LONDON, July 23 (UPI) -- The Oscar Orson Welles won for "Citizen Kane" will not be auctioned off because of opposition from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
The golden statuette was to be sold at Britain's Christie's Tuesday by the actor's daughter, Beatrice, who had hoped to get about 250,000 British pounds (about $$@$!400,000), the London Telegraph reported.
But it was stopped after the academy challenged her right to do so. Beatrice Welles may now be forced to sell the award back to the academy for $$@$!1.
Under an agreement made in 1950, the academy earned the right to buy any Oscar put up for sale for $$@$!1 before it went onto the open market. Although Welles won his Oscar in 1941, his daughter signed the agreement after it went into effect.
A Christie's spokesman said the Oscar had been withdrawn from sale because of a "dispute between the academy and the consignor."
