Shock, horror!

The Case of Dorothy's Slippers; Oz Fans Obsessed With Who Stole Them

April 25, 2007 11:55 AM

Anna Schecter Reports:

Rubyslippers_nr Police in Minnesota say they are closing in on the thief who stole a pair of the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz."

The bejeweled footwear, valued at $1 million, was stolen Aug. 27, 2005, from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn., her hometown.

"The ruby slippers are the holy grail of movie memorabilia," said Brian Cummings, pop culture art appraiser and consultant.

The lead investigator on the case, Gene Bennet of the Grand Rapids Police Department, says the theft has provoked an outcry from movie fans.

"There are people all over the country obsessed with these slippers, an underground world more than I ever imagined," said Bennet.

Bennet says Judy Garland and Wizard of Oz aficionados have been throwing leads to investigators since the theft.

"Everybody's accusing everybody of stealing them," he said.

The museum alarm system had been shut off, and the thief broke a back window to gain entry. Bennet said his team has a very strong lead but does not yet have enough evidence to make an arrest. Other items from the movie, including a monkey's sword, the carriage in which Dorothy rode in Oz Land and Judy Garland's gold record for "Over the Rainbow," were on display but not stolen.

The shoes belonged to a Hollywood acting coach, Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum.

"When I heard they were stolen, it was like the earth fell from beneath my feet," said Shaw.

The shoes, one of four known pairs used in the movie, were insured for $1 million, but the museum's insurance company only paid Shaw $666,000 based on the most recent sale price of another pair sold at auction at Christie's in 2000. Shaw paid $2,500 for the shoes in the early 1970s.

One pair is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., another pair belongs to collector Philip Samuels of St. Louis and the third pair is owned by a memorabilia collector who plans to open his own museum in Hollywood and is represented by David Elkouby.

Actress Debbie Reynolds owns a test pair that was made for the movie but never used.

Cummings, the memorabilia appraiser, said the collector community is small enough and close-knit enough that Shaw has probably crossed paths with the thief, perhaps many times.

"Given the level of obsession this group, known as the Ruby Slippers Fan Club, has with these shoes, I would not be surprised if one of them turned out to be the thief," he said.

Anna Schecter


Would you believe that I've got the two statuettes that appeared in "Kim" and the fourth zither used by Anton Karas when composing the music for the "Third Man", the "Harry Lime Theme" as well as the white belt worn by Ursula
Andress in Dr No.

.....................such things that dreams are made of...................

John Tunstill

PS You can see them at La Preghiera, my home in Italy

BLUE LAMP Film Locations

I have studied the BLUE LAMP pics and can identify the following

bp009 Harrow Rd looking W towards Bishops Bge Road. Buildings in right foreground demolished for flyover.

bp012 Dalys Milk Bar, 8 Cranbourne St., WC2.

bp020 F P Jordan was really F Hinds, Jewellers, 290 Edgware Rd. Demolished for flyover. Awning for Bakerloo Stn. further up on right.

bp024 Corner of Harrow Rd & Edgware Rd. Demolished for flyover.
bp026 ditto

bp025 Lampposts indicate Harrow Rd by Edgware Rd. Unlikely any of this type in Ladbroke Grove.

bp027 Looking N up Edgware Rd towards pic 024. Possibly taken at junction with Chapel St.
bp028 ditto

bp036 Bookers, 263 Edgware Rd. Now site of flyover or new Police Stn.

bp051 Bond St., Ealing. Far from the other scenes I know but the 1950 Kellys lists Irish Linen Depot at 39 Bond St., W5 and the only branch of Dollond & Aitchison with a 43 address was in this street.

bp074 Possibly where Walmer Rd & Clarendon Rd met Lancaster Rd. Demolished 1970's for council housing. Stranded part of Walmer Rd N of Lancaster Rd was renamed Kingsdown Close.

bp075 Royal Crescent W11. Not same street as in pics 054 & 055.

bp079 Almost certainly Silchester Rd. Baths were on E side between Lancaster Rd & railway bridge.
bp080 ditto

bp082 Freston Rd W10. Part of Latimer Rd before Westway cut it in two.
bp083 ditto

bp092 Looking W towards Wood Lane & White City Stadium from roughly where West Cross Route is now.

bp093 Possibly Central Line roughly where Westway now crosses it.

bp094 Yes! Wood Lane.

bp095 Close to pic 009

bp096 Also close to pic 009. Police Stn was at 62 Harrow Rd., W of Paddington Green. Demolished for flyover.

Hope this is of interest to you.
Ian McDonald (deadlyaffair)

The Leather Boys

I'm pretty sure that the pictures number 4 and 7 (twin roads with railway bridge over them) is a Southolm Street SW8,London.

If it is the location, it's looking in from Queenstown Road end.

