How Hollywood and Co. Reflect our Money

[J_UNTITLED]

From npr.org...

It's customary to say that things come in all shapes and sizes, but movie titles could also be said to come in all denominations — denominations that often say a little something about the era the movie comes from.

Four years after the Panic of 1893, for instance, nickelodeons were showing a short called Scrambling for Pennies. Months after the Crash of 1929, theaters screened a movie called Dollar Dizzy. And as world economies spin out of control in 2009, a leading contender for Best Picture is Slumdog Millionaire.

Today on All Things Considered, we go looking for clues about how well Hollywood's dream factory keeps track of our national monetary mood — and it turns out that movie titles and moviegoers' wallets are often in sync.

Below, the list that inspired today's essay: a noncomprehensive survey of money-movie titles through the years, drawn from the exhaustive database at IMDb.com.

1910s
His Last Dollar - 1911
The Mighty Dollar - 1912
The Hundred Dollar Elopement - 1913
500 Dollar Kiss - 1914
Room & Board: A Dollar-and-a-Half - 1915
Thousand Dollar Husband - 1916
The Pawnshop - 1916
The Almighty Dollar -1916

1920s
The Great Nickel Robbery - 1920
The Ten Thousand Dollar Trail - 1921
The Dollar-a-Year Man - 1921
The Five Dollar Baby - 1922
Her Fatal Millions - 1923
Greed - 1924
Million Dollar Derby - 1926
God Gave Me 20 Cents - 1926
Vanishing Millions - 1926
Million Dollar Mystery - 1927
Melting Millions - 1927
Million Dollar Collar - 1929 (Rin Tin Tin)

1930s
Dollar Dizzy - 1930
Quick Millions - 1931
Million Dollar Swindle - 1931
Million Dollar Legs - 1932 (WC Fields)
Too Many Millions - 1934
Ten Dollar Raise - 1935
Pennies From Heaven - 1936
Million Dollar Racket - 1937
A Dime a Dance - 1937
Million Dollar Legs - 1939 (Betty Grable)

1940s
Dancing on a Dime - 1940
Million Dollar Baby - 1941
A Good Time for a Dime - 1941
Million Dollar Kid - 1944
Gents Without Cents - 1944
Ten Cents a Dance - 1945

1950s
Million Dollar Mermaid - 1952
Two Cents Worth of Hope - 1952
How to Marry a Millionaire - 1953
Three Coins in the Fountain - 1954
Million Dollar Movie - 1954 (TV show)
Working Dollars - 1956

1960s
It's Only Money - 1962
Goldfinger - 1964
The Pawnbroker - 1964
A Fistful of Dollars- 1964
For a Few Dollars More - 1965
Five Thousand Dollars on One Ace - 1965
How to Steal A Million - 1966
For One Thousand Dollars Per Day - 1966
Ten Thousand Dollars for a Massacre - 1967
Take the Money and Run - 1969

1970s
Dollars to Die For - 1970
Diamonds Are Forever - 1971
A Barrel Full of Dollars - 1971
Nickel Queen - 1971
The Six Million Dollar Man (TV) - 1974
The Nickel Ride - 1974
Brother Can You Spare A Dime -1975
Billion Dollar Bubble - 1976
Twelve and a Half Cents - 1977

1980s
Pennies From Heaven - 1981
Silver Spoons - 1982
Come Back to the Five & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean - 1982
Brewster's Millions - 1985 (also 1914, 1921, 1935, 1945)
The Color of Money - 1986
I Love Dollars - 1986
The Money Pit - 1986
Tango & Cash - 1989

1990s
Other People's Money - 1991
Nickel and Dime - 1992
For a Few Lousy Dollars - 1996
Forty Thousand Dollars - 1996
Six Dollars a Minute - 1997
Six Dollars and One Sense - 1997
Money Talks - 1997 (also 1914, 1919, 1921, 1926, 1932, 1940, 1951, 1972, 1990)

2000s
Million Dollar Hotel - 2000
Million Dollar Baby - 2004
The Trouble With Money - 2006
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - 2007
Mad Money - 2008
Slumdog Millionaire - 2008