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Lot #583
Buster Keaton Signed Stock Certificate for Flamingo Films

Flamingo Films stock certificate signed by Buster Keaton—a rare document from his failed Florida filmmaking project

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Estimate: $3000+
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Description

Flamingo Films stock certificate signed by Buster Keaton—a rare document from his failed Florida filmmaking project

Extremely rare DS, one page, 10.75 x 8.5, June 15, 1933. Stock certificate issued to himself, "Buster Keaton," for one share of the capital stock of Flamingo Films, Inc., boldly signed at the conclusion in fountain pen by Keaton as president of the company, and countersigned by Lew Lipton as secretary. In fine condition.

Keaton discusses the ill-fated Flamingo Films project in his 1960 autobiography My Wonderful World of Slapstick. A group of Coca-Cola distributors and other businessmen hoped to establish Florida as a filmmaking center, and were willing to pay Keaton his MGM salary of $3,000 a week to join their project. He arrived in St. Petersburg in the spring of 1933, just as the hot weather was beginning to drive the tourists home. They soon found that the hot, humid weather made it impossible to shoot—emulsion was melting off the film, makeup was melting off the lead actress's face, and swarms of insects engulfed the crew. Within a month, the company folded—leaving behind just these rare stock certificates as evidence.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Fine Autograph and Artifacts Featuring Major Figures of Science and Technology
  • Dates: #665 - Ended May 10, 2023





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