Saturday Night Fever dancefloor tops auction by selling for more than £250,000

The original multi-coloured dancefloor used in the film Saturday Night Fever has topped an auction by going for more than £250,000.

The prop, which saw Grease actor John Travolta strut his stuff as Tony Manero when he danced along to the Bee Gees soundtrack in the 1977 disco movie, had an estimate of 200,000 to 300,000 US dollars (£157,200 to £235,800).

Julien’s Auctions, who worked with Turner Classic Movies (TCM) to put on the Hollywood Legends: Danger, Disaster and Disco online and live auction over four days, was the “top selling item” at the event.

It sold for 325,000 US dollars (£256,724) including buyer’s premium.

“Saturday Night Fever excited the world once again in our sale of the film’s iconic dancefloor that stole the show in our exceptional Hollywood Legends auction,” said David Goodman, chief executive of Julien’s Auctions.

An Ark of the Covenant prototype, used in the making of the 1981 Indiana Jones film Raiders Of The Lost Ark, was sold for 101,600 US dollars (£80,256), exceeding the estimate.

The golden Ark was put up for sale for 50,000 to 70,000 US dollars (£39,328 to £55,059) by Industrial Light and Magic visual effects artist Peter Stoltz, who used the prop in pyrotechnic testing on the production.

Other items bought include Marilyn Monroe’s black three-quarter evening dress designed by American fashion designer Ceil Chapman, which sold for 254,000 US dollars (£20,0640).

Hollywood star Monroe wore the dress when her and baseball player Joe DiMaggio attended an event hosted by comedian Bob Hope in December 1953 to honour Second World War general William F Dean. DiMaggio and Monroe married a year later.

The auction also saw Harry Potter wands used by Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger and Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort in various films in the franchise sell.

The wands went for between 19,050 US dollars and 25,400 US dollars (£15,048 and £20,064).

However, a wand used by Daniel Radcliffe as the scarred eponymous hero in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 sold for less than the others at 16,250 US dollars (£12,836).