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Greed
1924 140 min United States of America 12+
★8.0
Drama, Crime
Director: Erich von Stroheim
🎭 Based on
«McTeague»
byFrank Norris
Trailers
Description
When housewife Trina wins the lottery, her comfortable life with her dentist husband John slowly deteriorates, in part by her own increasing paranoia and partly by the machinations of villainous acquaintance Marcus.
Budget:
$665,603
Worldwide:
$274,827
Starring
Gibson Gowland
Actor
Zasu Pitts
Actor
Jean Hersholt
Actor
Awards
3 wins
Key opinion
Greed is widely considered a monumental masterpiece of world cinema that pioneered naturalistic acting and visual symbolism. While its historical significance and directorial ambition are undisputed, modern audiences are divided over whether the film's extreme length and fragmented narrative structure remain engaging or feel excessively indulgent.
| Direction | Erich von Stroheim's direction is defined by a meticulous, groundbreaking approach that employs potent visual symbolism, such as bird cages and gold imagery, to explore moral decay. | |
| Acting | The performances are lauded for their naturalistic and intense quality, with actors undergoing convincing, minute-by-minute transformations that anchor the film's emotional arc. | |
| Production | The film's reliance on location shooting and the absence of traditional studio artifice imbue the story with a gritty, uncompromising realism that continues to resonate. | |
| Runtime | The four-hour runtime is a point of sharp contention; proponents argue it is essential for the film's immersive impact, while others find the pacing exhausting and self-indulgent. | |
| Editing | The narrative experience varies significantly depending on the version watched, as reconstruction efforts using still photographs create an unavoidable disconnect in visual continuity. |