Academy Sues Over Auctioned Oscar Statuette

A lawsuit has been filed over the recent auction of a 1942 Oscar awarded to the art director of the film “My Gal Sal.”

The Motion Picture Academy of Arts & Sciences, which hosts the Academy Awards, sued Rhode Island-based Briarbrook Auction Services on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Briarbrook sold the statuette on June 24 for $79,200.

The lawsuit seeks an order requiring Briarbrook to sell the Oscar statuette to the Academy for $10 in accordance with the organization’s bylaws. The disputed statuette was awarded to Joseph Wright for his art direction of the musical “My Gal Sal,” which starred Rita Hayworth.

Briarbrook owner Nanci Thompon says she has not seen the lawsuit, but she says the company was careful before offering it for sale. (AP)

(Pic – courtesy of onenewspage.us, link courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter)

1942 Oscar Auctioned in Rhode Island

A rare auction of an Oscar statuette has brought a total of $79,200.

Nanci Taylor of Briarbrook Auctions in Rhode Island said Monday that amount includes a 20 percent buyer’s premium for the 1942 Oscar. It was awarded to Joseph C. Wright for color art direction for his work on “My Gal Sal,” starring Rita Hayworth and Victor Mature.

Taylor declined to disclose the name of the buyer, but said “you would recognize the name.”

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences doesn’t allow an Oscar statuette to be sold without first offering it back to the academy for $1. But the auction house says that restriction doesn’t apply to awards before 1950.

Wright died in 1985. His nephew inherited the statue, one of two Wright won in 1942. (AP)

1942 Oscar to be Auctioned in Rhode Island

A 1942 Oscar statuette is being sold an auction in Rhode Island.

The Providence Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1jCCSPx ) the statuette will be sold Monday by Briarbrook Auctions in East Greenwich. Art director Joseph C. Wright won the Oscar in 1942 for color art direction on the film “My Gal Sal.”

The Oscar belongs to Wright’s nephew, who lives in Cranston and wishes to remain anonymous.

Oscars rarely come onto the market. Since 1950, Oscar winners are required to sign a contract agreeing that if they or their heirs ever want to sell an Oscar, it must first be offered to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for $1.

Wright died in California at the age of 92. (AP)