Object of Desire

The winter issue of Bonham’s Magazine has a riveting essay by Barry Norman on one of the most famous props in cinema history – the Casablanca piano. Apparently, the shoot for the double Oscar winning 1942 film was so chaotic the stars threatened to quit. Until the very last day Ingrid Bergman had no idea whether she’d end up with Bogart or Henreid. When she asked the scriptwriter, he said he didn’t know – he hadn’t got to that bit yet. The sweetest irony is that the signature song, As Time Goes By, wasn’t played by Sam – the actor, Dooley Wilson, was a drummer, not a pianist. The piano sold at auction in 1988for $154,000 to a Japanese collector who resold it for $600,000 in 2012 to mark the film’s 70th anniversary. Bid for it at Bonham’s New York sale, There’s No Place Like Hollywood, November 24, estimate on application; bonhams.com.