The TCM resonstruction is probably only good for a one-time viewing &/or research purposes. At any rate I don’t want to struggle through those deadly sections of stills again; I’d rather see the truncated release version.
I saw the truncated version I guess and every scene was incredibly gripping. It really is a masterpiece. Why isn’t it on dvd? Shameful.
There’s certainly a market for it, isn’t there? I’ve been wanting to own Greed for ages. Crazy movie. I doubt the ten-hour cut would have been nearly so suspenseful, but I still wish I could see it.
—DiB
Try and score a used copy of the coffee table book THE COMPLETE GREED with beautifully presented full-page stills from, I think, every original scene. It’s a great object. Then maybe get a copy of the truncated film.
i have the TCM tape and it’s pretty good. It is frustrating having the stills in the middle of motion, but after a time I forgot they were there because i was so engrossed in the film.
Does the truncated film end with McTeage dead in Death Valley, like it’s supposed to? I’ve never seen the film (although I’ve meant to for a long time, now), but I don’t know if I’d want to see the Mayer cut if he tore apart what sounds to be an incredibly beautiful ending, though sad.
Savvy
Yes, the truncated film ends in Death Valley. Great scene—and neat historical aside: very costly to shoot. As in in terms of human life.
—PolarisDiB
Yeah, I heard that people became very sickly, due to severe dehydration, and the like. Pretty deppressing. Then, though, I guess if you’re as ambitious as Von Stroheim, you don’t give a damn about anything, except your film.
Savvy
You totally forget that it’s s movie at the end, it’s so desolate. You forget there was a crew and Von Stroheim there. It really seems like a man alone in the desert, waiitng to die. There’s also the wedding feast scene where gluttony is on display, one of the grossest eating scenes ever filmed.
The film as released with the score by Carl Davis is really the one to get. Don’t hold your breath for a DVD release.
Why not, Roscoe? What inside info do you have?
Roscoe: Which home video version has the Carl Davis score?
Polarisdib:Yes, it was a gruesome production. I’ve heard that two of the crew members died on-set in Death Valley from dehydration. Apparently, filming took longer than expected and supplies were low, so Stroheim limited the crew to 4 oz. a day of water. During McTeague’s climactic fight, Stroheim is said to have yelled, “Fight! Fight! Try to hate each other as you hate me!”
…After all of this that was put into the production, the studios have suppressed this masterpiece since they day it premiered. Greed proves more than anything that the studios themselves scoff at cinema as an art, and only see it in terms of dollar signs.
I think I’m going with the LaserDisc…
british label the masters of cinema put this out last year in a glorious 2 disc edition-
http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/largent/
I appreciate it, Adam, but that’s not Greed…it’s L’Argent.
Thanks for introducing me to Masters of Cinema, though. They have some great titles.
and yes, the masters of cinema line is the best. i cant recommend their maurice pialat titles highly enough.
Yes, but does L’ARGENT feature a lead character taking a highly sexualized bath in gold coins that in turn makes her hands rot off?
Does anyone have the LaserDisc of Greed? If not, has anyone seen it and can attest to its quality?
Justin — it is just that they’ve been very very slow in putting out silent films from the MGM library, and GREED is probably very very low on their list of priorities. I’d love to see it released, but I’m not holding my breath.
Ben — the version with Carl Davis’ score is a version released by MGM Home Video on VHS and laserdisc. It was part of a group of silents known as Thames Silents, all restored and done up gorgeously by the great Kevin Brownlow and David Gill.
I noticed that there were some Greed DVDs on eBay.
Has anyone seen any of these, and if so, how was the quality? I know that they are home-brewed, but I’ve seen a few home-brewed DVDs that came out pretty well.
Thanks Roscoe.
Ben, beware of ebay bootlegs. I bought The Immortal Story years ago, excited to find it. It played once and after that it began to skip and shut down. Plus, the transfer was extraordinarily grainy.
I’m still waiting for “Greed” to be released on DVD…
Greed is on iTunes for 10 bucks. It’s the four hour TCM cut.
Thanks Kian, you’ve made my day!
Someone Tivo’d that TCM version and burned it to two discs for me years ago. I am sorry to say that it has just sat here and I’ve still never seen it. I went through a phase where all I watched was silent film, Murnau was my absolute favorite, but I am proven a real loser for having had these discs a few years and never seen them.
Perhaps I’ll pop in the discs sometime this summer or fall. It is a good idea, anyway…
I still have that TCM version (and Immortal Story, for that matter) taped on VHS, never burned them to DVD. I ought to do that. I got into Greed enough that the stills didn’t really bother me.
If anybody wants to get ahold of either one, pm me.
Damn it, isn’t there some petition that can be commenced for getting this thing out?
Who wants to see a copy of either the 2 hour or the 4 hour version? Very good picture quality. I think the Carl Davis score (for the 2 hour) but can’t be fully certain as there are no credits for the restoration or score.
Feel free to get in touch.
Ben Pettaway
Does anyone have any information and/or rumors of when or if Stroheim’s Greed will finally make it to DVD or Blu-Ray. It’s a damned shame that one of the greatest films of all time is almost unattainable.
Also, of the existing home video versions, which is the one to buy? The regular issue VHS, the Turner Classic Movies Reconstruction VHS, or the Silent Film Classics LaserDisc?
Thanks.