Alan Rickman’s obsessive attention to detail is revealed in the copious annotations he made on all his scripts, as a number of film-related items from the late actor’s personal collections are put up for auction including screenplays from Die Hard and Harry Potter.
Propstore, the Los Angeles and London-based auction firm that specialises in entertainment industry memorabilia and recently sold a Star Wars lightsaber for £2.7m, is staging a three-day sale in which a number of lots originating from the Alan Rickman archive will be available.
According to the auctioneers, Rickman, who died in 2016, maintained a habit of keeping scripts and other associated items in plastic boxes individual to each film. The most highly valued lot (estimated at £30,000-£60,000) appears to be Rickman’s collection from his film-acting debut, the 1988 thriller Die Hard, in which he played German terrorist Hans Gruber to great acclaim. These include a shooting script, containing many of Rickman’s handwritten notes and alternative dialogue suggestions, a call sheet, press packs, and Rickman’s invitation to the film’s gala preview in London. A prop Treasury note for $100,000 from the same film is also on sale in a separate lot (estimate: £1,000-£2,000).
Arguably Rickman remains best known for his role as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, appearing in all eight films between 2001 and 2011, and a number of items of his work are up for sale. Among these are a gold-plated pocket watch given to cast and crew of Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone (estimate: £2,000-£4,000), his own set of Harry Potter novels (estimate £1,000-£2,000), a Snape toy figure in its original packaging (estimate: £500-£1,000) and a hand-drawn Halloween message to Rickman from Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley (estimate: £2,000-£4,000).
Rickman’s film career of course ranged much more widely. A box of items from his celebrated British ghost-romance Truly Madly Deeply, from 1989, contains annotated script pages, notes on how to play the cello (a key element of his character), and a thank-you note from the film’s director Anthony Minghella. A shooting script from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in which Rickman was another memorable villain, is another highly-valued item, estimated at £10,000-£20,000. Also on offer are items from the much-loved alien comedy Galaxy Quest, including caps emblazoned with the film’s logo and an invitation to the cast and crew party (estimate £4,000-£8,000), as well as behind the scenes photos from another of his signature roles, Colonel Brandon in the Emma Thompson-scripted Sense and Sensibility.
And those interested in the lower-profile byways of Rickman’s career might be fascinated to see items from the 1999 religious comedy Dogma directed by Kevin Smith, in which Rickman played the angel Metatron; script and clapperboard from The Winter Guest, Rickman’s first film as director; and production notes, storyboards and location recce notes from his second and last, A Little Chaos.
Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia sale takes place at Bafta, London, and online from 5-7 December.
