Event

Erich von Stroheim's GREED

Greed tells the story of a brutish but good-natured miner who finds his true calling as a dentist. After setting up shop, the beguiled McTeague falls in love with Trina, the girlfriend of his best pal, Marcus. Though mildly resentful, Marcus is forgiving when McTeague and Trina are married. However, things change when Trina wins the lottery. Previously even-tempered, Trina becomes a grasping, greedy, miserly shrew, hoarding huge sums of money while her husband must get by on his meager earnings as a dentist. Driven to distraction by his wifes avarice, McTeague turns into a violent beast, while Marcus boils with jealousy over losing the now-prosperous Trina. Doggedly faithful to the Frank Norris novel, McTeague, the original version of Greed ran over 40 reels (roughly 10 hours). Fearing that audiences would not accept such a long film, and knowing that a great deal of money had already been spent, MGM took the picture away from director Erich von Stroheim and ordered it whittled down to a mere ten reels. Yet even in its edited version, Greed is recognized today as a classic of the silent era.

USA, 1925, 89 min., b/w