Out of Africa (1985) Karen Blixen's (Meryl Streep) Book of Poems

Karen Blixen's (Meryl Streep) book of poems used in the 1985 Sydney Pollack classic Out Of Africa. This vintage book was specially adapted for used by the bereaved Karen to read from, with several select poems typed and subtly inserted into the book into pages 201 (A.E Housman's 'To An Athlete Dying Young), read from at Deny's (Robert Redford) grave, and 93 (A.E Housman's 'LIV. With rue my heart is laden'). The cover has also been adapted to have “Housman” as the title and the original author of the actual book (Thomas Hood) has been removed, only “Poems” remains on the spine. The book is seen on several occasions and for such a vintage book it is very unlikely that there would have been more than one, making this something of a rarity. [PSoL]

Screen-matching: The book can be easily screen-matched, both in the first scene where it appears and later in the funeral scene, where Meryl Streep reads from it and then carries it away with her. The book is now clean, but on-screen it appears to have been weathered. Still, many tell-tale signs appear, which were not obscured, such as the shape of the letters, the scuffed spine and edges of the book.

Death Becomes Her (1992) Cast Chairback with Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) Playbill

 

This is a Playbill and cast chair back from the star studded 1992 comedy Death Becomes Her. The playbill can be seen in the film as star Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) and her rival Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn) discover a magical fountain of youth potion. The Playbill has a picture of Ashton on the front and reads “Madeline Ashton in Songbird.” Additionally, the Playbill opens, is blank inside, and on the back features numerous critic’s reviews for an unknown Presidential election book. Included in this lot is a cast member chair back, red in color, with “Cast” printed in white on one side, and the film’s title printed in black against a white background on the  opposite side. [PSoL]