27-05-2025
7 Films That Used Real, Original Props For Their Iconic Scenes
Set and prop design are essential parts of the movie-making process, and sometimes films end up renting or creating real costly props in order to make a scene pop or ensure historical accuracy.
So, here are seven films that used real, expensive, original items for props:
The Phoenician Scheme
In Wes Anderson's most recent film, business man and industrialist Zsa-Zsa Korda has a vast mansion, filled with an array of artworks and antiques; acquisitions that continue to be made over the course of the film. 'Never buy good pictures. Buy masterpieces," Zsa-Zsa advices one of his sons, and it seems that director, Wes Anderson, had a similar ethos when it came to set-design. Art curator, Jasper Sharp, was brought in to assemble a real collection of original pieces worthy of the character, which included, René Magritte's The Equator (1942), Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Enfant Assis en Robe Bleue (Portrait of Edmond Renoir Jr.) (1889), and a 17th-century Floris Gerritsz van Schooten still Benicio del Toro, who portrayed Zsa-Zsa was enamoured by the Magritte, and told us: "[the painting] was so incredible, and between action and cut, that was MY painting."
The Wolf of Wall Street
Movies often use replica cars, particularly when they intend on destroying them. But for the iconic scene of Leonardo Di Caprio attempting to remove his limp, drug-riddled body from his car, it was a real Lamborghini Countach that was intentionally crashed for the scene. The film used two of the cars in production, intentionally destroying one. Wirth only 658 of this particular model being produced by the Italian car manufacturer, it was a fairly bold decision not to use a replica for the scene.
Stuart little
The children's film about a little mouse named Stuart actually featured a long lost Hungarian painting, Sleeping Lady with Black Vase by Robert Bereny. You may be wondering why the producers of Stuart Little thought that the film required the use of a masterpiece, and the answer is that they didn't. In fact, the painting had been lost since the 1920s until a researcher at Hungary's national gallery in Budapest, Gergely Barki, was watching the film with his daughter in 2009, and noticed the painting in the background. 'I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Bereny's long-lost masterpiece on the wall behind Hugh Laurie. I nearly dropped Lola from my lap," Gergely said. After a flurry of emails, he eventually got a reply from the set-designer, who had picked up the painting for barely anything at an antiques store in Pasadena, California. The painting was eventually sold at auction and had an estimated worth of around $300,000.
Back to the Future
The iconic status of the DeLorean has as much to do with it's use in Back to the Future that anything else, and the film used a number of the cars in production. In fact, the production team bought three used 1981 DeLorean DMC-12's, which were referred to as the "A-car," "B-car," and "C-car," with all three having different roles for the film. As to why they chose the DeLorean for the car that would be the centrepiece of the movie, Screenwriter Bob Gale gave this reason: "When we were working on the movie, the company's founder, John DeLorean, was on trial for cocaine trafficking—he was in the news pretty much every day — and then, of course, his company went bust. But to us, there was something dangerous, something counterculture, something so very gorgeous about just how beautiful that car was. And we loved those gullwing doors."
Pretty Woman
One of the most iconic moments of the film features an incredibly expensive prop, one that had to be escorted by it's own security team when on set. For the scene where Vivian is dressed in red gown for a night at the opera and is presented with a ruby and diamond necklace, the production team actually loaned the jewellery from Fred's jewellers in Beverly Hills. It's estimated worth was around £116,000 – £193,000 at the time of production in the late 1980s. Costume supervisor, Dan Lester, remembered the day the necklace was brought onto set: "That day that she wore it we had to go to pick up the jewellery, and I had to sign for it, and then two security guards with me, and they spent the entire day on the set.'"
Moulin Rouge!
On the subject of expensive necklaces, Nicole Kidman's neckwear for Moulin Rouge! was worth an eye-watering $2.5 Million. Speaking about why the necklace was used, director, Baz Luhrmann said that, "in those days, you couldn't make something sparkle on film like real diamonds. You needed real diamonds." He and his wife, Catherine Martin, herself an Oscar-winning costume designer, brought their vision to life alongside jewellery designer Stefano Cantur, who spent weeks researching late-1800s French jewellery in order to nail the accuracy. The necklace was made using 1,308 diamonds and a Sri Lankan blue sapphire, it required two security guards when it was on set.
The Hateful Eight
When studios rent expensive items, there is always a risk involved, as proven by a costly mishap in the filming of The Hateful Eight. The studio had loaned an antique Martin guitar from the 1860s from the Martin Museum. In a scene where actor Jennifer Jason Leigh was playing the guitar, Kurt Russel's character comes up, snatches the guitar out of her hands and demolishes it against a beam. While Jennifer knew the guitar was a real one, and wasn't expecting Kurt to destroy it, he and director Quentin Tarantino were seemingly under the impression that it was the dummy-guitar, intended to be demolished. On the event, Jennifer said: "I don't think Quentin knew that it was the [original instrument], either. The scene was going exactly the way he wanted it to go, and he wanted to play one scene in the movie in real time without a cut, in one long take. Kurt felt terrible; he had no idea. When he found out, his eyes literally welled up."The guitar was worth $40,000, but it's antique, irreplaceable nature was the real loss, and the museum in question expressed it's sincere regret and discontent with the incident.
What other films used expensive props? Let us know in the comments below!
