last updated: Tuesday 23 October 2007, 11:48am

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Lee's Dracula cape discovered

Christopher Lee

The cloak worn by actor Christopher Lee in the film Dracula has been discovered in a fancy dress shop.

The black cape was part of Lee's costume for the 1958 horror, which co-starred Peter Cushing as Dr Van Helsing.

The owners of Angels, which runs a fancy dress shop and supplies costumes for the film industry, unwittingly hired it out to the public and for use in other movies.

The cape's history was only discovered earlier this year during the store's annual pre-Halloween inventory check.

Lee, 85, personally verified the article last month and it has been valued at £25,000.

The long overcoat worn by Cushing in his role as Van Helsing was also found and is currently being valued.

An Angels spokesman said: 'When the 1958 Dracula film was being made, it was considered to be just another potboiler. No one knew it would be a hit so the costumes were not seen as significant.

'The cape went back into stock and was hired out to other films, and eventually to the public - once, rather bizarrely, it was rented out for a children's nativity play.

'When it was discovered, the documentation and serial numbers were matched. Christopher Lee then verified it in person during a costume fitting for another film last month.'

Lee went on to play Dracula in several other films and it is one of the roles for which he is best remembered.

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