Gambling

Peter J. Leithart, December 24, 2006

In his history of American movies (thanks again Ken Myers), David Thomson notes that "there was in the ordinary lifestile of the first moguls a steady habit of gambling." David Selznick, he says, "lost a couple of million dollars in two years."

No wonder: Their whole industry is a form of gambling: "Making a movie is not a wise, judicious use of money. . . . But to make a movie puts on in line, notionally, for a very big hit. Increasingly in the history of movis . . . the ethos of the stand-out super-hit has taken over from a policy of steady business. That in itself is a mark of how unbusinesslike the business is."

To illustrate, he describes the process of funding for The Ten Commandments:

De Mille has spend $700,000 on the film in 1923, and Adolph Zukor, the chief at Paramount, was concerned. De Mille assured him that it would be the biggest film ever, and then things went like this:

"Well, thank you, said Zukor, and he was reassured for a day.
"But then he worried again and the costs went up to $1 million.
"So De Mille said he'd buy the whole thing back for $1 million. Which he didn't have. So he went to a banked, A. P. Giannini, and asked for the million. I'd need to see a financial statement, said the banker.
"No time, said De Mille.
"You say it's a good picture? asked the banker.
"It's good, said De Mille.
"So Giannini made the loan. But when Zukor heard there was $1 million ready, he said, This must be some picture. He stuck with it."

Turns out, the gamble was worth it. The Ten Commandments finally cost $1.4 million, and took in $4.1.