Was this statue ever at the MGM Grand?


I'm researching the history of this 5.5-foot fertility god statue that was used as a prop in a couple of MGM productions in the 50's and 60's (most notably The Prodigal in 1955). It was one of the many props put up for sale at the 1970 MGM auction, and unfortunately it is not known what happened to it after the auction. I'm not even sure it actually sold. However, I have come across an old news article which mentions that many unsold props from the auction were sent to the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino to be sold in the gift shop or used as hotel decorations around the time it opened in 1973.

So I ask you this: Was this statue one of those props? Did anyone see it there?

If it was ever at the hotel, I sincerely hope it survived the 1980 fire or was sold before it happened.

Also, here's a clearer shot of the statue from The Prodigal:


Side note: There was an 11-foot duplicate of the statue that was also used in The Prodigal. Funnily enough, it became a rather popular roadside attraction on the east coast for many years. It disappeared from the public eye in 2011, but after much searching, my research partner found it sitting in someone's backyard in Southampton, New Jersey! With the large statue found, we are now working to find the smaller one!

If you can locate The Time Machine appearing just behind it in the posted photo, then you can use that to go back to the last known location I'd guess.

Worked for Bill and Ted.

I don't know, but I know the wall "statue" of the girls' butts at PHo used to be at the Riviera to promote a stage show that ran there.

This seems so awesomely random. Why are you specifically looking for this?

Wish I could help, good luck.

Statues may not always be what they seem to be ?

"A Colombian statue of the Indian god Chipcha was not too sacred. An inspector hefted the statue and thought it was too heavy. The statue didn't simply have cocaine inside, the statue was cocaine. A smuggler had molded 2.43 kilograms of cocaine into the shape of the Indian god. "

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...-0059d6cddeb8/

Hey Dave, man, if you're interested I've got a van that needs to be driven across the border into Tijuana. I'll pay you fifty bucks, room and board in Tijuana for two nights and a ticket to the donkey show. What do you think?

I usually don't take much interest in movie props, but this one fascinates me for a few reasons:
1. It's an unusual and menacing looking statue
2. Its 11-foot duplicate has a rather strange history of standing in random places: people's front yards, outside of local businesses. Hell, it stood in front of a travel agency on the side of a highway for 20 years! Imagine randomly seeing something like that just staring down at you while taking a road trip! I'm very interested in knowing the history behind the small statue too.
3. A photo of the 11-foot statue (standing in front of the travel agency) was used as the cover of one of my favorite records, so these two statues hold some personal significance to me. I wanted to at least confirm that these statues still exist and find out where they currently reside, which I've done successfully with the large statue!

The photo was taken at the 1970 auction, which to this day, remains its last known location. I highly doubt the statue would have been bought by the same person who purchased the Time Machine. The Time Machine apparently ended up in a secondhand shop in California in 1975 and was then bought by a friend of the film's director George Pal.

It looks like the Time Machine was bought from that shop by a guy named Bob Burns, who apparently has a sizable collection of props and holds (held?) a Halloween show every year to display them. I suppose it's possible he may know something about it.

No thanks, the last time I was in TJ I was stopped at the border driving back.

(They asked our names. I told them mine, the other guy said he was named Jimmy Hoffa. They eventually let us back into the US because his name really was James Hoffa. He was named after his father.)

You mean it's not real ?

You went to TJ with Hoffa Jr? I might of voted for him back in college job days.

Hey man Dave’s not here.

Ironically i was just in TJ last week for root canal work.. Flight to san diego RT was 34 total to hard to pass up. Heading for another procedure on Monday but not TJ this time going through los algodones right on the border below Yuma, AZ. Cool story bro..

First time doing any dental tourism but so far i have to say everything has gone smooth, professional, and a fraction of the cost.

Ok so you originally became interested in this the record cover. I hope you find it. Reaching out to the guy that bought the time machine may be a good lead.

Give me a bit of history of the MGM Grand. I thought it first opened in 1993.
I was there in 1995. A highlight that I recall was seeing David Cassidy in the EFX show.

I do remember they got rid of the big lion enveloping the front entrance because it was bad luck to walk thru it, for certain visitors.

I don't know much about the MGM Grand outside of the basic research I've done as a part of my search for this statue, but apparently the MGM Grand you went to is the second incarnation of the hotel. The first one opened in 1973, and was devastated by a fire in 1980. The building was restored and sold and became a casino called Bally's. The second MGM Grand opened in 1993, as you said.

There’s the original MGM Grand that was open in the 70s, is now Bally’s. Surprised you never heard of it. It’s most known for a fire that killed 85 people in 1980.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGM_Grand_fire

I went to the second one something like the second week they were open. almost nobody there. The parking garage was so far from the casino entrance they were running golf cart trams like Disneyland, and gave me a ride from my car to the entrance.

... or as the backdrop (literally) for Honeymoon In Vegas and the landing zone for the Flying Elvises.

I know that whole story. From the cause all the way through.

I just remember it as MGM and then Bally's. I thought the new one added the Grand but maybe not.

"Grand Hotel" was the name of a hotel in an old MGM movie, so it was the name on both of them.

[QUOTE=R*R;56100550]Give me a bit of history of the MGM Grand. I thought it first opened in 1993.
I was there in 1995. A highlight that I recall was seeing David Cassidy in the EFX show.

Ha ! My wife and I also saw David Cassidy at that show. I think he was filling in for the usual star, but I can't remember who that was. Cassidy was pretty good IMO.]

[QUOTE=jelloman;56101897] Michael Crawford. (I hate that I have such trivia floating around my memory, I knew it was "the Phantom Guy" but not recalling his name. However, thats what the internet is for ...

https://www.playbill.com/article/ori...otel-com-73099