Erich von Stroheim

In 1924 the Austrian-born actor and director Erich von Stroheim (1885-1957) directed Greed, a film version of Frank Norris' novel McTeague. The completion of the film was to become one of the most acrimonious affairs in film history. Von Stroheim's initial version of the film was over seven hours long, although he finally delivered a four-hour version that he intended for release in two parts. However, studio executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer took control of the production and had the film edited down to a truncated two-hour version against the director's wishes. Although the cut footage was apparently destroyed, in 1999 a painstaking restoration working from still photographs and von Stroheim's original continuity screenplay was completed that went some way towards recreating the director's original vision for the film.

Getty Images

Appears in these articles

Von Stroheim, Erich; Screen Adaptations

*	Exclusively for MSN Encarta Premium Subscribers Join Now