Budget
$3,180,000 (estimated)
Gross
$7,270,000 (USA) (31 December 1947)
I've never understood why I've read that this wonderful movie was supposedly a financial failure and a flop when it was first released. The preceding info is taken straight from IMDB. The movie was nominated for five major Oscars and was a critical success. Can someone please explain?
Well, the budget does not usually include marketing and other costs so any profit was less than the difference shown above.
The idea that the move was a massive flop is a myth, but it was considered a box office disappointment given that at the time it was the first Frank Capra/Jimmy Stewart collaboration since World War II. The studio that made the movie closed after the movie's theatrical run (and was the only movie it made.)
This history was why the movie was forgotten enough that the copyright expired, thus paving the way for TV stations to air the movie constantly in the 1980's and making it the famous and loved movie it is today.