Reynolds plans movie museum

Debbie Reynolds will open a Hollywood motion-picture museum in the Great Smoky Mountains resort community of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., to display her extensive collection of movie memorabilia, the film star announced Tuesday.

Valued at more than $50 million, the collection contains more than 3,500 costumes and tens of thousands of props, movie posters, still photos, lobby cards and other items, said Reynolds, who starred in such films as “Singin’ in the Rain,” “Tammy and the Bachelor” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”

The sleeveless white dress blown upward as Marilyn Monroe stood on a subway grate in “The Seven Year Itch” is included, as are a pair of the ruby-red slippers Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz.”

The area attracts more than 11 million visitors a year as a gateway to the country’s most visited national park. Pigeon Forge also is home to singer Dolly Parton’s Dollywood amusement park, Tennessee’s top tourist attraction.