DALLAS (AP) A memorabilia collector is selling the gray wool suit Gene Kelly wore as he joyously danced in a downpour in the Hollywood musical "Singin' in the Rain."
The suit is expected to sell for more than $20,000 when Heritage Auctions offers it up Friday in Dallas. Memorabilia collector Gerry Sola has had the suit for more than four decades after buying it for $10 at a 1970 sale of MGM props and wardrobe items following the sale of the studio to financier Kirk Kerkorian.
"I think it's one of these pieces that people are really excited to see go up on the block," said Margaret Barrett, director of the entertainment and music memorabilia department at Heritage Auctions. "Even if you've never seen this movie, you probably know the scene. You've seen Gene Kelly dancing around, singing in the rain, swinging on that lamp post."
Sola, a retired postal worker, had traveled from his home in Northern California to Los Angeles for the 1970 MGM sale, which progressed from an auction to a garage sale of sorts with racks of clothing for sale
"If there was one thing in my life I could do again, I'd love to go to that auction again. It was the most exciting thing to ever happen to me," Sola said.