Greed Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: Greed
Year: 1924
Director: Erich Von Stroheim
Country: US
Language: English

Erich Von Stroheim's Greed is considered a classic, despite much of its parts missing that are deemed essential by its creator. Much like Terry Gilliam's Brazil, this picture's tumultuous production is the stuff of legend. Originally more than nine hours long, it would be cut and cut and cut again, until its run-time was reduced by more than 60% at about 140 minutes. It was MGM's (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)  first feature length attraction and the first movie to be shot entirely on location. Stroheim's work was a remarkable achievement for its time.

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

Taking two years to shoot, Stroheim intended to use his immense film-making knowledge & talent as meticulously as possible. He dreamed of making the most realistic non-documentary movie possible with his adaptation of Frank Norris' novel McTeague. Unfortunately he was commissioned by family friendly MGM to do so, and Stroheim's nemesis Irving Thalberg had just become the new General Manager. He originally fled from Universal to MGM in order to get away from Thalberg, who would continuously stifle his creativity. but Thalberg was unrelenting. It cost $750,000 to make, but a petty rivalry would see that much of the money be wasted. 

Stroheim called the editing "a mutilation of my sincere work at the hands of MGM executives", only a handful of people ever saw his original intended version. In CEO Louis B. Mayer's view a fortune had been squandered on an unreleasable picture. He thought the public would hate a film so sour & cynical, which in turn would tarnish MGM's brand. Regardless, the surviving versions of Greed are visually haunting and mesmerizing. It's an uncompromising exercise in naturalism, capturing the rough working-class lives of the new U.S. cities..It's shocking in the depiction of how low many humans will stoop. Although the story is incredibly detailed, it is rather straightforward in approach. It is thematically compelling; even with the four hour version, restored by Rick Schmidlin in 1999, it will have you wanting more. 

Greed is a gripping study of human flaws that is well concieved and utterly convincing. Stroheim is unrelenting with his depiction; his masterful direction lays his audeince in awe. Gibson Gowland does a convincing job in the role of Dr. McTeague. Although parts of Greed feel dated and border on racism, I can confidently say that this is one of the best silent films ever made. Praise it! 5/5