MovieChat Forums > Kelly's Heroes (1970) Discussion > So i was just doing the math...

So i was just doing the math...

posted 9 years ago by Piglet-44
11 replies | jump to latest

Now a days if you suggested risking life and limb for a split of 16 mil with 20 or 30 other guys I would say its not worth it. The chance at maybe 1/2 a million with those kinds of odds wouldnt inspire most people to risk their lives and court martial.

So I got curious just what that was worth today with our present gold prices.

**DISCLAMER** - I just googled one or two sites for the values so they may not be very accurate. They looked close enough for my purposes.

They said $16mil at the 1944 price of $36.25 an ounce equals about 441000 ounces plus or minus a few percent. (1945 was a buck higher per ounce).

Now at the 2014 prices of $1200 an ounce thats $529,200,000!!!! split 20 ways... $25 mil each... That might be worth a crack if you were up for it.

One thing that always bugs me in movies is the lack of proper "weight" with gold bars.

Divide 441000oz by 14000 bars that rounds out to 32oz per bar (2lbs each).

One source I found says a 1 kilo bar (2.2lbs 35oz) is about 80mmx40mmx18mm (3"x1.6"x.75"). A small chocolate bar.

The bar Kelly was holding looks more like a 400oz bar and he is handling it way too lightly. Go grab a 25lb weight at the gym you will see what I mean.

Price source = http://onlygold.com/Info/Historical-Gold-Prices.asp
Dimensions source = http://taxfreegold.co.uk/goldbardimensions.html
400oz bar = http://www.usacoinbook.com/us-coins/gold-bar-400-ounce.jpg

[–] mikeyg24 9 years ago

That's a very good point. Although a lot of the movies I've seen dealing with bars of gold like The Italian Job (2003), Analyse That, Three Kings seem to have a pretty fair grasp on the weight of a bar of gold. I think there's a lot about this movie you need to take with a pinch of salt.

I've had a lot of sobering thoughts in my time Del Boy, it's them that started me drinking!

[–] mhansen-25806 9 years ago

There's also the weight angle. If a bar of gold then was the same as it is now (400 oz) 14,000 bars is about 175 short tons. As I recall, in the film Kelly and company had two 2 1/2 ton trucks. The numbers don't add up. 🇺🇸

"A .22 caliber mind in a .45 caliber world"

[–] tehck 9 years ago

I just saw the last 20 minutes, and I also started thinking about that one truck and the weight of the gold.

Still, I think this movie is about as perfect an action-adventure/comedy as Hollywood has ever produced. Low-brow, anachronistic, and borderline ridiculous as it may be, it is still a sublime piece of popular entertainment and a wonderful example of American cinema.

[–] peterstaveley 8 years ago

Your maths, i can advise, is incorrect. Sixteen million dollars of gold at approx. prices in 1944/45 ($36,75) is around 435,000 Troy ounces. One 'short' ton is 29,167 troy ounces, so the total weight of the gold is almost exactly 15 tons (less what they give to the Germans).

[–] TongueFu 9 years ago

Nowadays is one word!

[–] geopixinc 9 years ago

The deal with the Germans had to have cost them at least half the gold.

[–] NOTACLERK1 9 years ago

Why ruin a fun movie with useless details... Must be a mellenial

[–] information_police 9 years ago

Why steal billions when you can steal... millions!

"Smokey, this is not 'Nam, this is bowling. There are rules. "
-Walter Sobchak

[–] halfyank 8 years ago

The chance at maybe 1/2 a million with those kinds of odds wouldnt inspire most people to risk their lives and court martial.

I don't think you're allowing for what $500000 would be worth in 1944 dollars. In 1950, six years after the time frame of this movie, my Dad bought a 3br 1ba house in Southern California for $10000. So they stood to get the equivalent of 50 single family homes or more. I'd say that would be worth court martial, and maybe death. In today's money that would be some $12.5 million, 50 x $250000 or so.

[–] PaladinNJ (21781) 6 years ago

You sold me on it. I'm in.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I think the game changer here is they were in a war zone and constantly at risk anyway. So the thought of risking it for themselves was not a big ask for them.

Also keep in mind even if it was half a million each (and also remember only the survivors get a cut) that would buy you a hell of a lot back then.