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Firearms fans and movie buffs often share a good deal of overlap. With so many excellent guns and gun-related scenes in such a plethora of films over the years, it’s easy to understand why. Many shooters will have a list of their favorite gun movies, scenes, or specific silver screen firearms. If you were to take a survey, it’s likely that you’d find the 1995 heist classic “Heat” on a significant number of those best-of lists. Now we have a new piece of cinematic ballistic history to discuss. KeepShooting.com sells an interesting smorgasbord of gun-related gear, and they’ve announced that they have acquired a unique prop gun from the above-named film classic.
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- Movie Armorer Larry Zanoff’s Facebook/YouTube Live Event
- The Top 5 Most Expensive Guns from Movies
- Han Solo’s Blaster Revisited: A Movie-Quality Firing Replica
- TFB’s Top 10 Gun Guy Movies from the 1980s
This “Heat” gun even still has some Hollywood fake blood on it, thought to be from either Natalie Portman playing Hanna’s stepdaughter or Robert de Niro’s character’s death scene.
While Al Pacino’s character, LAPD detective Lieutenant Vincent Hanna, is inextricably linked to his iconic usage of an FN FNC-80 rifle for some scenes, he also carries a handgun as his main duty weapon through much of the film. As an updated variation of the venerable 1911, the choice of this .45-caliber Colt model may be a nod to the character’s backstory as a former US Marine, and now KeepShooting.com is offering this unique piece of movie memorabilia for a cool $100,000. The prop gun’s details are as shown below, from the seller’s website.
This prop gun comes with a significant amount of documentation certifying it as the real screen-used firearm.
Lt. Vincent HAnna’s Colt 1991A1 from Heat:
“This Colt 1991A1 like all of the other firearms from the movie “HEAT” came from Stembridge Gun Rentals, which was formed in the early days of Hollywood back in the 1920s by James Stembridge and Cecil B. Demille to supply guns to the movie industry. With the growing use of CGI there began a decline in rentals of live firearms, which lead to the auction of the entire Stembridge Arsenal including this Colt 1991A1 pistol.
There is a significant amount of documentation included with this pistol that was collected to document its provenance and use in “HEAT” which includes the following:
- Copy of Revised Stembridge Gun Rentals Inc Contract C00666-09 printed on 7/24/1995 showing the rental was for 20 weeks of production for “HEAT” and includes this pistol listed as rental ID 10210 with serial number CP21094. The date the pistol went out from Stembridge was 02/21/1995 and it was returned on 7/24/1995.
- Copies of additional Stembridge Gun Rentals Contracts for “HEAT” showing serial numbers and firearms including various Colt M16 machine guns to be used for Warner Brothers “HEAT” Photo Shoot
- September 3, 2007 letter from The Prop Store of London, where Brandon Alinger confirms this pistol was used in the movie Heat by Al Pacino. He relays that through several conversations with Syd Stembridge, he learned that this pistol was purchased from Colt specifically for the production of HEAT. That Director Michael Mann was concenred about the possibility of seeing the barrel restrictor on film, so the blank-firing adapter was threaded deeper than normal.
- April 14, 2008 letter from internationally regarded firearms authentication expert J.R. LaRue (RIP) on Carter Mountain Consulting Agency letterhead confirming this Colt 1991A1 was previously owned by Stembridge Gun Rentals. J.R. LaRue was tasked with inventory and appraisal of the Stembridge Gun Rentals Assets and describes how this Colt 1991A1 was inventoried at Stembridge as “Used by Al Pacino in the movie Heat” and describes it as “Colt Model 1991A1 Compact Semi-Aujto Pistol, Serial Number CP21094, Caliber 45 ACP with threaded bore (for gas plug) with ground abrrel, slide & lugs opened port, blue finish with Ivory grips in excellent movie prop condition.
- Printed Page from Little John’s Auction Service showing Lot 72 of the “World Famous Gun Arsenal Collection” was Colt Compact Model M1991A1 serial number CP21094 used by Al Pacino in the movie “Heat” and describes it as being in overall fine condition, 97% parkerized black finish remaining, barrel adapted for firing blanks, crisp action, sharp markings, ivory grips and correct magazine.
- Certificate of Authenticity from The Prop Store of London certifying that this Colt Compact 1991A1 Pistol #CP21094 was inspected and is guaranteed top have been used in the production of HEAT.
- Original Little John’s Auction Tag for “Lot 72” from the Stembridge Gun Rentals Auction
Natlie Portman’s Fake Blood Still On Pistol?
This iconic firearm has traces of studio fake blood on the grip, which likely came from the scene where Hanna (Pacino) finds his step daughter played by Natalie Portman after her attempted suicide. In this scene Hanna (Pacino) picks up his step daughter when she is covered in blood and this pistol is clearly visible and is likely the source of the blood. The other scene where fake blood was used would be after the films climax where once fatally shooting DeNiro’s character Al Pacino holds his hand out to grab DeNiro before the scene fades out.
