Greed (1924)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Erich von Stroheim

Writers:

June Mathis (screen adaptation and dialogue)
Frank Norris (novel)

Release Date:

26 January 1925 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Money | Dentist | Friendship | Murder

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Zasu Pitts	...	Trina
Gibson Gowland	...	McTeague
Jean Hersholt	...	Marcus
Dale Fuller	...	Maria
Tempe Pigott	...	Mother McTeague
Sylvia Ashton	...	'Mommer' Sieppe (as Silvia Ashton)
Chester Conklin	...	'Popper' Sieppe
Joan Standing	...	Selina

Runtime:

140 min | USA:239 min (1999 restored version) | Portugal:130 min (original version) (20 fps)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

16th Street, Oakland, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The first film to be shot in its entirety on location.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Although all the principals have costumes and hairstyles appropriate for around 1900, outside the theater the other patrons seem to be in modern (1923) dress. A recent-model automobile is even visible in the last exterior shot of the theater.

Quotes:

Title card: GOLD - GOLD - GOLD - GOLD. Bright and Yellow, Hard and Cold, Molten, Graven, Hammered, Rolled, Hard to Get and Light to Hold; Stolen, Borrowed, Squandered - Doled.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in So Funny It Hurt: Buster Keaton & MGM (2004) (TV)

Mutilated masterpiece

Heavily edited MGM release version of Stroheim's 8 hour epic satisfies at 2 and a half hours -- you have to wonder if any extra length would have made it a little better or a little worse. To be sure, Stroheim probably ran the thing pretty slow when he projected it. Authentic detail in locations adds another level of interest, as we get to see parts of San Francisco, Oakland, and Placer County in the early 20s. The story is dark and involved, detailing the love of two people destroyed by their compulsive greed and neuroses. There is no moment in its story where the viewpoint is not pessimistic, except the image of dual humanity presented in McTeague's birds. Exceptional.