--- title: "Greed" year: 1924 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/greed" fi1m_id: "greed" imdb_id: "tt0015881" tmdb_id: 1405 wikidata_id: "Q690583" fi1m_score: 86 critics_score: 90 critics_reviews: 6 published: "2026-09-25T06:10:15.872083+00:00" updated: "2026-09-25T06:10:16.175180+00:00" region: "CZ" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Greed (1924) Directed by Erich von Stroheim · 2h 20m · Drama, Crime ## Identity Greed - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/greed - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** greed - **IMDb ID:** tt0015881 - **TMDB ID:** 1405 - **Wikidata ID:** Q690583 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015881/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1405, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q690583 **Fi1m score: 86** · Critics 90 from 6 reviews *In a sentence:* We came away feeling rather better about our bank balance > Erich von Stroheim’s drama makes money and jealousy painfully absorbing. The surviving film has awkward joins and presses its point too hard, but Gibson Gowland and Zasu Pitts keep its cruelty disturbingly human. ## Synopsis Money and jealousy draw John McTeague (Gibson Gowland), Trina (Zasu Pitts) and Marcus (Jean Hersholt) into conflict. Their lives become bound up with questions of possession: what belongs to whom, what someone else has, and what each person feels entitled to keep. Maria (Dale Fuller) and Mother McTeague (Tempe Pigott) are among the people surrounding them. Adapted from a novel by Frank Norris, the drama follows the pressure that wanting and keeping money places on relationships, with resentment growing between people whose lives are already entangled. ## Review *Greed* is a harsh, engrossing drama, worth the discomfort even in its uneven surviving form. Erich von Stroheim’s adaptation of a novel by Frank Norris takes money and jealousy seriously enough to make both unpleasant to watch. He gives wanting, resenting and keeping things the attention that a crime film might reserve for the crime itself. At 140 minutes, it demands patience with people whose company becomes increasingly difficult, and sometimes asks for more patience than it has earned. Gibson Gowland gives John McTeague enough human weight that we do not simply sit there waiting for him to behave badly. Zasu Pitts’s Trina and Jean Hersholt’s Marcus are equally important: their resentment feels personal, however firmly the film invites us to condemn it. The performances make these people worth watching after they have become difficult to like. There is a risk of reducing them to examples of bad behaviour, and the actors resist it. Cinematographers Ben F. Reynolds and William H. Daniels give the compositions a deliberateness that rewards sustained attention. The location shooting helps keep the characters’ ugliness from making the whole film feel artificially arranged to prove a point. These people seem to belong to somewhere that would exist without their quarrels. Stroheim’s production design contributes to that impression, giving material surroundings enough importance that the actors cannot simply overwhelm them. We found the jealousy oppressive, and more recognisable than we wanted to admit. Gowland, Pitts and Hersholt make resentment seem close enough to ordinary dissatisfaction that we cannot comfortably dismiss their characters as monsters. Their performances account for much of the discomfort: we understand the feelings even when we recoil from the people having them. Stroheim’s vicious irony can become overbearing, particularly when we have already understood what is making someone behave so badly. The surviving film was drastically shortened, and its storytelling does not always recover from that treatment. Frank E. Hull and Joseph Farnham are credited as editors, though an editing credit is no reason to assign them every fault in a film subjected to such extensive cuts. Some stretches feel hurried beside the detailed attention given elsewhere. The interruptions to the rhythm matter, and knowing about the missing material cannot supply the experience of watching it. The screenplay credits belong to Stroheim and June Mathis, and the insistence on money’s destructive effects occasionally leaves too little for us to discover. We have understood the danger before the film has finished pressing it. The music credited to William Axt and Leo Kempinski supports the severity without making the experience much gentler. A little relief would have helped, especially when the patient attention to character gives way to another forceful reminder of the damage that acquisitiveness can do. As a crime drama, this offers little of the comfortable pleasure of waiting for bad behaviour to be punished. Its interest in resentment makes the watching more awkward than that, and its age offers no reassuring distance from the behaviour on screen. We would make time for it despite the awkward joins, though anyone looking for a brisk plot should choose something else. Keep it for an evening when you can bear to have your own small grudges examined. *Fi1m score 86, published 25 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are strongly positive, with praise clustering around von Stroheim’s detailed portrayal of jealousy, money and destructive behaviour. Critics single out the story’s vicious irony, its location shooting and its carefully composed images. Across accounts of both the shortened film and the reconstruction, the consensus is that the surviving material retains considerable force despite the drastic cuts. The restoration also draws praise for making the story’s scale and detail clearer. There is no outright dissent among these six reviews; the reservations concern how much of the original remains lost. The Los Angeles Times praises the reconstruction’s expanded context and the integration of still-image montages with surviving footage. Variety likewise welcomes the added scenes and stills, but stresses that they cannot fully recover the original. The distinction is chiefly between enthusiasm for what survives and caution about what reconstruction can achieve. ## Straight answers **Is Greed worth watching?