Greed (1924)
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Duration: 140 minuten (bioscoopversie) / 239 minuten (gerestaureerde versie)
Country:
United States
Directed by: Erich von Stroheim
Stars: Zasu Pitts, Gibson Gowland and Jean Hersholt
IMDb score:
8,0 (11.745)
Releasedate: 4 December 1924
Greed plot
"The Film of Films"
Dentist McTeague marries his friend Marcus's fiancée. Marcus doesn't care about losing his wife-to-be until she wins the top prize in a lottery.
Actors and actresses
Trina
John McTeague
Marcus
Maria
Mother McTeague
Mommer Sieppe
Popper Sieppe
Selina
McTeague Sr. (uncredited)
Cribbens a Prospector (uncredited)
Reviews & comments
Vinokourov
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- 3143 messages
- 2909 votes
Erich von Stroheim was a rather ambitious filmmaker. He originally made a film of no less than 9.5 hours on the theme of wealth and the strange antics people pull in the pursuit of it. The film studio found it far too long, and drastic cuts had to be made. And so it happened, as evidenced by a theatrical version of nearly 2.5 hours and a restored version of nearly 4 hours, in which missing footage is filled in with various beautiful stills over which the camera sweeps. I got my hands on the latter version (apparently), but I wasn't bored much.
Greed is a rather captivating film. The theme of greed is explored extensively, and partly due to occasional overacting, things get intense. The story is quite good, though it falls into repetition a bit too often in the middle. Fortunately, the film concludes with a few beautiful and poignant scenes in Death Valley, making my final verdict a solid pass.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Spetie
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- 38871 messages
- 8615 votes
Erich von Stroheim was an ambitious filmmaker; that much is clear to me after seeing this film. His massive production was eventually reduced to 140 minutes. The restoration ultimately resulted in a four-hour version, which I was able to watch in two parts.
What struck me immediately is that the film doesn't consist constantly of moving images, but also of stills, especially in the beginning. Despite the interesting story, I had quite a bit of trouble getting into the film because of this. Ample time is taken to tell the story, and although I didn't find this part all that great yet, it clarifies a lot.
When the whole money thing really starts at some point, the film gets better and better and is truly very strong at times. The "money doesn't buy happiness" story is portrayed in a sometimes magnificent way, and it remains captivating to watch until the end.
The ending, filmed in Death Valley, is incredibly powerful. The heat almost literally sails into the living room there. Greed is a very strong film from the silent era. The fact that there is no dialogue isn't a problem. The message the film conveys comes across perfectly nonetheless.
4.0*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Onderhond
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- 87733 messages
- 13162 votes
Barely sitable.
Choosing the long version was clearly a mistake. Not that it would have influenced the final verdict much, but it does mean 100 extra minutes without any added value. I found the "filler" with the stills a poor solution, although that might be different for fans of the film.
Greed is one of those films that wants to tell a story on the one hand, and get its message across on the other. Von Stroheim is about as subtle as Noé; anyone reading the title basically already knows what it is about. The only thing the film does is pile up a heap of drama to underscore the title. There is not much nuance to be found.
Not much atmosphere either. It has turned out to be mostly a list of events. Only at the end does it become somewhat more cinematic, but by then it was too late. Mediocre acting and a terrible soundtrack only make the film harder to sit through. These kinds of chronicles do very little for me, not even in contemporary cinema, for that matter.
0.5*
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