Rosebud Sled From ‘Citizen Kane’ (Spoiler Alert) Sold For An Insane Amount Of Money
It's now the second most-expensive movie prop ever sold
One of the most famous props from the groundbreaking 1941 film Citizen Kane recently hit the auction block and almost raked in as much money as the film's entire budget if you adjust for inflation.
However, I have to make the requisite warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!
But again, this move is from 1941, so if it gets spoiled, I feel like that's kind of your fault.
Anyway, Orson Welles' Citizen Kane — which he co-wrote with screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, and by that I mean Mankiewicz wrote most of it (at least according to who you ask) — is regarded as a masterpiece, and rightfully so.
The film pioneered all sorts of filmmaking techniques with respect to cinematography, editing, and even the way it used a non-linear narrative structure. It also cemented Welles as a Hollywood star at just 26 years old after he had already made a name for himself on the radio with The Mercury Theater on the Air, and, of course, their infamous 1938 broadcast of HG Wells' War of the Worlds (a vinyl copy of which I happen to have on vinyl. Jealous?!).
The film depicts the life of newspaper publisher turned politician Charles Foster Kane — played by Welles and famously based on real-life newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst — and it kicks off with Kane's death and the attempt to unravel the meaning of his final word: "Rosebud."
The Rosebud sled from the movie 'Citizen Kane' has become the second-most expensive movie prop ever sold at auction. (Getty Images)
I'll save you a couple of hours (though it's worth seeing if you never have), but "Rosebud" turns out to be the name of Charles Foster Kane's sled from when he was a kid; the last time he was truly happy.
Now, that sled has gone on to become one of the most famous sleds in movie history — right up there with the one Clark Griswold greases up in Christmas Vacation and the rocket-powered one from Elf — and, according to UPI, it sold at auction recently for $14.75 million, making it the second-most ever behind Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, which sold last year for $32.5 million.
This sled is one of three known to exist and belonged to Gremlins director Joe Dante, who sold it through Heritage Auctions.
What's wild is that the sale of the Rosebud sled nearly brought in enough money to finance Citizen Kane.
According to IMDb, the film was made for an estimated $839,727, which, if you adjust that for inflation, is around $18.3 million.