Silent Era Facts


Cost of Production: The cost of a typical "big production" in 1920


Expense Cost in 1920 Cost in Today's Dollars
Director and assistant 3,926.30 41,702.21
Cameraman and assistant 3,615.85 38,404.85
Raw stock 395.48 4,200.49
Developing and printing 3,048.53 32,379.20
Sets 5,579.12 59,257.23
Stills 369.35 3,922.96
Props 4,263.79 45,286.78
Rental of props 3,111.40 33,046.96
Rental of lamps 1.00 10.62
Rental of autos 5,384.85 57,193.84
Regular actors 15,266.96 162,154.20
Extra actors 24,955.35 265,057.01
Locations 21,914.18 232,755.98
Electricians 516.60 5,486.94
Propertymen 1,352.50 14,365.24
Wardrobe and drapery 3,174.55 33,717.69
Studio rent 3,000.00 31,863.75
Office expense and telegrams 775.19 8,233.49
Standby 121.00 1,285.17
Titles and inserts 1,774.24 18,844.65
Administrators 1,983.68 21,069.16
Publicity 1,522.99 16,176.06
General expense 305.47 3,244.47
Director 13,500.00 143,386.88
Total $119,158.38 $1,265,610.94

Source: The Twenties: Fords, Flappers & Fanatics, edited by George E. Mowry


More pages of facts…

Silent Era Trivia
A list of the most popular movies in 1922-27
A very brief and not so thorough history of animation in the silent era
More facts from the 1924 Film Daily Yearbook
What silent stars have their prints in Grauman's (Mann's) "Forecourt of the Stars?"
Want to talk like a Shiek or a Sheba? Learn the lingo of the teenagers of the Twenties
A list of directors' salaries in 1926
The typical cost of a big-budget production in 1920


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