Amateur film footage featuring Marilyn Monroe on the set of the 1959 movie Some Like It Hot is being put up for auction in Australia.
The two-and-a-half minute 8mm colour film was taken by a US naval officer who was invited to the movie set after Monroe visited his base in San Diego.
Still in its original Kodak box, the film was passed on to his daughter who lives in Melbourne, Australia.
The footage features Monroe, co-star Tony Curtis and director Billy Wilder.
"It's been a significant part of the family folklore for many decades but it has been sitting in her drawer for about a decade as she didn't know what to do with it or if it had some broader interest," Auctioneer Charles Leski told Reuters.
'Iconic'
He said this latest find was likely to attract private and public interest as Some Like It Hot is listed by the American Film Institute as the greatest American comedy film of all time.
"From a documentary point of view there is still great interest in any Marilyn Monroe image, moving or still, or any recording of her voice, as she has been such an iconic presence in the 20th Century," Leski said.
"Her influence on fashion, film and comedy and many other areas still continues."
The auctioneer said the footage showed Monroe and Curtis on set ahead of shooting a beach scene in which the actress is bouncing balls to get the actor's attention.
The lot, including a CD copy and a DVD copy together with the original 8mm film, will be offered for sale in Melbourne on 25 September with a pre-sale estimate of $20,000-$30,000 (Ј9,000-Ј14,000).
Earlier this year, a 47-minute amateur film of Monroe and Clark Gable on the set of the 1961 film The Misfits sold in the US for $60,000 (Ј34,000) after it was put up for sale by the family of an actor who had a small part in the movie.
Monroe died from a drugs overdose in August 1962 aged 36.
(BBC)
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