# Birth of A Nation - Box office Adjusted for Inflation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413 "2004-07-03T21:55:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413/1 "2004-07-03T21:55:43Z")
Why is _Birth of a Nation_ not listed as one the top fifty films adjusted for inflation on Box Office Mojo? What is the adjusted gross for _Birth of a Nation_? > [@](#): > > The propagandistic film was one of the biggest box-office money-makers in the history of film, partly due to its exorbitant charge of $2 per ticket - unheard of at the time. It made $18 million by the start of the talkies. [It was the most profitable film for over two decades, until Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).] [http://www.filmsite.org/birt.html](http://www.filmsite.org/birt.html) [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted/](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted/) ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413/2 "2004-07-03T22:24:06Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > Why is _Birth of a Nation_ not listed as one the top fifty films adjusted for inflation on Box Office Mojo? What is the adjusted gross for _Birth of a Nation_? The [Bureau of Labor Statistics](http://www.bls.gov/cpi/home.htm) has an inflation calculator which gives two 1915 dollars as being equal to $37.45 today. If we figure $18 million gross divided by $2 tickets, that gives us nine million tickets sold = in the neighborhood of $337 million, which would place it about 61st on the list from that site. It isn’t there, obviously. Perhaps the other site is reporting the figures incorrectly. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413/3 "2004-07-03T22:52:24Z")
> [@](#): > > The Bureau of Labor Statistics has an inflation calculator which gives two 1915 dollars as being equal to $37.45 today. If we figure $18 million gross divided by $2 tickets, that gives us nine million tickets sold = in the neighborhood of $337 million, which would place it about 61st on the list from that site. It isn’t there, obviously. Perhaps the other site is reporting the figures incorrectly. That can’t be the calculation they are using because the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts $1 in 1945 as 10.51 in 2004 and \*The Bells of St. Mary's\* had a gross of 21,333,333 and an adjusted gross of $378,352,941, not $224,213,329.83. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413/4 "2004-07-03T23:00:48Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > That can’t be the calculation they are using because the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts $1 in 1945 as 10.51 in 2004 and \*The Bells of St. Mary's\* had a gross of 21,333,333 and an adjusted gross of $378,352,941, not > $224,213,329.83. If I’m understanding it correctly, their method boils down to guesstimating the number of tickets sold and multiplying it by today’s average price. I don’t think that’s valid; it doesn’t allow for the difference in the actual value of a dollar. Doing that gives _Birth of a Nation_ $54 million. Maybe someone who’s both a movie buff and an economist will wander by this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413/5 "2004-07-03T23:20:11Z")
I am stupid. This is on the link in my OP: > [@](#): > > - Adjusted to the estimated 2003 average ticket price of $6.03. Inflation-adjustment is mostly done by multiplying estimated admissions by the latest average ticket price. Where admissions are unavailable, adjustment is based on the average ticket price for when each movie was released (taking in to account re-releases where applicable). > [@](#): > > If I’m understanding it correctly, their method boils down to guesstimating the number of tickets sold and multiplying it by today’s average price. I don’t think that’s valid; it doesn’t allow for the difference in the actual value of a dollar. I agree that it is not valid. It is also my understanding that the $2 price for tickets was only done at the beginning of its release and the price then went down to regular prices so the 9 millions tickets sold is probably not correct (no cite). Googling, I can’t find how many tickets it sold other than various websites that say it sold more tickets than any movie ever had and that the record stood for “decades”. Does anybody know how tickets it sold? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413/6 "2004-07-04T00:43:43Z")
In reading newspapers from the 1915 period, I discovered that the $2 ticket price was the _top_ price for a ticket in some of the premier theaters which showed it first. For instance, the **Colonial** Theater in Chicago started showing it in July of that year. The theater could seat 1400 people. The ticket prices were $1 and $2 for the Orchestra, 75cents/$1/$1.50 for the first balcony, 50 cents for the 2nd balcony and 25 cents for the Gallery. This was for evening performances and Sat. matinee. They had one show per night at 8:15. “Other” matinees were about half those prices. I found an ad for the December, 1915 showing in Modesto(CA). ``` 25 cents(500 seats], 50 cents(400 seats) and 75 cents(200 seats). ``` The Chicago theater was taking orders for tickets four months in advance. At least, that what their ads said. So, the $2 ticket price was paid by certainly less than 5% of all the tickets sold. I doubt that you could use a higher average figure than 75 cents. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413/7 "2004-07-04T02:57:26Z")
…and I just figured out something about the figures. GWTW is cited in your link as the all-time box office leader, based supposedly on inflation adjusted receipts. But, that includes all the **re-releases** of the film. For instance, I found a newspaper article from December, 1946. This was after _Bells of St. Mary’s_ had been out for about a year. They said that 41,000,000 people had seen _Bells of St. Mary’s_ during the first year. They added that,as of that date(1946), 37,000,000 million people had seen **Gone with the Wind**. So, at that point in time, Bells of St. Mary’s had blown away GWTW. At least in numbers of people who had plunked down a hard earned 50 cents or $1. Gross receipts, whether adjusted for inflation or in raw numbers, don’t mean _dick_, IMHO. As to why Birth of a Nation isn’t listed in “the top 50 films adjusted for inflation of their gross receipts over the life of the movie from its first showing until today.” I’d surmise it has to do with re-releases, etc. Every Christmas, Bells of St. Mary’s is shown on TV, at least in the States. That has to add to the revenue total. On the other hand, BoaN hasn’t been on tv much the last 90 years. How many people go to see your movie in the first year it’s out should be one of the chief measures of at least how _popular_ a movie is. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413/8 "2004-07-04T15:57:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Every Christmas, Bells of St. Mary’s is shown on TV, at least in the States. That has to add to the revenue total. On the other hand, BoaN hasn’t been on tv much the last 90 years. But TV money shouldn’t have any effect on the box office gross, just the total gross. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/birth-of-a-nation-box-office-adjusted-for-inflation/253413/9 "2004-07-04T17:05:16Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > But TV money shouldn’t have any effect on the box office gross, just the total gross. You’re correct. I should have just said that theater re-releases of GWTW were massive and well attended. I doubt the same was true of BoStM.