MovieChat Forums > The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) Discussion > 300 million in damages?

300 million in damages?

posted 14 years ago by radiodaze
2 replies | jump to latest

I watched this gem on TCM today after a several years gap from the last time. I think it is even better than I remember. And I first saw it on TV as a kid back in the 1960s.

One scene has a newspaper headline - 180 dead, 1,500 injured - pretty realistic
numbers in the context of the film. But 300,000,000 in damages? That seems awful high for 1953 NYC. 30 million would be more like it...yes, I know it's just a movie. Probabaly a typo!

Russ Farris

[–] ruffian82 13 years ago

I thought the same today; of course if they meant from beginning of rampage to current moment; no, that is still a lot. We were not so free with our zeros then.

[–] essex9999 8 years ago

Resurrecting a thread from long ago ...

But 300,000,000 in damages? That seems awful high for 1953 NYC.

Well, yes and no. According to the estimable inflation calculator at westegg.com (http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi), $300 million dollars in 1953 is approximately equivalent to $2.7 billion dollars today. It wouldn't be hard to do $3 billion in damage to lower Manhattan real estate today. On the other hand, Manhattan property values have risen far out of proportion to general levels of inflation, so it might been pretty hard to destroy $300,000,000 in property at 1953 prices. Or maybe not. The Beast was pretty destructive.