Greed (
1924-Events:* Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
) is a dramatic
silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with...
. One of the most famous lost films in cinema history it is also considered one of the greatest films ever. It was directed by
Erich von StroheimErich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born star of the silent film age, lauded for his directorial work in which he was a proto-auteur. As an actor, he is noted for his arrogant Teutonic character parts which led him to be described as "not a character actor, but what a character!"...
and starring
Gibson GowlandGibson Gowland was an English film actor.Gibson came to the United States from England, by way of Canada, in 1913 where he met Beatrice Bird, also from England, whom he married...
,
Zasu PittsZaSu Pitts The earliest date is supported by census records: the 1900 census gives her age as 6, though puzzlingly lists March as her month of birth; the 1910 census gives her age as 15, but by the time of the 1920 census she had begun her film acting career and her age is given as 21...
,
Jean HersholtJean Hersholt was a Danish actor who lived in the United States where he was a leading film and radio talent, best known for his 17 years starring on radio in Dr. Christian and for playing Shirley Temple's grandfather in Heidi...
,
Dale FullerDale Fuller , was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 67 films between 1915 and 1935.She was born in Santa Ana, California and died in Los Angeles County, California.-Selected filmography:...
, Tempe Pigott,
Sylvia AshtonSylvia Ashton was an American film actress of the silent era. She appeared in 134 films between 1912 and 1929...
,
Chester ConklinChester Cooper Conklin was an American comedian and actor. He appeared in over 280 films, about half of them in the silent era.-Early life:...
,
Joan StandingJoan Standing , was an English actress. She appeared in 63 films between 1919 and 1940.She was born in England and died in Houston, Texas.-Selected filmography:* Dracula * Greed * Happiness...
and
Jack CurtisJack Curtis , was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 157 films between 1915 and 1950.He was born in San Francisco, California and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:...
.
The plot follows a
dentistDentistry is the known evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the soft and hard tissues of the jaw , the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is a part of stomatology...
whose wife wins a
lotteryA lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Some governments outlaw it, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery...
ticket, only to become obsessed with money. When her former lover betrays the dentist as a fraud, all of their lives are destroyed.
Greed (
1924-Events:* Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
) is a dramatic
silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with...
. One of the most famous lost films in cinema history it is also considered one of the greatest films ever. It was directed by
Erich von StroheimErich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born star of the silent film age, lauded for his directorial work in which he was a proto-auteur. As an actor, he is noted for his arrogant Teutonic character parts which led him to be described as "not a character actor, but what a character!"...
and starring
Gibson GowlandGibson Gowland was an English film actor.Gibson came to the United States from England, by way of Canada, in 1913 where he met Beatrice Bird, also from England, whom he married...
,
Zasu PittsZaSu Pitts The earliest date is supported by census records: the 1900 census gives her age as 6, though puzzlingly lists March as her month of birth; the 1910 census gives her age as 15, but by the time of the 1920 census she had begun her film acting career and her age is given as 21...
,
Jean HersholtJean Hersholt was a Danish actor who lived in the United States where he was a leading film and radio talent, best known for his 17 years starring on radio in Dr. Christian and for playing Shirley Temple's grandfather in Heidi...
,
Dale FullerDale Fuller , was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 67 films between 1915 and 1935.She was born in Santa Ana, California and died in Los Angeles County, California.-Selected filmography:...
, Tempe Pigott,
Sylvia AshtonSylvia Ashton was an American film actress of the silent era. She appeared in 134 films between 1912 and 1929...
,
Chester ConklinChester Cooper Conklin was an American comedian and actor. He appeared in over 280 films, about half of them in the silent era.-Early life:...
,
Joan StandingJoan Standing , was an English actress. She appeared in 63 films between 1919 and 1940.She was born in England and died in Houston, Texas.-Selected filmography:* Dracula * Greed * Happiness...
and
Jack CurtisJack Curtis , was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 157 films between 1915 and 1950.He was born in San Francisco, California and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:...
.
The plot follows a
dentistDentistry is the known evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the soft and hard tissues of the jaw , the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is a part of stomatology...
whose wife wins a
lotteryA lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. Some governments outlaw it, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery...
ticket, only to become obsessed with money. When her former lover betrays the dentist as a fraud, all of their lives are destroyed. The movie was adapted by von Stroheim (shooting screenplay) and
Joseph FarnhamJoseph White Farnham was an American playwright and an Academy Award-winning film writer and film editor of the silent movie era to the early 1930s. He was also a founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
(titles) from the 1899 novel
McTeagueMcTeague is an 1899 novel by Frank Norris. The book describes the life of a turn-of-the-century dentist in San Francisco, named McTeague. The narrator never reveals McTeague's first name; he is referred to only as "Mac" by the other characters in the novel...
by
Frank NorrisBenjamin Franklin Norris, Jr. was an American novelist, during the Progressive Era, writing predominantly in the naturalist genre. His notable works include McTeague , The Octopus: A California Story , and The Pit .-Life:Frank Norris was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1870...
