BIG BUCKS OFF THE LITTLE TRAMP

As the Little Tramp in Hollywood’s Golden Era, he could be seen waddling in his oversized shoes, peering from beneath his derby hat and swinging his famous cane.

Charlie Chaplin’s gone (he died in 1977), and now his legendary props are also departing--to an October auction at Christie’s in London.

Film historian Marc Wanamaker, who runs Bison Archives in Beverly Hills, is carrying the props to London at the request of Chaplin’s cousin, Betty Tetrick, and her husband, Ted. Wanamaker said London was chosen because “it’s centrally located” (Chaplin was British). Ted Tetrick, Chaplin’s art director beginning with “The Great Dictator” (1940), collected the memorabilia.

“These items are unusual because they were literally taken from the studio and preserved all these years by Betty and Ted,” said Wanamaker. “Originally there were three pairs of shoes. One pair was eaten by mice, another was too new looking to Chaplin, and the third, which we have, was the pair he wore most of the time.”

There were several Chaplin canes over the years, Wanamaker said, but he’ll auction the last one Chaplin used--from the mid-’20s through the ‘50s.

Wanamaker expects the hat--used in many films, including “Gold Rush” (1925)--to go for about $75,000. An unauthenticated hat and cane went for about $25,000 last year at Christie’s, he said.

Among the other Chaplin items to be auctioned, Wanamaker said, are four scrapbooks prepared by Alfred Reeves, studio manager at Chaplin’s film company through the ‘20s and early ‘30s, and miscellaneous items such as letters from Mary Pickford.