With new international coverage, William Doyle Galleries treated fans of revered actor James Cagney (1899-1986) to a second auction in a decade of their favorite star’s memorabilia. Collectors all over the world could follow the action and bid “live” on the Internet on September 27, right along with the usual packed crowd, phone, and order bidders at Doyle’s in New York City. Small, but punchy, “The Cagney Auction” was estimated conservatively at $138,800/199,450 and took in a two-fisted $480,671. John Burke and Sharon Bruneau hosted the special and about 1000 Internet collectors bid live on 125 of the 153 lots and succeeded in nabbing 39 of them, according to Adam Button, CFO of www.ibid live.TV, a London firm whose new system ran the worldwide Internet bidding. At Doyle’s the only visible part of the Internet action was a small keypad and a pair of laptop computers programmed with the auction lots. They were manned by a pair of ibid live staffers. Color-coded red and green, the computer screens carried both the auctioneer’s prices and the live Internet bids as they came up. Bidders logged in from 20 U.S. states, Canada, Japan, and five European countries. At home, Internet viewers could follow the action on their own computer screens, and everyone who registered in advance could “click” to bid whenever they wished, unlike phone bidders who only bid on predesignated lots. As each Internet bid showed up at Doyle’s on the ibid live computer, the staffer raised his hand and said “bid” to the auctioneer, the same as phone-bid staffers. The sale was also seen live on PAX-TV in Canada and on BRAVO in the U.S. The sale was filmed for Incurable Collector; an upcoming Hearst Entertainment TV antiques show. From his legendary Broadway vaudeville song-and-dance days to his famed tough-guy movie roles, the charismatic James Cagney and his star quality never seem to lose their magic with fans. Many buyers from Doyle’s first Jimmy Cagney auction on September 30, 1992, were back in force at the September 2000 sale, still savoring their treasures from eight years ago. Robert C. Shanley, hotel and restaurant chairman at the New York Food & Hotel Management School, proudly recounted all the Cagney memorabilia he already owned as he scouted the recent preview. A Yankee Doodle Dandy red, white, and blue 1942 opening night film program autographed to Cagney by family and friends brought a lively $2185 (est. $600/800) from an anonymous bidder. The big disappointment of the evening was Cagney’s 1942 motion picture Best Actor Academy Award for his George M. Cohan role in the film Yankee Doodle Dandy. Estimated at $300,000/500,000, it was bought in at $95,000, with applause from the crowd who did not realize it didn’t sell. Maybe big buyers were feeling a recent stock market pinch that night. Another Cagney treasure, the couple’s 1961 subdued green Bentley automobile, was popular from the start. At an elegant champagne preview of the whole auction held at the new Bentley Manhattan showroom on Madison Avenue, Bentley owners and Bentley Club members mingled with workaday movie fans who climbed through the car all evening, trying it on for size. Estimated at $30,000/40,000, the Cagneys’ 1961 Bentley S2 four-door Saloon (chassis number B58LCU) sold to a Texas collector for $64,400, with generous applause. Some Bentley owners who mistook this reporter for a fellow club member confided that the Saloon would have brought more had the custom tools not been stolen from the trunk some time ago. Replacement will set the new owner back at least another $5000. Bentley Club members also felt the “detail” work left a good deal to be desired and will cost the new owner many thousands more. But hey, who cares! It’s Jimmy and Frances Cagney’s Bentley and bears a double heritage-the Cagneys and the Rolls Royce Bentley workmanship, which can never be replaced now that Rolls Royce and Bentley are split up. Cagney movie publicity stills were as popular now as they were in 1992. A group of about 130 mixed photos, estimated at $300/500, went at $2185 to a phone bidder, who beat out the Internet. About 18 publicity stills from Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) brought $690 (est. $300/500). About 20 stills from Ragtime (1981) went at $345. Cagney memorabilia of all kinds were treasured, both of Jimmy and his wife, Frances. An Internet bidder got a lovely gold, diamond, and pearl lapel watch and chain for $1725 (est. $800/1200). A New York City detective got five hats for $805 (est. $150/200). A 6.42-carat octagonal-cut diamond engagement ring brought $34,500 (est. $25,000/35,000). A California collector, who did not want her name used, had to pay up for a gilt-decorated zinc and cast-iron running horse weather vane from the Cagney farm in Stanfordville, New York. Estimated at $1000/1500, it finally sold for a winning $7475. The Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to James Cagney in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan brought a notable $51,750 (est. $1000/1500) from Americana dealer Anthony Terranova of New York City, who said he bought it for his own collection. Everything with the Cagney aura, from shoes or bedsteads to paintings and posters, found enthusiastic takers everywhere. Even Cagney’s New York Stuyvesant High School graduating program from January 31, 1918, along with his 1918 discharge papers from the Student Army Training Corps at Columbia University, went at $1495 (est. $300/500) to a distant Internet bidder. Distance didn’t matter at this sale.