. The onscreen credit for
June MathisJune Mathis was an American screenwriter and one of the highest paid Hollywood executives in the 1920s. Mathis was the first female executive for Metro/MGM and at only 35, she was the highest paid executive in Hollywood. In 1926 she was voted the third most influential woman in Hollywood, behind...
was strictly a contractual obligation to her on the part of
Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., or MGM, is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B...
(the parent studio), as she was not actually involved in the production.
Production
The story of the making of the movie has become a Hollywood legend. The story had been filmed twice before by Hollywood film studios: first in 1916 under the title
McTeague starring Broadway star
Holbrook BlinnHolbrook Blinn was an American actor, born in San Francisco. He appeared on the legitimate stage as a child, and played throughout the United States and in London...
, and then as a five-reeler in 1917 under the title
Life's Whirlpool directed by
Lionel BarrymoreLionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, radio and film. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul .-Early life:...
and starring his sister
EthelEthel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the famous Barrymore family.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...
. Under the aegis of the Goldwyn studio, von Stroheim attempted to film a version of the book complete in every detail. To capture the authentic spirit of the story, he insisted on filming on location in San Francisco, the Sierra Nevada mountains, and
Death ValleyDeath Valley is a desert located in the southwestern United States. It is the lowest, driest, and hottest location in North America. Badwater, a basin located within Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 ft below sea level...
, despite harsh conditions.
The result was a final print of the film that was an astonishing
ten hours in length, produced at a cost of over $500,000 — an unheard of sum at that time (though Stroheim's 1921 film
Foolish Wives was publicized by Universal as costing over a million). After screening the full-length film once to meet contractual obligations, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio that acquired Goldwyn during production, forced von Stroheim to edit the film to a more manageable length, and, with the assistance of fellow director
Rex IngramRex Ingram was a film director, producer, writer and actor. Legendary director Erich von Stroheim once called him "the world's greatest director."...
and editor Grant Whytock, he reluctantly trimmed the film to about four hours. The film was then removed from von Stroheim's control and cut further, despite his protests. Even key characters were removed from the final version so that it could be screened in a reasonable time frame. Existing prints of
Greed run at about two hours and twenty minutes. The hours of cut film were destroyed by a janitor cleaning a vault who thought they were not important film rolls and threw them in an incinerator (although it appears that much of it survived until at least the late 1950s), and this film is known as one of the most famous "
lost filmA lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or the archive of, for instance, the Library of Congress where all American films are deposited for copyright reasons...
s" in cinema history. The released version of the film was a box-office failure, and was fiercely panned by critics. In later years, even in its shortened form, it was recognized as one of the great realistic films of its time. Rare behind-the-scenes footage of
Greed can be seen in the
Goldwyn PicturesMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., or MGM, is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B...
film
Souls for SaleSouls for Sale is a 1923 silent film written, directed, and produced by Rupert Hughes from his novel of the same name. The film featured Eleanor Boardman in her first leading role, having won a contract with Goldwyn Studios through their "New Faces of 1921" contest just two years prior. The film is...
.
In 1999,
Turner EntertainmentTurner Entertainment Company, Inc. is an American media company founded by Ted Turner. Now owned by Time Warner, the company is largely responsible for overseeing its library for worldwide distribution.-Background:Turner Entertainment Co...
(the film's current rights holder) decided to "recreate", as closely as possible, the original version by combining the existing footage with still photographs of the lost scenes, in accordance with an original continuity outline written by director Erich von Stroheim. This restoration runs almost four hours. The re-edit was produced by
Rick SchmidlinRick Schmidlin is an American producer/director/silent film scholar, whose work has focused on restorations, reconstructions and documentaries....
. (Other classic films with missing footage include
Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles was an American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio. Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety spectacles in the war years...
's
The Magnificent AmbersonsThe Magnificent Ambersons is a American drama film written and directed by Orson Welles. His second feature film, it is based on the 1918 novel of the same title by Booth Tarkington and stars Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead and Ray Collins...
,
Frank CapraFrank Russell Capra was an American film director and a creative force behind a number of films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It Happened One Night , Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , You Can't Take It With You , Mr...
's
Lost Horizon,
George CukorGeorge Cukor was an American film director who mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed a string of impressive films including What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David...
's
A Star Is BornA Star Is Born is a 1954 American musical film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay written by Moss Hart was an adaptation of the original 1937 film, which was based on the original screenplay by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell...
and von Stroheim's
Queen KellyQueen Kelly is the title of an American silent film produced in 1928-29 and released in 1929, originally by United Artists. The film was directed by Erich von Stroheim, starred Gloria Swanson in the title role, and also starred Walter Byron and Seena Owen....
