Greed (1924)

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

Director:

Erich von Stroheim

Writers:

June Mathis (screen adaptation and scenario), Erich von Stroheim (screen adaptation and scenario)

Stars:

Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited 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

Storyline

John McTeague was a simple slow man who became a dentist after working at the Big Dipper Gold Mine. He is now being hunted in Death Valley by his ex-best friend Marcus and the law. His lot was cast the day that he meet his future wife Trina in his office. She was with Marcus and she bought a lottery ticket. Well Mac fell for her and Marcus stepped aside. When Mac and Trina married, she won the Lottery for $5000 and became obsessive about the money in gold. Marcus is steamed as he stepped aside and now she is rich so he has the law shut down Mac as he has no official schooling for his dentistry. Trina fearful that they will take her gold away sells everything and takes all Mac earns when he is working. She adds to her stash of gold as they both live as paupers. When Mac has no job and no money, he leaves and Trina moves. Driven to desperation at being poor and hungry he finds Trina and demands the gold.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | man hits a woman | barbershop | color tinted scene | hymn | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller | Western

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 January 1925 (USA)

Also Known As:

Greedy Wives

Filming Locations:

Seal Rocks, Richmond District, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$546,883 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min 239 min (1999 reconstructed) 130 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Color (Handschiegel Color) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The filming of the climax was actually the subject of an early silent newsreel. The facts reported by the newsreel concerning the Death Valley portion of the shooting: it took a day just to reach the location from the town of Keeler, California, they rode in a combination of cars and horses (one of the cars had the word "Greed" stenciled on it), water had to be rationed and they shot in August when temperatures were over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Goofs

After Marcus breaks McTeague's pipe and throws a knife at him, men pull McTeague's tie off as they hold him back. The tie is back in place a moment later as McTeague rushes out of the saloon.

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Quotes

[Prologue title card]
Title card: I never truckled; I never took off the hat to Fashion and held it out for pennies. By God, I told them the truth. They liked it or they didn't like it. What had that to do with me? I told them the truth; I knew it for the truth then, and I know it for the truth now. FRANK NORRIS.

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Alternate Versions

Version 5, 16 reels (4,800 meters), edited by June Mathis - According to Jean Mitry who saw it in Paris ("Le romantisme de Stroheim", article in L'Avant-Scène du Cinéma, no. 83-84, July 1968), this version had exactly 4 hours running time. It cut off all derivative stories about supporting characters, concentrating the story on the character McTeague, and adding a number of inter-titles to explain what happened in the deleted scenes. This version was shown in the theatre Studio des Ursulines, Paris, and then the French distributor cut it to a 2 hour film. Cinémathèque Française has a copy of the Mathis' cut - but versions 1 to 4 of the film are considered lost films (1999).

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood: Autocrats (1980)

User Reviews

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.