Corporation) flight. The menu had been specially made for the ‘Beatles Bahamas Special’, during the filming of Help! and was signed in person for the vendor who was a stewardess working in First Class on the flight from the Bahamas to JFK New York. 

From a year later was a BOAC Junior Jet Club Log Book signed to the inside page by John Lennon and Ringo Starr, with a date 31st March 1966. 

The vendor lived in Trinidad for some years. Her father was a pilot for BOAC and she and her brothers belonged to the Junior Pilots club. Every flight they took was recorded in their book. On the last journey home to London Ringo Starr and John Lennon were on board and they signed off the flight record instead of the pilot. It sold for £2,470. 

“When it comes to Rock and Pop memorabilia, there are two markets: The Beatles and everyone else,” says Ewbank’s Partner and Head of Entertainment & Memorabilia, Alastair McCrea. 

“The Beatles follow their own trajectory. Even though a vast wealth of memorabilia, including signatures, survives, values remain high. Rarity can play a part too, so, when you get something exceptional like these, with the signatures tied to specific Beatles events like the Beatles Bahamas Special, whose history is well recorded, it enhances the attraction.” 

Other highlights from the sale included a James Bond: Diamonds Are Forever, United Artists (1971) Original script, Unit List, Cast Lists and Publicity documents. 

The documents came from The Collection of John Willis, Publicity Director for Disney, Columbia, United Artists, The Rank Organisation, and 20^th Century Fox from 1960-1972. He worked on Casino Royale (1967) and several other films in the James Bond series, as well as films such as The Battle of Britain, Heroes of Telemark, Living Free, and In Search of Castaways. 

The press releases included here contained fascinating production details for Diamonds Are Forever: the waterbed was constructed to take 700 gallons of salt water and 3,000 fish for the love scene; and tight security was brought in to guard the £60,000 of real diamonds smuggled into Pinewood Studios for the main titles of the film. Estimated at £1,500-2,000, it sold for £5,460. 

From the same collection came Production Scripts, Unit and Cast lists for James Bond: Casino Royale, the 1967 Columbia Pictures feature starring David Niven. It sold for £4,160.  

An autograph album containing autograph letters signed by Winston Churchill, Alice Balfour, and Francis Curzon, as well as 134 signatures of political and theatrical interest c.1894-1936 sold for £3,380.