The painted piano that adorned Rick's Cafe in the classic movie "Casablanca" has sold at auction for $3.4m (€2.75m) after a frenzied sale in New York.
The piano was among 200 items from Hollywood's golden age that went under the hammer at Bonham's in New York yesterday.
Sam (Dooley Wilson) famously played "As Time Goes By" on the piano at the request of his employer's one-time love, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman).
The piano featured prominently in the Oscar-winning 1942 romantic drama.
Leading man Humphrey Bogart used it as a hiding place for the letters of transit that ultimately secured his former lover's safe passage to the United States.
Dresses worn by Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Rita Hayworth were also auctioned, as well as a jacket worn by Clark Gable in "Gone With the Wind".
The Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr in "The Wizard of Oz" was also put up for sale.
Auctioneers had declined to estimate the Casablanca piano's likely price, saying only that they expected it to fetch "the low to mid-seven figures".
Bidding opened at $1.6 million and escalated rapidly before closing three minutes later at $3.4 million including taxes.
The piano was specially adapted to allow Bogart's character to perform his sleight of hand with the transit papers, hiding them in plain sight of the clientele at Rick's.
Most likely made in 1927, the piano also has only 58 keys, 30 fewer than a classic piano.
The piano was offered for sale with a signed photograph of actor Dooley Wilson and a copy of "Casablanca," and came with a wad of petrified chewing gum found stuck beneath the keyboard.