I used to be a Rocker in the 60's and on Chelsea Bridge (1/4 mile away from Southolm Street) was a tea stall frequented by Motorcyclists of all types. The opening shots of 'Up the Junction' show this tea stall with the Chaufeur dropping off the girl, camera up high. This reinforces the poverty of South London (Battersea) compared with across the Thames and the Chelsea set, and how film makers were aware of this.

I'm sure I had a friend in Southolm Street that I visited, but it's a long time ago.

The roads in the end if the shot were all demolished in the late 60's and Flats were built, entrance from Alfreda Street off of Battersea Park Road. As far as I know, Southolm Street is a Cul De Sac now, but verification from someone in the area would be wise!

The other shots of terraced house is very typical of Battersea area housing, built 1880-1912, 1886 being Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee year, maybe this accounts for 'Queenstown Road'. I have to say that the wide road shots are almost certainly not South London, that I can remember. They look very North or West London.

As you're probably aware, Rockers were very South London, very working class. I feel proud to have been there. The Leather Boys reminds me of that time.

Very best wishes
George Smith

George Sewell

We are sorry to lose:

GEORGE SEWELL
(31st August 1924 - 2nd April 2007)



Quite a regular on Reelstreets with his 'hard man' looks.

Some films he was in:

This Sporting Life (1963)
Poor Cow (1967)
Sparrows can't Sing (1963)
and Get Carter (1971) another film for Reelstreeters to 'do'.

Hue and Cry Location Image (New)

Dear John,
I'm not actually a subscriber, but, I note that subscription is automatic once a shot is submitted. I do hope the attached shot is of use. I believe it to be the location from the first opening scenes of the 1946 film Hue & Cry.

Harry Fowler reads to his fellow gang members from The Trump (comic), whilst standing on (what I believe to be) Wapping Pierhead, which is located in Wapping High Street in London's Dockland, below The Highway. At the time it was one of 3 entrances to the now (sadly) filled-in, 'London Dock' system which was built in 1805 - it was heavily damaged during WWII by Luftwaffe bombing, but still survived till the early 1980s when it was extensively levelled by the local authorities for profit.

On the original Still photo, you can make out the distinctive roof sections of Butlers Wharf beside Tower Bridge and to the right of Butlers Wharf you can just about make out the chimney from the Anchor Brewhouse (later the Courage Brewery).

On the opposite side of the entrance to the Lock where the boys stand, you can make out what appears to be a young tree, and in the newer picture it looks like the same tree (but a little older), 61 years older.

The curved entrance now has an extra foot and half brick wall surrounding it. A black metal fence stands at the back of the quayside and this same corrugated fencing can be seen in The Beatles Big Day out photoshoot in Wapping in 1968...as well as the same cranes from Butlers Wharf and the quayside blisters behind The Beatles and on the opposite side of the entrance in the Hue and Cry still. Behind the corrugated fence is a drop into the Thames where, I assume some steps once stood.

See www.arenholm.com/beatles/

Interestingly there is a bent (obviously it was hit with something big) bollard on the western edge of the entrance that can be seen in the beatles shoot, and this bent bollard is still there today, confirming the location.

I went closer to Tower Bridge to check other possible locations, but the only entrance locks on that stretch of the Thames from London Bridge to the curve in the Thames just past Wapping Pierhead would have been at Wapping Pierhead or the other entrance to the London Docks at the Hermitage Basin - however, the Hermitage Basin would have obscured Tower Bridge with a large warehouse at that time, and the angle would have been wrong if the shot was to try and include Butlers Wharf and the Bridge.

If my shot is of any use, please feel free to use it. A simple credit to Ian Dunn would be great. I am going to try and re-visit the site and take the shot from exactly where it was originally shot. It was difficult however as the site is private property and guarded by many cameras. I may try to obtain permission, though it is a shame that this site is not open to the public.

With best regards,
Ian Dunn

PS - The Reelstreets site is great. Thank you for producing such a great resource.

Ian

Great work, thanks for this, but an actor in the shot??? See our submission
requirements.

We'll blog it, did you send it in b&w or colour? It arrived b&w

John Tunstill

Yes, I was being a bit creative - and sent it in Black and white. I have colour if you would prefer.
I saw that you had the original movie still in the 'then' section of Hue and Cry, but no 'Now' shot, so I simply took the updated pic? I'm terrible for reading rules! Do I need to send the 'Then' shot too?
Sorry, I really should read the small print.

I was interested to read some history on the 'About' section of the site. I used to go the Gaumont in North Finchley myself... but that was in the 70's. It was a great old cinema. I managed to find a shot of the old Gaumont on the net - brings back good memories. I remember the words GAUMONT oustide, at the top and at the back, which used to light up red at night. I think I used to pay 2p for the 221 bus to get to Saturday morning pictures.
I was lucky to catch the end of the heyday before home video closed so many
of those lovely old cinemas.
Best regards,
Ian
PS. Sorry - what actually is a blog?

