Erich Von Stroheim's "Greed"

Greed's Missing Hours
My article on "Greed's" missing pieces.

Greed Reconstructed
The six hour reconstructed version.

Background
On various aspects of the story and film.

Greed Picture Book
Stills and photos from "Greed" and Von Stroheim's career.

Books & Films

Links
Silents, Von Stroheim, Pitts, Norris, San Francisco, et al.

Erich von Stroheim's

Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic motion picture "GREED"

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Von Stroheim web

Survival

Greed's missing hours could only have survived if they slipped past the studio gates and hidden for surely Louis B. Mayer would have sent out his hounds and legal beagles if he thought they had escaped.

The film wasn't found at MGM in the 1960s, when the studio started to preserve its library with an eye on television revenues, and the MGM vault fire would have killed it.

Did Greed escape Hollywood?

Did Stroheim, Farnham, Ingram or Thalberg keep some company property for themselves? Did a studio worker switch reels of film in the storage cans marked "Greed?" Did anyone offer to sell a private copy to Stroheim? Did anyone screen the full length epic for friends in the Thirties?

(What are some of the rumors?)

Captain Celluloid

In 1965 Alan Barbour starred in a four part silent serial film called Captain Celluloid vs. the Film Pirates, complete with heroes, villains and cliffhangers. It was based on a story by the late film historian William Everson.

In Captain Celluloid a complete print of Greed is found at a construction site. The print is then shipped to a museum but then taken by the evil Master Duper, who steals and copies films and who sometimes doesn't return the original. (Don't we all know people like that.)

The good Capt. Celluloid comes to the rescue, but true to formula, he is trapped in a nitrate film vault. At the cliffhanger, the Master Duper rolls a flaming reel of nitrate film into the vault.

It's sad to think that this spoof may be the closest we'll ever come to knowing the true fate of this 20th century American masterpiece, but is there a kernel of truth to the story? Did Greed perish in a fire? Is there anyone alive who remembers what happened?

Next: "Queen Kelly" and "Sunset Boulevard"  

Part 1 Entertainment is a business Part 2 "Blind Husbands" to "Merry Go Round" Part 3 Exaggerated Publicity Part 4 The Filming of Greed Part 5 Mayer, Thalberg and MGM Part 6 Changing Times and The Struggle

Part 7 Man With A Hat and Backlash Part 8 Time is Money and What's Missing? Part 9 The Missing Footage Part 10 Survival and Captain Celluloid Part 11 "Queen Kelly" and "Sunset Boulevard" Part 12 Greed's 75th Anniversary