One Big Dali

A unique backdrop painted by the late Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1945 thriller “Spellbound” will be auctioned May 20 in what figures to be the largest West Coast sale of Hollywood memorabilia in two decades.

L.A.’s Camden House Auctioneers--which expects to get $20,000 to $40,000 for Dali’s 17-by-55-foot muslin canvas backdrop--will hold the event at the Wilshire-Ebell Theater, with a public preview scheduled for May 19. The colorful Dali piece, used for a dream sequence, features red eyeballs floating in a black sky and is believed to be the artist’s only contribution to Hollywood.

Also up for bids: A rare “Dorothy” dress from “The Wizard of Oz” that may have been worn at the beginning of the movie by Judy Garland when she sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow;” a copy of Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind” signed by the cast of the historic MGM film, and hundreds of other costumes, posters and photos--600 lots in all.