IMDb RATING
8.1/10
9.9K
YOUR RATING
The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.The sudden fortune won from a lottery fans such destructive greed that it ruins the lives of the three people involved.
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
9.9K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Erich von Stroheim(personally directed by)
- Writers
- June Mathis(screen adaptation and scenario)
- Erich von Stroheim(screen adaptation and scenario)
- Frank Norris(from the American classic "McTeague" by)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Erich von Stroheim(personally directed by)
- Writers
- June Mathis(screen adaptation and scenario)
- Erich von Stroheim(screen adaptation and scenario)
- Frank Norris(from the American classic "McTeague" by)
- Stars
- Awards
- 1 win
Videos2
Sylvia Ashton
- 'Mommer' Sieppeas 'Mommer' Sieppe
- (as Silvia Ashton)
William Barlow
- The Ministeras The Minister
- (uncredited)
Lita Chevrier
- Extraas Extra
- (uncredited)
Jack Curtis
- McTeague Sr.as McTeague Sr.
- (uncredited)
Edward Gaffney
- Extraas Extra
- (uncredited)
Florence Gibson
- Hagas Hag
- (uncredited)
James Gibson
- Deputyas Deputy
- (uncredited)
Oscar Gottell
- Sieppe Twinas Sieppe Twin
- (uncredited)
Otto Gottell
- Sieppe Twinas Sieppe Twin
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Erich von Stroheim(personally directed by)
- Writers
- June Mathis(screen adaptation and scenario)
- Erich von Stroheim(screen adaptation and scenario)
- Frank Norris(from the American classic "McTeague" by)
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film features one of the earliest uses of a hidden camera in film-making. When Trina (Zasu Pitts) leaves the junk shop after discovering the dead body, she rushes into a real street and into real passers-by who were unaware they were being filmed. A crowd gathered, police turned up to the scene and it is said that a reporter called in the 'murder' to his editor. This coincides with Dziga Vertov's Kinoglaz (1924) which also used hidden camera techniques for the first time.
- GoofsAfter 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.
- 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.
- Alternate versionsVersion 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).
- ConnectionsEdited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)
Top review
The Reconstruction of "Greed"
So much has been written about this extraordinary work of art that little remains to be said. Perhaps it might be useful to consider the three landmark years that are associated with this film:
1924---The badly mutilated and much abridged version that runs 140 minutes is released by M-G-M. Although there are many different views of the original running time of "Greed", it is generally believed to be over nine hours. Key characters and story lines were deleted altogether to accommodate the bureaucrats of the new M-G-M. The deleted footage apparently has been lost forever. All that remains of the deleted portions of the film are archival still photos and unused dialog cards. This 140 minute version is the only one known to modern audiences up until the year 1973.
1973---Herman G. Weinberg, a film historian, published through E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. his monumental book entitled "The Complete Greed." Weinberg attempted through supplementary use of the surviving archival material to assemble a photographic reconstruction of the original film. Obviously, Weinberg was in uncharted territory. The book represents one scholar's serious effort to present us with an approximation of the nine hour film. It is flawed but absolutely indispensable to anyone interested in "Greed."
1999---Turner Classic Movies took Weinberg's concept to the next level by incorporating the surviving archival material into the existing 140 minute version----employing a method similar to that used in the reconstruction of Frank Capra's "Lost Horizon" (1937) and Judy Garland's "A Star Is Born" (1954) directed by George Cukor. However, unlike those films, TCM's version is only a reconstruction and not a reconstruction/restoration. The end result is a film that now runs a little over four hours, where the archival material actually looks better in many respects than some of the elements from the original 140 minute film.
The TCM version is a revelation to people who are unfamiliar with Weinberg's book. It is a superb achievement in itself and allows the viewer for the very first time to see a reasonable approximation of Von Stroheim's film on a screen.
So much has been said about the tragedy of what happened to "Greed." While the TCM reconstruction cannot reverse this situation, we should be grateful for the opportunity to see, ponder and be moved by the "Greed" of "what might have been."
1924---The badly mutilated and much abridged version that runs 140 minutes is released by M-G-M. Although there are many different views of the original running time of "Greed", it is generally believed to be over nine hours. Key characters and story lines were deleted altogether to accommodate the bureaucrats of the new M-G-M. The deleted footage apparently has been lost forever. All that remains of the deleted portions of the film are archival still photos and unused dialog cards. This 140 minute version is the only one known to modern audiences up until the year 1973.
1973---Herman G. Weinberg, a film historian, published through E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. his monumental book entitled "The Complete Greed." Weinberg attempted through supplementary use of the surviving archival material to assemble a photographic reconstruction of the original film. Obviously, Weinberg was in uncharted territory. The book represents one scholar's serious effort to present us with an approximation of the nine hour film. It is flawed but absolutely indispensable to anyone interested in "Greed."
1999---Turner Classic Movies took Weinberg's concept to the next level by incorporating the surviving archival material into the existing 140 minute version----employing a method similar to that used in the reconstruction of Frank Capra's "Lost Horizon" (1937) and Judy Garland's "A Star Is Born" (1954) directed by George Cukor. However, unlike those films, TCM's version is only a reconstruction and not a reconstruction/restoration. The end result is a film that now runs a little over four hours, where the archival material actually looks better in many respects than some of the elements from the original 140 minute film.
The TCM version is a revelation to people who are unfamiliar with Weinberg's book. It is a superb achievement in itself and allows the viewer for the very first time to see a reasonable approximation of Von Stroheim's film on a screen.
So much has been said about the tragedy of what happened to "Greed." While the TCM reconstruction cannot reverse this situation, we should be grateful for the opportunity to see, ponder and be moved by the "Greed" of "what might have been."
helpful•103
- malvernp
- Aug 26, 2010
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $546,883 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 20 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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