one the record Babe Ruth had set in 1927?

The problem was that Maris had eight more games in which to hit those home runs. Would Ruth have hit more dingers if he had played more games?We'll never know-but in fairness to the Bambino, the commissioner of baseball originally ordered an asterisk placed next to Maris's figure in the record books. Titanic's record-tying number of awards and nominations qualify for similar asterisks. Ben Hur won 73 percent of the awards it was eligible for; Titanic won 64 percent-an awesome performance, but still shy of first place. Or look at it another way: If we count only the categories

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Titanic remains a fabulously expensive, wildly successful movie. But many of its "records" are actually hype. Keep Titanic in mind the next time you wonder whether to challenge the numbers a government or business official uses to make a point.
in which All About Eve was eligible, Titanic only racks up 12 nominations-two fewer than the Bette Davis classic. Would Ben Hur have won another Oscar if they had given a statuette for best sound effects editing in 1959?Would All About Eve have won more nominations than Titanic if there were a category for best makeup in 19507 We'll never know-but it does seem fair to attempt to set the record straight in some way. When all is said and done, Titanic remains a fabulously expensive, wildly successful movie that won a huge number of awards-including the much-coveted Best Picture of the year. But best is not necessarily the same as highest or biggest. Keep Titanic in mind the next time you wonder whether to challenge the numbers a government or business official uses to make a point or win an argument. Q
T. Keating Holland is polling directorfor
CNN.
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A magazine of the net

FRONTPAGE Homwitz Edited Peter Collier 8 David

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JUNE 1998

TitanicNumbers
The movies unsinkable hype machine sails on.

By T. Keating Holland

his years Oscar ceremony added ton Post took a commonly accepted list of new entries in the impressive list of box-ofice receipts and adjusted them for records set by the movie Titanic. inflation, Titanic didnt even rank among The most expensive, highest-grossing fl im the top five. Topping the list was Gone of all time, Titanic had already garnered a With the Wind which, had it been released record number of Oscar nominations today, would have grossed about $863 when the largest television audience in million domestically. Next on the list were ut the audience for thi:; years Oscar Oscar history saw James Camerons epic Star Wars and E. T., fclllowed by The Ten ceremony was the biggest in history, tie the record for winning the most awards. Commandments and The Sound of Music. Do all those superlatives thrill and de- Then comes another Steven Spielberg right? Yes, but that means less than it aplight you? Then Ive got some bad news: opus, Jaws,and another mid-1960s block- pears to at first blush. After all, there are Each of those records, while containing a buster, Doctor Zhivago. Titanic currently more people today than at any time in history. So the raw total of viewers can go kernel of truth, is mostly the product of ranks eighth on this inflation-adjusted Hollywood hype. Its all harmless fun, of list-and while its ticket sales are certain up year after year even if there is a drop in course, as long as the subject is a popular to climb, its going to have to sell over 50 the percentage of the entire population movie. But the puffery surrounding Ti- million more tickets before it can really watching the telecast, a far more accurate tanic is an object lesson in how easy it has stake a claim as Hollywoods all-time box measure of popularity. Just under 35 percent of all American households watched office champ. become to get the media and the public to Titanic rake in all those Oscars-an imThe claim that Titanicwas the costliest uncritically accept just about any list of authoritative-sounding numbers. fl of all time holds u only if you believe pressive figure, but only good enough to im p Lets start with the amount of money the studios rough estimate that it cost crack the top 10, according to USA Today. Titanic made at the box office-over $500 $200 million to make the film. But if you Nine other Oscar ceremoniies since 1968 million at last count. The trouble with that accept earlier estimates of about $180 have had higher ratings-led by the 1970 broadcast, which was figure is that it doesnt seen in 43 percent of all take inflation into acAmerican households. count. Most Americans Then there are the who saw Titanic probtallies of Clscar nominaably paid about $7.00 tions and Oscar victoto do so. By contrast, ries. Its indisputablethat the average price for a the number of Oscars ticket to Star Wars two Titanicwon tied the recdecades ago was less ord set by Ben Hur in than $5.00-and most 1959. And its 14 nomipeople who paid to see nations equaled the Gone With the Wind mark set by A12 About nearly 60 years ago probEve in 1950. Here, Tiably paid 50 cents at tanic is the beneficiary most. Is it really fairof another kind of inor honest-to compare flation-the fact that the money Titanic made the Academy hands out today with figures from more Oscars today than a time when movies in previous years. 9 (and nearly everything Remember when else) cost a fraction of This Ones For You, Roger Maris: Director James Cameron brandishes one of Titanics Roger Maris hit 61 home what they do today? 11 Oscars. A fine showing, but less impressive on close reading. runs in 19151, beating by 3 When The Washing-

million-announced before the studio realized the perverse public-relations value of having spent too much money-Titanic probably ranks second on the list. First place-a dubious distinction in any casegoes to Cleopatra, the 1963 film remembered principally today for the fact that Elizabeth Taylor showed more cleavage than Madonna did at this years Oscar ceremony. Once again, the key factor is adjusting for inflation, which pumps Cleopatras original $37 million budget up to $194 million in todays dollars.

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