ODYSSEY 2005.(The Talk of the Town)(Saturday Night Fever dance floor for sale)

Earlier this year, a memorabilia company called Profiles in History offered for auction the dance floor used in "Saturday Night Fever." Profiles, which is based in Beverly Hills, has handled plenty of major sales--Al Pacino's fedora from "The Godfather," Clint Eastwood's carbine rifle from "Rawhide," the original "Star Wars" light sabres. Still, the company was unprepared for the chaos that erupted over this particular lot. "It was absolute pandemonium," Joseph Maddalena, the company's president, said. "People were phoning us day and night, and we received bids from all around the world."

One interested party, a visitor to a message board for fans of the movie, wrote, "Damn, I would love to have that. But then I think, where the heck would I put it?" Another post was beseeching. "DEAR BUYER OF THE FLOOR: if you find a VERY dusty drop-ball earring, please contact me. No questions asked." Eventually, the lot was awarded to an anonymous bidder for $188,800. But there was one problem: a Brooklyn man named Vito Bruno had filed a lawsuit claiming that he was the dance floor's rightful owner.

"I'm a disco bunny," Bruno said the other day, sitting in his office, on the first floor of a brownstone in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Bruno, who is forty-nine, got his start in the industry by working the door at Odyssey 2001, the night club (later renamed Spectrum) featured in the movie. At age twenty, he became its manager. "I had a big, Guido'd hair thing," he said. He gestured to a framed photograph of himself and Cher. "Like all moths, you're drawn to the spotlight."

One Sunday, a few months before the Profiles auction, Bruno was flipping through the Times classifieds. He came across an ad announcing the on-site "absolute auction" of the contents of 802 Sixty-fourth Street, in Brooklyn--Odyssey 2001's old address. Along with Crown amps, turntables, and bar sinks, the ad described one item Bruno had to have: the "original Saturday Night Fever dance floor."

The next day, Bruno called ...