** *Greed* is worth watching for its painfully human study of money and jealousy; we score it 86. Gowland and Pitts make its cruelty absorbing, but the surviving film has awkward joins and presses its point too hard. We recommend it to anyone willing to give a harsh, deliberately paced crime drama 140 minutes. **How long is Greed, and what is it rated?** *Greed* runs 2h 20m. It is a drama and crime film. **Where can I watch Greed in Czechia?** *Greed* is not on any streaming or rental service in Czechia at the moment. It is available in 8 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Greed, and is it suitable for children?** *Greed* has a UK PG certificate, but its oppressive jealousy and human cruelty make it an uncomfortable choice for a family evening. The certificate advises parental guidance; our strongest reservation for children is the harsh emotional atmosphere and demanding pace. We find it disturbing because the resentment feels recognisable, rather than safely remote. **How does Greed compare to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre?** *Greed* offers a harsher, less relieved study of money and suspicion than [*The Treasure of the Sierra Madre*](https://film.one/film/the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre), which combines its corrosive view of greed with adventure and humour. We favour the latter for an evening that allows some laughter alongside the tension. *Greed* suits a more patient mood, though its damaged storytelling remains a drawback. **Is Greed based on a true story or a book?** *Greed* is adapted from a novel by Frank Norris, rather than presented as a true story. We recommend approaching it without homework: its concern with money, possession and resentment is clear enough on screen. The surviving film’s awkward joins can make the storytelling uneven, but understanding the characters does not depend on knowing the book. **What should I watch after Greed?** After *Greed*, try [*The Treasure of the Sierra Madre*](https://film.one/film/the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre) (1948, Fi1m 88): Another corrosive study of money, with suspicion doing most of the damage. Then [*Pather Panchali*](https://film.one/film/pather-panchali) (1955, Fi1m 93): For equally patient attention to material hardship, with considerably more tenderness; and [*A Simple Plan*](https://film.one/film/a-simple-plan) (1998, Fi1m 86): Found money gives ordinary people persuasive reasons to become worse than expected. ### Reviews we read (6) - **Radio Times**, Tom Hutchinson (5/5): The review presents the film as an epic that established von Stroheim’s reputation as a genius who could not be trusted. It singles out the story’s vicious irony and the studio’s drastic cuts to his original vision. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-ql6wdh/greed/) - **Los Angeles Times**, KEVIN THOMAS (90/100, inferred): Thomas finds the reconstructed Greed greater than ever and praises its expanded context. He singles out the still-image montages and transitions for integrating the recovered material smoothly with Stroheim’s footage. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-dec-03-ca-39909-story.html) - **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (90/100, inferred): Brody presents the film as a masterwork and a portrait of American madness. He singles out its climactic struggle over gold in Death Valley as one of cinema’s greatest set pieces. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/05/28/gold-rush-2) - **Time Out**, GA (90/100, inferred): The review calls von Stroheim’s film a true masterpiece despite its drastic shortening. It singles out the surviving work’s greatness, while noting that MGM cut it from a planned ten hours to just over two. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/greed) - **Variety**, Todd McCarthy (90/100, inferred): McCarthy praises the restoration as a triumph that vividly reveals the film’s scale and detail, while noting it cannot fully restore the lost original. He singles out the added scenes and stills, especially their more illuminating portrayal of the film’s second half. [Read](https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/greed-2-1117752082/) - **Empire**, Ian Nathan (80/100, inferred): Nathan regards the surviving film as a masterpiece despite its mutilated form. He praises Stroheim’s intricate portrayal of jealousy and money, reinforced by location shooting and striking compositions. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/greed-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Erich von Stroheim - **Director:** Erich von Stroheim - **Screenplay:** Erich von Stroheim, June Mathis - **Novel:** Frank Norris - **Cinematography:** William H. Daniels, Ben F. Reynolds - **Editor:** Joseph Farnham, Frank E. Hull - **Music:** William Axt, Leo Kempinski - **Production design:** Erich von Stroheim - **Producer:** Irving Thalberg - **Cast:** Gibson Gowland as John McTeague; Zasu Pitts as Trina; Jean Hersholt as Marcus; Dale Fuller as Maria; Tempe Pigott as Mother McTeague; Sylvia Ashton as Mommer Sieppe; Chester Conklin as Popper Sieppe; Joan Standing as Selina - **Runtime:** 2h 20m - **First release (Canada):** 4 December 1924 - **Genres:** Drama, Crime - **Budget:** $665,603 - **Box office:** $274,827 ## Where to watch in Czechia Not streaming, renting or buying in Czechia at the last check. Also available in: AU, CA, EC, GB, MX, NZ, PA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Treasure of the Sierra Madre* (1948), Fi1m 88: Another corrosive study of money, with suspicion doing most of the damage. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-treasure-of-the-sierra-madre.md) - *L'Argent* (1983): Money passes between strangers, and the damage travels well beyond its owners. - *The Servant* (1963): Class resentment makes a household increasingly uncomfortable, with precise performances throughout. - *Pather Panchali* (1955), Fi1m 93: For equally patient attention to material hardship, with considerably more tenderness. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/pather-panchali.md) - *A Simple Plan* (1998), Fi1m 86: Found money gives ordinary people persuasive reasons to become worse than expected. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-simple-plan.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/greed