$3,200
A Hämmerli model 280 semi-automatic . 22-caliber pistol that was one of two specially customized for use by Bridget Fonda in Point of No Return (Warner Bros., 1993), the John Badham Hollywood remake of Luc Besson’s French film La Femme Nikita (Gaumont, 1990). In the film, Fonda’s character, Maggie, is a convicted criminal who is sentenced to death, but she is given an opportunity to work for the government as an assassin. With her first mission at a dinner date, she is presented with a wooden case that contains a Hämmerli 280 pistol with two magazines, which she uses to assassinate her first target and make her escape. Hämmerli is a Swiss manufacturer of firearms that are used in sport shooting and Olympic events. The Hämmerli model 280 offered in this auction was a real firearm converted to blank fire and used by Fonda in publicity and principal photography for Point of No Return and also appears on the one-sheet poster. In addition to conversion to blank fire, the pistol was also custom chromed specifically for the production. Stembridge Gun Rentals of Hollywood, California, was founded in 1916 by James Sydney Stembridge in conjunction with Cecil B. DeMille. This business was founded to provide firearms and specialist weapons handlers (or “armorers”) to the motion picture industry for use in film and, later, television. At its height at the end of World War I, the armory included more than 10,000 firearms. In addition to renting firearms (which were eventually
Auctioneer:
Juliens Auctions
Date:
2013-11-09
