Greed

Synopsis

A dentist of modest background marries a woman whose sudden lottery fortune awakens suspicion, possessiveness, and resentment. As economic desire corrodes personal bonds, friendship deteriorates into rivalry and violence. Urban hardship and emotional obsession gradually reduce the characters to isolation within a world governed by material fixation.

Critique

Erich von Stroheim pursued an uncompromising realism that gave the film an unusual psychological and social density for its period. Although heavily shortened after production, the surviving version retains a devastating vision of moral decay shaped through meticulous detail and harsh environmental imagery. Its portrayal of money as a destructive force transforms melodrama into a bleak examination of modern ambition and human degradation.

Technical sheet

Director

Erich von Stroheim

Year

1924

Country

United States

Running time

140 min

Genre

Drama, Crime

Written by

Erich von Stroheim, June Mathis, Frank Norris

Cinematography

William H. Daniels, Ben F. Reynolds

Cast

Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller, Tempe Pigott, Sylvia Ashton

Production

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Music

Newly composed original score

Licensing