This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/23/2024
Vintage original Western Electric Touch-A-Matic brand office telephone and recorder set, with the phone handle wrapped in customized bamboo for a firmer grip. Brando notoriously recorded many of his phone conversations and dictated his personal musings onto a recorder, as detailed in the celebrated documentary Listen to Me Marlon. Names handwritten with black ink in all caps lettering next to push buttons for automatic dial presumably include those of his son "Chris" and Hollywood luminaries such as Brando's lifelong friend "Rita" (Rita Moreno), "Mike" (superagent Mike Medavoy), and "Geo (SM)" / "Geo (PM)" indicating the Santa Monica and Palm Springs residences of legendary director George Stevens. A lover of technology (and gossip), Brando was well known to clandestinely record many of his phone conversations with powerful and famous friends and players. The phone measures 13 x 4.5 x 4 in., with an integral recording device measuring 1.5 x 5.5 x 2 in. Exhibiting use and expected aging, with electronics present but untested. In vintage very good condition.