Show Me the Money: The Standard Catalog of Motion Picture, Television, Stage, and Advertising Prop Money By: Fred Reed

Author: Fred L. Reed

Movie Money is often one of the key factors in cinema plots. Characters on screen fight for it, lie for it, marry for it, steal it, counterfeit it, bet with it, burn it—just as many of us do in real life. But movie money, like its counterpart in the real world, is more than dollar signs and electronic blips on bank accounts. The “green stuff”’ must be seen, smelled, fondled and caressed. To fill that important role film after film, Hollywood’s storytellers have produced a wealth of imitation greenbacks, which has become a diverse, colorful and eminently collectible series. Describing what is available, what is rare and what is valuable, the author demonstrates here just how graphically interesting these theatrical prop notes are in their own right. Based on ground-breaking research and interviews with insiders, including prop masters, set decorators and prop note masters themselves, this work catalogs and illustrates more than 270 types of motion picture and other theatrical prop money—including nearly 2,000 sub-varieties. A multitude of photographs and illustrations add to this unique study.