). In 1991, this film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film RegistryThe National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Cast
- Gibson Gowland
Gibson Gowland was an English film actor.Gibson came to the United States from England, by way of Canada, in 1913 where he met Beatrice Bird, also from England, whom he married...
as John McTeague
- ZaSu Pitts
ZaSu Pitts The earliest date is supported by census records: the 1900 census gives her age as 6, though puzzlingly lists March as her month of birth; the 1910 census gives her age as 15, but by the time of the 1920 census she had begun her film acting career and her age is given as 21...
as Trina
- Jean Hersholt
Jean Hersholt was a Danish actor who lived in the United States where he was a leading film and radio talent, best known for his 17 years starring on radio in Dr. Christian and for playing Shirley Temple's grandfather in Heidi...
as Marcus
- Dale Fuller
Dale Fuller , was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 67 films between 1915 and 1935.She was born in Santa Ana, California and died in Los Angeles County, California.-Selected filmography:...
as Maria
- Tempe Pigott as McTeague's mother
- Jack Curtis
Jack Curtis , was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 157 films between 1915 and 1950.He was born in San Francisco, California and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:...
as McTeague's father (uncredited)
- Silvia Ashton
Sylvia Ashton was an American film actress of the silent era. She appeared in 134 films between 1912 and 1929...
as 'Mommer' Sieppe
- Chester Conklin
Chester Cooper Conklin was an American comedian and actor. He appeared in over 280 films, about half of them in the silent era.-Early life:...
as 'Popper' Sieppe
- Joan Standing
Joan Standing , was an English actress. She appeared in 63 films between 1919 and 1940.She was born in England and died in Houston, Texas.-Selected filmography:* Dracula * Greed * Happiness...
as Selina
Uncredited
- James F. Fulton as Prospector Cribbens
- Cesare Gravina
Cesare Gravina was an Italian actor of the silent era. He appeared in 60 films between 1912 and 1929.He was born in Naples, Italy.-Selected filmography:* The Fatal Ring * Madame X * Greed...
as Junkman Zwerkow
- Frank Hayes
Frank Hayes was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 73 films between 1913 and 1924.He died in Hollywood, California from pneumonia, aged 52.-Selected filmography:...
as Charles W. Grannis (The Modern Dog Hospital proprietor)
- Austen Jewell as August Sieppe
- Hughie Mack
Hughie Mack , was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 195 films between 1910 and 1928.He was born in Brooklyn, New York and died in Santa Monica, California.-Selected filmography:...
as Mr. Heise (harness maker)
- Tiny Jones as Mrs. Heise
- J. Aldrich Libbey as Mr. Ryer
- Reta Revela as Mrs. Ryer
- Fanny Midgley
Fanny Midgley was an American film actress of Hollywood's early years, mostly in silent films.Midgley was born Fanny B. Frier in Cincinnati, Ohio, making her move to Hollywood to pursue an acting career in the earliest days of film making, in 1911...
as Miss Anastasia Baker
- S.S. Simon as Joe Frenna
- Max Tyron as Uncle Rudolph Oelbermann
- Erich von Ritzau as Dr. Painless Potter
- William Mollenhauer as Palmist
- William Barlow as The Minister
- Lita Chevrier as Extra
- Edward Gaffney as Extra
- Bee Ho Gray
Bee Ho Gray was a Western performer who spent fifty years displaying his skills in Wild West Shows, vaudeville, circus, silent films and radio...
as Extra and Knife Thrower used in saloon scene
- Harold Henderson
Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. Harold Greenwood Henderson CVO , was a British Conservative politician.Born in Brentford, Henderson was the son of Alexander Henderson, 1st Baron Faringdon of Buscot Park in Berkshire , and his wife Jane Ellen...
as Extra
- Florence Gibson as Hag
- James Gibson as Deputy
- Oscar Gottell
Twins are two offspring resulting from the same pregnancy, usually born in close succession. They can be the same or different sex. Twins can either be monozygotic or dizygotic ....
as A Sieppe twin
- Otto Gottell
Twins are two offspring resulting from the same pregnancy, usually born in close succession. They can be the same or different sex. Twins can either be monozygotic or dizygotic ....
as A Sieppe twin
- Hugh J. McCauley as Photographer
- Jack McDonald
Jack McDonald was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 71 films between 1912 and 1930.He was born in San Francisco, California.-Selected filmography:* Show Boat * Don Q, Son of Zorro...
as Placer County Sheriff
- Lon Poff
Alonzo M. "Lon" Poff , was an American film actor. He appeared in 98 films between 1917 and 1951.He was born in Bedford, Indiana, and died in Los Angeles, California...
as Man from the Lottery Company
- Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born star of the silent film age, lauded for his directorial work in which he was a proto-auteur. As an actor, he is noted for his arrogant Teutonic character parts which led him to be described as "not a character actor, but what a character!"...
as Balloon vendor
- James Wang as Chinese cook
External links