INTERNATIONAL: It’s been found and now it will be sold. After decades of searching, one of Dorothy's dresses from the classic film ‘The Wizard of Oz’ has been located.

“It was donated to the Catholic University of America in 1973 by an actress called Mercedes McCambridge… It's remained at the school with Father Hartke, who was head of the drama department there until the 80s when he retired. And then it disappeared, and the university spent many years looking for it. Fast forward to COVID, and a retired professor was going through some boxes in his office. And lo and behold, there was the dress,” explained director of popular culture, Bonhams U.S., Helen Hall.

The auction house said MGM didn’t keep records but they do know that 5 dresses have surfaced since the film was released. One was lost in a fire and now 4 blue and white dresses remain and only 2 with the white blouse.

“The pre-sale auction estimate is $800,000 to $1.2 million (USD). We sold another version of this dress back in 2015 that made $1.5 million (USD).”

The movie artifact will be part of the company’s bi-annual Classic Hollywood sale in Los Angeles on May 24.

 DIRECTOR OF POPULAR CULTURE, BONHAMS U.S., HELEN HALL Said:

“The bodice has a very distinctive pattern in the gingham, that we're actually able to match to a scene in the film. So, Judy Garland wears this as ‘Dorothy’ in the scene in the witch's castle when the witch imprisons her and turns over the timer counting down towards when she's going to kill her.”

“There’s somewhere on the shoulders to the blouse. The dress itself is in wonderful condition. The colors are still really strong, still got that nice blue and white gingham. But at the back, sometime in the 70s, someone snuck into the office of Father Hartke at the university, who had the dress and snipped a little souvenir out of the fabric. So, that's a little bit missing at the back.”

“In the back, that's a label with Judy Garland's name on it, with a number which ties it to the production, the hook and eye fastening at the back is very distinctive and exactly the same as the other examples I've seen. And in this slide here, there's a little secret pocket where Judy Garland kept a handkerchief. So, that scene where she wipes the tears of the Cowardly Lion, she pulls a handkerchief from her pocket and wipe the tear. So, that's a little, little secret pocket.”

“The Catholic University of America, who own the dress and as Mercedes McCambridge originally intended with her donation to the school, they are selling it and using the proceeds to create a new film acting program at the Catholic University in Washington.”

^{PHOTO: VARIOUS OF DRESS ON DISPLAY, INTERVIEW WITH AUCTION HOUSE REP}