22. GREED (1924)

Running Time: 239 minutes

Directed By: Erich von Stroheim

Written By: Erich von Stroheim, June Mathis, from the novel McTeague by Frank Norris

Main Cast: Gibson Gowland, ZaSu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller

"MONEY, GET BACK...I'M ALL RIGHT JACK KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY STACK"

I started watching this film at around 11pm last night and after several bathroom and smoke breaks it's 5am and I'm finished. The version that I watched was the 1999 restoration, using still photographs and von Stroheim's shooting script, restored by Rick Schmidlin. All I have to say after seeing Greed is that it was absolutely phenomenal.

Greed tells the story of McTeague or Mac (played marvelously by Gowland) a common man living in a small mining town and working for the Big Dipper Mines. One day a fly by night dentist comes to town and Mac's mother instantly sees illusions of fame for Mac, so she packs him up and sends him off with the dentist to be his apprentice.

Flash forward a few years and Mac is living in San Francisco with his very own dental parlor and living a pretty good life, although an anti-social one, as well. Mac's best friend is Marcus and one day when Marcus' girlfriend/cousin, Trina, breaks a tooth, Marcus takes her to see McTeague. Mac does the needed work on her and in the midst of it all falls in love with her. Mac, knowing that Trina and Marcus are to be engaged, goes to talk with his friend and is given Marcus' blessing, saying that he'll step away so that Mac may be happy with Trina.

So McTeague and Trina get engaged and prior to the wedding, Trina wins the lottery, a heart sum of $5,000, hearty for that time anyway. Marcus is immediately stricken with jealousy, as now, he not only has lost his girl, but has also lost the loot that came with her. Mac and Trina eventually get married and Marcus and Mac quarrel and lose touch with each other.

Flash forward again and Mac is still a practicing dentist and Trina is hoarding her lottery winnings, leaving them untouched, and also stockpiling away another little nest egg, that she pretends to Mac doesn't even exist. Mac can't so much as squeeze a dime out of Trina for a bottle of beer, as she seems to become obsessed with money and unable to part with it.

One day a letter arrives from the Dental Association informing Mac that, due to the fact that he never went to dental school and never received a license to practice dentistry, he must immediately close his practice and stop accepting patients, or he could face jail time. This is the beginning of the end for the McTeague's, as they're forced to sell their parlor, and move into a considerably lower quality living space.

What follows from here on out is the absolute and total downfall of two human beings, in Trina and McTeague. McTeague continues to battle with his wife for money, eventually turning to drinking to drown his sorrows. After the drinking comes the wife beating as Mac seemingly totally loses grips with reality and its almost as if he goes a bit mad. Trina, still obsessed with money continues to save and hoard it, until the day Mac steals her nest egg, forcing her to withdrawal and live off of her $5,000. An eerie seen, sees Trina crawling into bed with her money and sleeping with it next to her body. Mac eventually goes down to Death Valley to do a little more mining, before the absolute and brilliant climax of this movie takes place.

When people think of defining silent cinema, I believe their minds immediately think back to Griffith's "The Birth of A Nation", when in fact Greed should be the film that comes to mind when contemplating the achievements of the silent era. This movie is one of the true definitions of the title of the book, "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die". This film is absolutely captivating, drawing you into the world of greed, corruption and murder. The visuals are stunning, with splashes of gold strewn throughout the picture, and the final ten minutes in the middle of Death Valley with the golden sunlight gazing down on the actors is breathtaking. This film shows the true negative effects that money can have on some people and the lengths they'll go to, to keep their fortunes intact and comes with my absolute highest recommendation.

RATING: 10/10 Anything less would be unjust. Erich von Stroheim truly created a masterpiece in Greed. And if you ever want to read the story of Greed, and how it got cut from nearly nine hours down to four, swing over to Wikipedia and look it up, as it's quite fascinating.

NEXT UP: Sherlock Jr. ...And now for something completely different...a little bit 'o Buster.

October 5, 2009 5:39am

17. Foolish Wives (1923)

Running Time: 143 minutes

Directed By: Erich von Stroheim

Written By: Marian Ainslee, Walter Anthony, Erich von Stroheim

Main Cast: Erich von Stroheim, Rudolph Christians, Miss Dupont, Maude George, Mae Busch

Sidenote: Again we run into a length issue with this film, but instead of myself coming up on the short end of the spectrum, I actually got a hold of a longer cut of the film. The version that I got from Netflix, from Kino DVD, had a running time of 143 minutes, after a restoration of the film, while IMDB lists the running time at only 117 minutes.

ERICH VON STROHEIM: THE MAN YOU LOVED TO HATE

The first of two Erich von Stroheim films on my great quest, Foolish Wives, was not one that didn't do a whole lot for me. While there were chunks of the film that kept me engaged, on a whole I found myself bored and unenthused.

Count Wladislaw Sergius Karamzin and his female cousins (or at least he calls them cousins, it's never actually made crystal clear, whether or not they are or not), who are basically con-artists and criminals, find themselves in Monte Carlo and ready to do anything to make a franc.

Upon hearing the news that Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Hughes, an American diplomat and his wife, are arriving in Monte Carlo, Karamzin sees an opportunity to get close to the wife and con her out of some fast cash. While her husband is away on business, Karamzin finds himself at the hotel where the Hughes' are staying and begins to lay on the gentlemanly charm thick. This flatters the lady, who isn't used to this type of treatment and attention.

Meanwhile, while Karamzin is seducing the wife, the cousins and him are receiving counterfeit francs from master counterfeiter Ventucci, that they can pass around the casino's of Monte Carlo and make even more money. Also, in the meantime, we hear of a plan that Karamzin had made with his maid to marry her, but seemingly he's just playing games with her and has no intention of doing anything of the sort.

In the end, when Karamzin finally gains the full trust of the "foolish wife" he begs her for money, claiming that his reputation and life are at rish unless he comes into a large sum of money, which the wife willingly hands over to the Count.

The movie, for me, didn't really seem to go anywhere, as we're left setting up this master seduction the whole time, with Karamzin trying to gain the wife's trust and having to sludge through long, boring scenes, like Karamzin and the wife stranded in a cabin in the middle of the woods, while caught in a rainstorm. While some scenes did engage me (the scenes at the roulette tables, and the scene of Karamzin "crying" in order to gain the maid's sympathy) for the most part this movie left me bored and asking "Why is this included in this book?" Basically this film is way too drawn out to finally get to that inevitable climax, and the payoff just isn't worth it.

As another plus for this movie, I have to say I absolutely loved the scene where Mrs. Hughes, throughout the film, keeps dropping things and a her always nearby United States officer, who is apparently assigned to be by her side at all times, seemingly refuses to pick them up for her. At the end, we learn that the reason he was so hesitant to help her, was because he didn't have any hands, as he apparently lost them in the war. A very touching moment in the film, and by far the best scene.

RATING: 3/10 That's as high as I can go, for the few scenes that I mentioned. I'm still looking

forward to the other Stroheim film though, Greed, as it looks like a fantastic film.

NEXT UP: Our Hospitality...My introduction to Buster Keaton.

September 27, 2009 1:57pm