Light-up dancefloor from ‘Saturday Night Fever’ expected to sell for $300,000
By Issy Ronald, CNN
(CNN) — The legacy of “Saturday Night Fever” is stayin’ alive, as the dancefloor featured in the classic disco movie is set to fetch as much as $300,000 at auction next month.
With its flashing colorful lights, the dancefloor provided the perfect backdrop for John Travolta’s character, Tony Manero, to flaunt his now-iconic groovy dance moves in his white shirt. Now, almost 50 years later, it is the star lot in the “Hollywood Legends” sale, to be held by Julien’s Auctions on June 12-15 in Los Angeles and online.
The dancefloor measures more than 24 feet long and 16 feet wide (around 7 meters by 5 meters), and features 288 lightbulbs to create the flashing patterns, Julien’s Auctions said in its listing.
It was made for the movie and fitted at the 2001 Odyssey Disco in Brooklyn, New York, where many of the scenes were set and filmed. After filming wrapped, the dancefloor stayed at the club until it closed down, when it was bought by an employee.
His performance as Tony Manero – an Italian-American from Brooklyn who escapes the social tensions of his neighborhood by dancing at the local discotheque – earned Travolta an Oscar nomination and made him a household name. The movie and its catchy soundtrack by the Bee Gees, meanwhile, helped to repopularize disco around the world at a time when its dominance was waning.
The soundtrack featured new Bee Gees hits like “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever” and “You Should Be Dancing,” became the biggest-selling soundtrack of all time, won Album of the Year at the 21st Grammy Awards in 1979 and was added to the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress in 2012, consolidating its cultural significance.
Other lots for sale at the auction include one of the Ark of the Covenant props used in the first Indiana Jones movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” It was used to test shots for the film with cut-out figures representing the actors next to it, and is expected to sell for up to $70,000, the auction house said in its listing.
Meanwhile, Jeff Bridges’ bowling costume, which he wears in the final three scenes of “The Big Lebowski,” could sell for $200,000.
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