Antiques Roadshow premieres 3 Palm Springs episodes

Three upcoming episodes of public TV's "Antiques Roadshow" shot in Palm Springs will feature several expensive treasures. KPCC's Steven Cuevas says they include the most valuable item ever displayed on the PBS program.

Steven Cuevas: It's an oil painting done in 1937 by the late abstract expressionist Clyfford Still. The owner got it as a housewarming gift. Appraisers for "Antiques Roadshow" say it's worth at least a half-a-million dollars.

They say that's a record for the program. They also say the half-a-million dollars is a conservative estimate. Clyfford Still's paintings can fetch millions of dollars at auction. A couple years ago, one sold for 21 million.

"Antiques Roadshow" will also feature a painting by artist Joseph Stella. The owner says Stella gave it to his great uncle around 1922.

At that time, Stella was gaining fame in America and his native Europe for his modernist canvasses inspired by New York cityscapes. But fame didn't pay the rent. To do that, Stella gave up the painting. Today, it's valued at around a quarter-of-a-million dollars.

The item that probably drew the most heads in Palm Springs is a little black dress worn by Marilyn Monroe.

Jack Lemmon: Look at that! Look how she moves. It looks like Jell-O on springs! Must have some sort of built in motor or something.

Cuevas: Monroe worked Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis into a lather with that tight dress, and lots of others, in the 1959 comedy "Some Like It Hot." How tight? It had to be sewn onto Monroe's body.

The dress is valued between 150- and 250-thousand dollars. See it next week during the Palm Springs editions of Antiques Roadshow on PBS.