"Play it, Sam": ’Casablanca’ piano sells for $602,500 at auction

By Chris Michaud , Reuters

NEW YORK -- A piano used in the classic film "Casablanca" sold for just over $600,000 on Friday, falling far short of predictions that it could fetch $1 million or more.

The 58-key upright piano on which actor and singer Dooley Wilson performed "As Time Goes By," the signature song of the 1942 film's star-crossed lovers played by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, sold at Sotheby's for $602,500 including commission. 

Sotheby's shows the piano used in the movie "Casablanca."

The auction house had assigned the iconic prop a pre-sale estimate of $800,000 to $1.2 million, given some astonishing prices attained by movie memorabilia in recent years. 

In the film, the character Sam (Wilson) plays the signature song "As Time Goes By" during flashback scenes set in Paris, as well as in Bogart's club in Casablanca, where he and Bergman rekindle their romance.

Bergman's memorable lines included the imploring: "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.' "
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