Now, there really is a blast from the past. Tally Ho corner! And to the right was an arcade where I used to buy lead soldiers, see my site www.soldierssoldiers.com, as well as Bayko building sets...............does anyone remember them, apart from my little brother Brian?

So, yes please, leave the creativity to the film directors, and let me have a colour pic

Thanks
Best wishes
John Tunstill

Hi John,

I certainly do remember the toy shop at the end of the Tally-Ho arcade, now a cheap furniture shop sadly. It was one of my favourite shops along with Michaels Models when I was a kid...however, I couldn't quite afford lead soldiers, mine were all plastic.

...............don't remember Michael's Models

There was also the fruit shop a few doors down opposite Owen Owen, and the guy who worked there has just opened a musical instrument shop where the old classical music shop was in the arcade.

.............but the record shop..............I bought Frankie Vaughn singing Green Door, my first 78!

It's changed a great deal around there - it's a little more down market.
Do you remember Williams Sports and Leather? that's gone! The Tall-Ho pub and Woolworths are also still there. The old Bus station has gone, it is in the basement of the Arts Depot that is on the site of the lovely old Gaumont - totally faceless! The old Torrington Arms which was next door to the fruit shop (the other side of Liptons) which amazingly appears in the Monty Python sketch about Hell's Grannies (Video/DVD: And Now For Something Completely Different) is now a Starbucks coffee shop!

I also remember playing with that Bayko stuff, a few pieces of which were always in my nan and grandads toybox.

Best regards and here's to happy nostalgia...
Ian

...............but, they say, it ain't what it used to be.

Ciao
John

Dangerous Channels

Looking for a film “Dangerous Channels” with Barry K Barnes and Virginia/Victoria Hobson made in Denham 1938/39 perhaps. There is a ballroom scene in which my husband’s late father was an extra. It would be a wonderful surprise to find a copy on video or dvd so my husband could see it and keep it for posterity.

Thanks for any assistance you might be able to give.

Carla
Sorry I haven't a copy but will blog your letter in case one of our surfers knows anything
Best wishes
John Tunstill

Leo The Last

Hi,
the film Leo The last was filmed in and around north kensington, hurstway street and near latimer road tube station . i know because i lived in the houses at the time i was 11 years old then and watched it all being filmed ..

Hi Debs
Good stuff, thanks. Are these streets now all gone, or is there a "now" pic to take?
John

the streets are now gone its an housing estate there called lancaster west estate... its the west london area of north kensington

The Plank

Paul

I apologise on a weekly basis to all the kind subscribers who send in photos, grabs, articles, emails, tapes and discs, and I'm up to my knees in these

The site to date has received more than 2.5 MILLION hits, costs me a fortune to run, gives pleasure to thousands, and now, unhappily,increasing pain to me.

I have several "real" businesses that I run, which provides the cash to keep ReelStreets afloat.

Yes, Culpa Mea, my fault, for creating such an interesting site. I know. But "tigers by the tail" and all that.

The material hasn't been lost, it's in the pipeline. My techies have had a frenzy of rejiging the site over the last four months, and tell me on a weekly basis that all will be well ............................... soon.

Patrick has recently started to help and has sorted out some of the longer and more outstanding tasks that I haven't been able to cope with.

What I think I must now do is to create space for local advertising on the site, and, under "The Plank" for example, get sponsors/advertisers to help with the funding. This in turn will enable me to find more staff to help which will, hopefully create more efficiency. I don't need to make any money out of the site, but the outgoings of about £1500 per month on my "hobby" is a bit steep, and to take on board more staff before cash starts to come in is something I don't wish to do.

I'll blog this letter and maybe you or one of the others will find a way to contact your local suppliers, the wood-yard in your case, plus the local pubs, cafes, b&b's, hotels, car-hire, bus and train companies, tour operators, libraries, tourist offices, video/cine/fim/photo clubs, local and social history groups................to advertise on the relevant local pages on the site, Alfie, Brixton, Notting Hill, Kings Cross; Americanisation of Emily, Muswell Hill, City of London, etc.
The phenomena of Film Induced Tourism (FIT) is now well established and is widely accepted in the travel trade as a reason for visiting certain areas. So therefore I need local representatives, area managers, and perhaps a national co-ordinator, paid on results, to pull in adverts for all our films to earn the money to pay the staff to put up you kind contribution of the Plank.

Best wishes

John Tunstill

Sunday Bloody Sunday

John

I look forward to you including Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)

Best Wishes

Peter


Peter

Nice to hear from you, yes, it is on the list, together with a couple of hundered others.

Can you pull the stills from the film?

Can you make a copy VHS or DVD for me?

Can you take the now shots?

See the submission details for payment. There's probably a hundred pounds to be earned.

Best wishes

John Tunstill