Casablanca piano sells for over $700,000 at auction
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NEW YORK (REUTERS) - A piano used in the classic film Casablanca sold for just over US$600,000 (S$732,510) on Friday, falling far short of predictions that it could fetch US$1 million or more.
The 58-key upright piano on which actor and singer Dooley Wilson performed As Time Goes By, the signature song of the 1942 film's star-crossed lovers played by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, sold at Sotheby's for US$602,500 including commission.
The auction house had assigned the iconic prop a pre-sale estimate of US$800,000 to US$1.2 million, given some astonishing prices attained by movie memorabilia in recent years.
In the film, the character Sam (Wilson) plays the signature song As Time Goes By during flashback scenes set in Paris, as well as in Bogart's club in Casablanca, where he and Bergman rekindle their romance.
