The most expensive movie scene of all time
It’s no secret that filmmaking is an expensive endeavour, with blockbuster movies typically costing tens of millions of dollars, sometimes breaching into hundred-million-dollar territory. By using such sizeable budgets, studios can create expansive sets, hire in-demand actors and utilise elaborate special effects, hoping to break even in the process.
One of the most staggering examples of an incredibly high budget is Avatar, which was made for $237million. The James Cameron-directed film was so successful that it generated a box-office profit, earning more than $2.923 billion worldwide.
However, in the days of silent film, before Hollywood had truly taken off and become one of the world’s most profitable industries, budgets were much smaller. It was rare for a movie to cost more than $1m, with the most expensive silent film being 1925’s Ben Hur, which cost $4m.
Generally, movies were made for several thousand dollars, with big budgets reserved for Hollywood’s most popular names, such as Buster Keaton. The actor and filmmaker, also known as ‘The Great Stone Face’, was one of silent cinema’s biggest stars, creating and starring in countless comedies. Few actors utilised their bodies as skillfully as Keaton, who became one of the defining figures of slapstick alongside Charlie Chaplin.
Keaton was destined for the screen – as a child, he was part of his parents’ vaudeville acts, which prepared him for a performing career. He made his acting debut in 1917, starring in The Butcher Boy, directed by Roscoe Arbuckle. As the years went by, Keaton rose to prominence as a writer, director and actor known for performing his own stunts.
In 1926, he released The General, which he co-directed with Clyde Bruckman. It is now considered a masterpiece, with directors such as Orson Welles calling the movie “the greatest comedy ever made…and perhaps the greatest film ever made”. However, upon its release, it was not received too well by critics or the public, only generating a small profit against its large budget.
The movie was made for $750,000; however, much of that budget was spent on one scene, making it the most expensive scene in cinema history. The sequence in question features a real train crossing a burning bridge before falling into the river below. These days, the scene could easily be created via computer-generated special effects, but in 1926, the spectacle could only be created by actually carrying out the stunt in real life.
This single shot cost a whopping $42,000 to execute, and it was filmed with six different cameras to ensure that it only needed to be carried out once. The wreckage was left under the water for several years until it was salvaged for scrap in the 1940s.
