Way back in ’83 or thereabouts, I was acquainted with a pair of youngish film producers (man and woman, probably married) whom I’d met at an industry gathering or screening. Their names escape…sorry. But we were moderately friendly, on good terms. They lived in a beautiful, old-world, high-ceilinged apartment inside Harper House, a pre-war Spanish building at 1134-1336 No. Harper Ave.

And I distinctly recall that in their living room Marlon Brando‘s Royal Navy uniform and bicorn hat, from Mutiny on the Bounty, was on display. Made of seemingly authentic materials, it rested upon a white, Brando-sized mannequin. I was deeply impressed, and asked if I could sniff it. I was hoping it might have retained the aroma of Brando or Tahitian sand or coconuts or some organic remnant of that 1962 film. Alas, it smelled like Holloway Cleaners.

In any event here it is on iCollector — it sold in December 2019 for $10K. How much had my producer friends paid for it in the early ’80s? Maybe one-tenth of that. Who knows? Or maybe it’s a scam — maybe dozens of would-be Brando uniforms have been made and sold as Real McCoys.