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Screen Worn Christopher Reeve Superman Cape Heads to Auction
An original Superman cape worn on screen by Christopher Reeve in "Superman: The Movie," "Superman II," and possibly "Superman III" will be featured in the upcoming "Hollywood: Legends and Explorers" auction hosted by Julien's Auctions and taking place on Friday, July 17th and Saturday, July 18th.
The vintage bright red cape features the iconic yellow "S" symbol shield outlined in black, stitched to the back. The shield has little to no yellow outside of the outer black border (consistent with the "Contest" cape sold by Julien's in December 2019), which would indicate that it is likely the cape was originally created for the first two films (filmed simultaneously) and may have also been used in "Superman III".
The overall style of the cape is very unique in that, in addition to being used to film wire-flying sequences via blue screen, it was subsequently designed for the use of a radio-controlled "flapper" device that was secured to Reeve's back which caused the cape to swirl realistically while flying in front of a ZOPTIC front-projection screen.
"I saw at the very beginning that there was going to be a heck of a problem with Superman's cape, because it meant that wherever he went you had to have a huge wind machine," stated Les Bowie (Creative Supervisor of Mattes & Composites, 'Superman'). "So I thought it would be a very good idea if we made his cape flap up to look as if it was being blown by the wind, but to do it by means of sort of motorized fishing rods, operated by radio control. He carried the batteries. Everything went with him, but we could vary the speed by radio control."
This Superman cape is certainly a one-of-a-kind collectible and would be a perfect addition to any fan's collection. It is expected to sell between $20,000 - $40,000 and, as of this writing, the bidding was currently at $7,000.
For more information or to place a bid of your own, please visit JuliensLive.com.
