Star Wars, 1977 | Christie's

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THE JOHN MOLLO COLLECTION John Mollo, a highly respected award-winning costume designer, is probably best known for his iconic designs for the Star Wars trilogy. Born in London, Mollo grew up with a passionate interest in the history and design of military uniforms. Initially as a well-regarded expert on military costume, having written and illustrated numerous books on the subject, Mollo's career in the film industry began as an historical advisor on The Charge Of The Light Brigade (1967), Nicholas And Alexandra (1971), and Barry Lyndon (1975). By the mid-1970s, Mollo had forged a reputation as a talented costume designer and as such, was enlisted by George Lucas to work on one of the greatest Sci-Fi adventures ever filmed, Star Wars. He was responsible for designing the costumes for some of the best-loved characters from this genre including Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the sinister Darth Vader, and for developing George Lucas' concepts of the characters. These inventive designs brought Mollo an Academy Award as well as a BAFTA nomination. After Star Wars, Mollo worked on the costume designs for Alien (1979), The Empire Strikes Back, (1980), Outland (1980) and Ghandi, (1982), his work on the latter bringing a second Academy Award shared with Bhanu Athaiya. This collection is a fascinating record of the time, and a tribute to one of the leading costume designers in the film industry today.

Star Wars, 1977

Details

Star Wars, 1977
A prop Imperial Stormtrooper's helmet, the helmet of white painted vacu-formed plastic with black rubber details, the mouthpiece and chin piece painted black, applied with stickers painted blue and white and grey to simulate vents, the inside fitted with a piece of green celluloid behind the eye holes, a piece of foam padding and a black elasticated strap -- made for the 1977 20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm production Star Wars; accompanied by a black and white still showing rows of Stormtroopers wearing identical helmets -- 8x10in. (20.3x25.4cm.) (2)

Provenance

The John Mollo Collection.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Further details

See front cover illustration.

Lot Essay

According to John Mollo, this helmet was made for Star Wars in 1977 and was used in the film. This painted helmet was apparently retained as a sample when new "Mark II" helmets, made of white plastic, and as such unpainted, were made for The Empire Strikes Back, 1980. The condition of the helmet is explained by the fact that John Mollo's children and their friends used to play with the helmet when they were small!

Further research has suggested that this helmet is probably a "stunt" helmet, rather than one of very few made for close-up shots. The close-up helmets were finished to a higher standard and had two curved eye bubbles, rather than a single, flat piece of celluloid, as used for the helmet in this lot. In addition, the close-up helmets tended to have fewer "teeth" than the helmet in this lot.

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