Greed (silent film)
"Greed" is a silent film directed by Erich von Stroheim, known for its ambitious scope and tumultuous production history. Based on Frank Norris's novel "McTeague," the film tells the story of McTeague, a San Francisco dentist, and his wife Trina, who becomes consumed by her newfound wealth after winning a lottery. Their relationship deteriorates as McTeague's financial struggles lead to desperation and ultimately violence. The film is marked by a strong critique of greed and the impact of wealth on human relationships, reflecting the moralistic themes often found in von Stroheim's work.
Originally produced by Goldwyn Pictures, "Greed" experienced significant challenges when the studio merged with others, resulting in a staggering production cost of $585,000. The film underwent extensive editing, with von Stroheim initially presenting a rough cut exceeding nine hours, which was later condensed to a 140-minute version by MGM. Despite its eventual release, "Greed" is remembered as one of Hollywood's most notable box-office failures of the silent era, yet it is also lauded as a cinematic masterpiece. The uncut version remains a legendary lost film, and in 1991, parts of it were preserved by the Library of Congress, highlighting its enduring significance in film history.
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Greed (silent film)
Identification: A silent film about the corrupting effects of money
Director: Erich von Stroheim
Date: 1925
Greed was director Erich von Stroheim’s most famous and controversial film. This epic is best known for its extraordinary production costs and tensions between director and studio over its length.
In this silent film based on Frank Norris’s novel McTeague: A Story of San Francisco (1899), the title character McTeague (Gibson Gowland), a San Francisco dentist, marries Trina (ZaSu Pitts), who has just won five thousand dollars in a lottery and adds to her fortune by hoarding most of her husband’s income. McTeague loses his business when Marcus Schouler (Jean Hersholt), Trina’s former suitor, discovers that he has no dental license, and the couple end up living in squalid quarters, Trina hoarding all the while. Crazed by his need for money, McTeague kills her and flees to Death Valley, pursued by Marcus.
Most of von Stroheim’s films tended to be moralistic, with wealthy characters leading lives of extravagance. Although the protagonists of Greed come from a different social class, the director’s message is the same. With the crass, vulgar McTeague and Trina destroyed by their love for gold, von Stroheim aimed to depict a grittier realism than in his previous films and to comment on the recklessness of the 1920s.
Greed began as a Goldwyn Pictures project, but Goldwyn merged with Metro Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Productions to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) during the production, which cost a then-staggering $585,000. Recently fired by Universal’s Irving Thalberg because of his extravagance, von Stroheim filmed on location for nine months. The director was zealously devoted to his vision of perfection, assembling a rough cut more than nine hours long. He edited it down to about four hours but refused to cut it further. Von Stroheim sought the help of fellow director Rex Ingram, who reduced it to just over three hours. MGM, now under the control of Thalberg, finally released a 140-minute version, reportedly edited with the aid of screenwriter June Mathis. Many characters were eliminated during the extensive editing, leaving only McTeague, Trina, and Marcus, and causing lapses in continuity. Legend has it that MGM melted down most of von Stroheim’s unused footage to salvage silver from the negative.
Greed was one of the most famous Hollywood box-office failures of the silent era, despite all the changes ordered by Thalberg. The uncut version is a legendary lost film, though even the truncated version is widely considered a masterpiece. In 1991, Greed was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry, and in 1999, Turner Entertainment attempted to create a more complete four-hour version by adding still photographs of lost scenes.
Bibliography
Brownlow, Kevin. The Parade’s Gone By…. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
Koszarski, Richard. The Man You Loved to Hate: Erich von Stroheim and Hollywood. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.
Lennig, Arthur. Stroheim. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 2007.