I'm not sure if any of this is true, but I'm curious nonetheless. I remember watching some TV show awhile back, and they claimed that Metropolis was the single most expensive silent movie ever made, and that a mint condition original movie poster from Metropolis was the most expensive movie poster ever sold at auction. I love learning about old movie history stuff like this, and was just curious if it was true. Thanks
shareI don't doubt that it was the most expensive silent film. There are so many sets and special effects (like the light waves going over the robot body).
Just before coming here I was looking at images and posters, and thought I would like to have one. I bet originals are very rare.
I doubt it was the most expensive movie of the 20s, but it was probably the most expensive film made by UFA, in other words the most expensive German and possibly the most expensive European film of the 1910s and 20s.
Did I not love him, Cooch? MY OWN FLESH I DIDN'T LOVE BETTER!!! But he had to say 'Nooooooooo'
The effects still look good today . It was obviously a very expensive film to put together. I mean the film is getting closer and closer to being a 100 years old. Good effects are common today, but they struggled with them even in the 80's. This was the 20's.
shareGood effects are common today
Our expectations are also higher.
Ummm...not really.
1920s audiences had high expectations. The difference between them and us is that they were willing to let their imaginations fill in the blanks. We're not willing because the majority of the people today don't have imagination.
I agree that our imaginations are not exercised nearly as much or as often. Our minds are as spoiled with indulgence as our bodies.
(I don't know how to post yet, except by Hitting Reply - sorry)
More people relied on filling in blanks with their minds in the early 20th century because of the popularity of Radio Plays and reading books. (Though you could argue that only "rich folks" could read for leisure back then, and literacy rates are, on the average, higher nowadays.)
"I've seen so many Kung-Fu movies, I can probably speak perfect Mandolin!"
After printing was invented and proper way to make paper, books haven't been that expensive.
shareAccording to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_films#Most_expensi ve_films_.28adjusted_for_inflation.29), Metropolis only cost about $1.3 million at the time of production, which would be about $25 million today. If that's true it makes the achievement even more impressive.
shareFirst of all, Metropolis wasn't made for any amount of dollars; it was made for 5-7 million Reichsmarks. Sources vary on the amount. If you take the lower amount and first convert that into 1927 US dollars ($4.21) it comes to $21,050,000. Now calculate for inflation ($1 = $57.28). That amount is $1,205,744,000. Sounds pretty expensive to me.
Reaction time is a factor in this, so please pay attention.
From Wikipedia:
Metropolis originally cost 5.3 million Reichsmarks in 1927, equivalent to about $1.3 million at a conversion rate of US$1 = RM 4.2080. Calculating the effects of inflation is complicated, since Germany has undergone two currency conversions since Metropolis was produced. As part of the Marshall Plan following World War II, the Deutsche Mark replaced the Reichsmark in 1948 to stave off hyperinflation. However, this was not a simple redenomination exercise: while the Deutsche Mark replaced the Reichsmark at an official rate of DM 1 to RM 10, this only applied to the actual currency, with wages, products and services charged at a rate of DM 1 to RM 1 (see Deutsche Mark: Currency reform of June 1948). This was equivalent to introducing 1000% inflation into the old currency before replacing it. As of 1948, Metropolis would have cost RM 6.3 million adjusted for inflation according to the German Consumer price index; redenomination would have inflated that to RM 63 million, which would have been equivalent to DM 6.3 million in the new currency. This only applied to West Germany, but following German reunification, the Deutsche Mark later replaced the East German mark and exchanged at parity. The second redenomination occurred in 1999 when Germany converted to the euro, and this time fully adhered to the conventions of a basic redenomination, with all financial assets exchanged at a rate of DM 1.95583 to €1; at this time, Metropolis would have cost DM 29 million, equivalent to €15 million after conversion. At today's prices, it would cost about €18 million, equivalent to US$25 million at the 2009 exchange rate of €0.7198 to the dollar. Often reported as having cost $200 million at the value of modern money, this estimate is clearly in error by a factor of ten; it is most likely that it came about by adjusting the original cost for inflation, converting the German marks to euros, and then converting the euro figure to US dollars. The process probably failed to account for the fact that the original cost was in Reichsmarks and not Deutsche Marks, so must be divided by 10 to get the equivalent Deutsche Mark value. In applying this methodology, the estimate would come down to about $20 million, and more in line with the CPI figure.share
I appreciate that you've gone to the trouble of researching the issue but this Wiki entry is flawed. It's very simple: first we're converting the 1927 Reichsmark to 1927 US Dollars. There was no conversion of the Reichsmark to Euros and Euros to Dollars. Um...Euros didn't exist then. Then we're adjusting those 1927 US Dollars for inflation. I saw this wiki page once before and questioned it then.
And btw, you do know that anyone can update a wiki page, right? One doesn't have to have any kind of credentials to do so. I updated one myself. Legitimately, of course (it had to do with the company I work for).
EDIT:
I decided to research this a little further due to the the wiki article you posted. It turns out that there is a difference in calculating inflation with regards to commodities as opposed to projects. In calculating for a project the amount actually becomes even higher.
http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/relativevalue.php
Reaction time is a factor in this, so please pay attention.
Outed! So it's you that keeps removing comments about how COMbbc is a corrupt state broadcaster. I might have known. ;O)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leipzig_salient here's one of my modest efforts.
Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.
Impressive!
Reaction time is a factor in this, so please pay attention.
Your very own Ralph Whitehead is writing a history of the XIV Reserve Corps and I got volumes I and II over xmas. I'll will be able to do more justice to the Germans involved.
Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.
Ben-Hur (1925) was the most expensive film of the silent era, costing in the region of $3.9 million. The General holds the record for most expensive scene of the silent era, where they crashed a real train through a burning bridge.
The Metropolis poster is the most expensive poster sold at auction, I believe it's a very specific version with no company credits at the bottom. It is believed that Leonardo DiCaprio was the person who bought it at auction, but this has never been verified.
I knew it was Ben Hur!
shareBen-Hur of the silent era struck my mind too. With Metropolis it would have been more costly (if the studio allowed it, which they wouldn't) if it were not for all the really cheap labor available at the time, and the ridiculously long time it took to shoot. Thanks for all who did all this research.
share