• collections & exhibits
Gold Derby’s Special Award Exhibits
The Hollywood Museum’s most notable special exhibits have been celebrations of the Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmys and Screen Actors Guild Awards that were guest-curated by Tom O’Neil and Gold Derby, a nonprofit organization that educates the public on showbiz awards.
Gold Derby presents two exhibits (film and TV awards) and public seminars per year. Its "2010 Awards Season Celebration" included costumes and props from such Oscar contenders as "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Julie & Julia" plus popular films contending for crafts awards like "Twilight: New Moon," "Star Trek" and "Transformers 2." Interspersed are costumes from past Oscar champs like "Gone with the Wind" and "Ben-Hur." Discussion of the films and their awards occurred at a seminar held at the Hollywood Museum on March 2, 2010.
In 2009, Gold Derby curated an Emmy Award-themed exhibit showcasing costumes and props from such top contenders as "Mad Men," "Dexter," "Damages" and "30 Rock." Gold Derby’s film-awards exhibit in 2009 featured costumes from Academy Award contenders "Slumdog Millionaire," "Milk," "Doubt" and "The Dark Knight." Lively discussion occurred at related seminars.
Below are photos of some costumes on display during the 2010 exhibition.


| On the first floor, you’ll find: |
- A huge display from the 2001 musical “Moulin Rouge”, featuring both the film’s famous windmill and the unusual elephant-stage (a miniature) featured in the film, along with various props, posters and costumes.
- A large, Roman canopy bed from the movie “Gladiator”.
- W.C. Field’s famous top hat.
- Dueling pistols used by Errol Flynn in the 1952 swashbuckler "Against All Flags".
- The golden curls of silent screen legend Mary Pickford.
- The dog, “Puffy” (wrapped in bandages), from 1998’s "There’s Something About Mary" (it’s a prop, of course, not the real dog).Puffy
- Boxing gloves, signed by Sylvester Stallone, from the 1976 Oscar-winning film, "Rocky"
- A costume (yellow blouse and white slacks) worn by Téa Leoni while being attacked in a wrecked plane fuselage by a long-nosed dinosaur (Spinosaurus) in "Jurassic Park III".
- Ra’s spectacular jeweled robe from "Stargate" (minus the Tut-like mask).
- Master & Commander cannonCannons, swords costumes, and other artifacts from the recent “Master & Commander” - even the Capain’s violin and the botantical specimens the ship’s doctor gathered on the island.
- An aged clapboard from Charlie Chaplin’s classic "The Great Dictator".
- The actual bathroom from actor Roddy McDowall’s home. He had been known for throwing great parties, and just about everyone who’s anyone had visited his bathroom at one time or another, and many of them added a picture or note to the wall. McDowall himself added some other photos, art and celebrity Christmas cards. The bathroom became something of a "tourist attraction" even among jaded Hollywood types, and when he died in 1998 friends insisted it be saved intact…
- Pee-Wee Herman’s original red bicycle from "Pee Wee’s Big Adventure".
- One of those large Sand Beetles from "Star Ship Troopers" (this one is "only" two feet long).
- The familiar dark suit (and sunglasses) worn by Tommy Lee Jones in "Men in Black".
- A suit worn by Leonardo DiCaprio in "Romeo & Juliet" (1996).
- A miniature building & fire escape with figures used in the shooting of "It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World".Mary Pickford
- An Iron-maiden-like cage from the recent (2002) version of "The Count of Monte Cristo", starring James Caviezel.
- Very realistic-looking artificial heads of the stars of "Deep Blue Sea" (1999), used for shark attack scenes.
- A life-size model of an dead-looking Sarah Michelle Gellar walking, from "I Know What You Did Last Summer".
- A primitive-looking space ship model from an old "Flash Gordon" serial of the 1930’s (it resembles a fire extinguisher canister with fins glued on it!).
- Costumes of Fred, Wilma, Barney & Betty from "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas".
- A loincloth worn by Brendan Fraser in "George of the Jungle".
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Moving down to the second floor, you’ll find:
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- A Jodie Foster dress from "Anna and the King" (1999).
- A pink dress Marilyn Monroe wore in 1960’s "Let’s Make Love".
- A dress worn by Susan Hayward in "The Conqueror" (1956), opposite John Wayne.
- A black dress with gold trim, worn by Rita Hayworth in 1941’s "Blood & Sand".
- A Lena Horne, gold lame dress from "Stormy Weather" (1943).
- A Barbara Stanwyck skirt & top worn in the 1952 version of "The Titanic".
- Jane Russell’s tattered dress from "The Outlaw".
- A gold sheath dress worn by Elizabeth Taylor in "Cleopatra", as well as the riding hat she wore in "National Velvet".
- Plaster life masks of (what appears to be) Clark Gable (eyes closed), Humphrey Bogart, and Anthony Hopkins.Cleopatra
- A tiny yellow dress worn by Darla Hood in the 1922 "Spanky & Our Gang" movies.
- A Judy Garland, ruffled dress worn in "A Star Is Born" (1953).
- More dresses & costumes from actresses such as Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, Ella Fitzgerald, Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, Shirley MacClaine, Greer Garson, Sophia Loren, Susan Hayward, Dorothy Lamour, Linda Darnell, Ethyl Merman, Ann-Margaret, Darla Hood, Rhonda Fleming, and many more.
- Clothes worn by actors such as Caesar Romero, Richard Burton, Elvis Presley, Rudy Vallee…
- Plaster life masks of the faces of Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart and Anthony Hopkins.
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| There are special sections here dedicated to major actresses. A large display of Marilyn Monroe items comes complete with huge enlargements of her famous nude Playboy pose, costumes, and memorabilia such as what may be the last check she ever signed (to her housekeeper, just before her death). |
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| The Mae West collection is particularly large, including her trademark hats, “Diamond Lil” jewelry, and feathered boas. There’s even a “Mae West” life-vest, and a photo of her being presented with the inflatable preserver. Quite a few of these costumes come complete with photos taken from the films, with the actress wearing the same item of clothing, or a video monitor showing a clip from the film. The Lucille Ball display includes a large conga drum that belonged to Desi Arnaz, and a nearby monitor features a film clip of him playing a similar drum. (It would be ideal if all of the displays were identified in such a way.) |
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| On the ground floor, in addition to the Max Factor rooms, you will also find: |
- A "Planet of the Apes" display, featuring costumes from both old and new Apes movies, as well as the crew’s crashed space shuttle.
- Several giant "Bunny legs", which were toppled by Ben Stiller in the 2004 comedy "Along Came Polly".
- A large model of an airplane, from "Jurassic Park 3", suspended from the ceiling, as if crashing.
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| And in the basement is: |
- The entire prison cell block where Hannibal Lector was confined in the movies "Silence of the Lambs" and “Red Dragon”.
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The final trip down to the basement to see Hannibal Lector’s prison cell is almost worth the price of admission alone. One boards a room-size freight-elevator (complete with sparkle-ball, silent movies projected on the wall, and a scale model of the Eiffel Tower from "Moulin Rouge") and descends to the lower level.
There one discovers not just Lector’s plexiglas cell, but the entire cell block used in the films "Silence of the Lambs" and "Red Dragon", complete with all the original furnishings and props. Even the small folding chair outside Hannibal’s cell has a story: it was the actual chair that Jodi Foster sat in when she met with Dr. Lector - it was cut to a smaller-than-normal size me make Clarisse appear smaller and more vulnerable as she faced Hannibal.
And that is just some of the collection.
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