Greed (Les rapaces)
Thus, McTeague must die in the middle of the desert, cuffed to the dead Marcus with the gold by his side. As Norris's novel was a protest against the elaborate fluff that was popular reading during the end of the 19th century, Greed was a protest against the pretentiousness and glamour that was part and parcel of Hollywood in the '20s. Nevertheless, it is a stunning visual work, and the overall sordidness of the film has a dreamy, rather nightmarish aura.
July 6, 1877 in Copenhagen, Denmark
22 September 1885, Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]
17 June 1885, Santa Ana, California, USA
11 January 1886, Oskaloosa, Iowa, USA
4 January 1877, Spennymoor, Durham, England, UK
23 January 1858, Naples, Italy
12 July 1886, Copenhagen, Denmark
3 January 1894, Parsons, Kansas, USA
September 03, 2004
Von Stroheim's butchered masterpiece
June 09, 2004
Von Stroheim's groundbreaking film is still intriguing.
May 28, 2003
[Stroheim's] obsession with realistic detail reached its zenith during the final sequences in Death Valley, where the actors suffered hugely for the director's art.
September 03, 2015
A fascinating, exhilarating, immensely satisfying experience.
February 09, 2006
Even now its relentlessly cynical portrait of physical and moral squalor retains the ability to shock, while the Von's obsessive attention to realist detail is never prosaic.
May 08, 2018
On behalf of the minority of film-goers who will, however even they may be shocked by [Erich von Stroheim's] fierce realism, perceive that he has made here a masterpiece in quite a new manner, one feels inclined to thank him.
January 06, 2002
Erich von Stroheim's Greed (1925), like the Venus de Milo, is acclaimed as a classic despite missing several parts deemed essential by its creator.
June 17, 2008
Von Stroheim's rep, after a long dormancy, has been on the rise, and this is the best evidence of his work you'll get until someone finds those lost five hours in some Ukrainian subcellar.
December 12, 2006
Even in its severely edited form Von Stroheim's masterpiece is just that; a masterpiece.
March 25, 2006
Mr. von Stroheim has not missed a vulgar point, but on the other hand his direction of the effort is cunningly dramatic.
January 01, 2000
Von Stroheim's rep, after a long dormancy, has been on the rise, and this is the best evidence of his work you'll get until someone finds those lost five hours in some Ukrainian subcellar.
February 23, 2012
The picture brings to light three great character performances by Gibson Gowland as McTeague, Jean Hersholt as the chum, and ZaSu Pitts as the wife.
