MOVIES - March 7, 1989

Today’s scheduled auction of an Oscar presented to art director Lyle Wheeler for the 1959 film “The Diary of Anne Frank” has been canceled by Malcolm Willits, owner of the Hollywood Collectors Bookstore. Willits also said Monday he is getting out of the auction business and is going to sell his store, which is said to have the most complete collection of movie memorabilia in the world. Willits made his decisions based on the action by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to block any Oscar sales. He has sold several Oscars in the past, to the consternation of the academy, which frowns on the sales as a commercialization of their prize.