Movie Studios…Cheap Since 1927 (Image)
For those of you who are unaware that movie studios have always been run by risk-free tight-wads, this 1927 Paramount Geographic Facsimile Map (via Boing Boing) is going to serve as a wake-up call. Even back before the Great Depression, it seems Paramount didn’t want to leave California for production purposes regardless of any plot’s intended backdrop. I’m betting if a script was set in the Sudan Desert, these cheap bastards probably switched it to the Sahara. Hell, Nevada was probably too far away for them. This thing just blew my freakin’ mind. No wonder Orson Welles had such a damn hard time getting his films financed (well, having an ego bigger than Xanadu didn’t help either).
[...] Cameron would do it — she just did a action-comedy with a slumping Tom Cruise for Christ’s sakes. Kristin would do it — it would be the biggest role of her career. Let’s trade in sappy and stupid for smart-ass and spunky and let the girls have an R-rated comedy romp of their own for once. I’m pretty sure the chicks could drag that highly coveted 18-35 guy demographic to this one, too. Diaz-Cheoweth would make money, and that’s what it’s always been about in Hollywood. [...]