DaN
10-15-2000, 05:00 PM
Greed (1925)
Director: Erich von Stroheim
Starring: Gibson Gowland, Jean Hersholt
Ok let me start off by saying the following. This is the greatest silent movie Ever created. (at least from the ones I have seen). I was moved by this movie in such a good way. After I was done I was sad that it had ended. I'm not kidding. This director sure knew how to get people to appreciate his movies.
PLOT:
A slow thinking man moves to the city and becomes a dentist. He meets his future wife and they fall in love. Right before the wedding she wins the lottery. And the couple is very wealthy. As time passes by, the wife makes McTeague (the man) pay for everything and hardly ever giving him anything. This causes them to become very poor. Then when he finally finds out that she is greedy and won't even touch the lottery money that they won, he leaves her. Then he finds her later and...
ACTING:
Wow. These silent actors always had a hard time. Not only did they have to make clear facial expressions, but they also had to be more of a physical actor rather than a verbal acotor. Gowland was perfect for the part of the slow, strong McTeague. One thing that I really knowticed with the acting was that they were very believable. You know when you see a movie that the acting is just so great that you will always know and distinguish the actor by the role they played in this film? Well, this is one of those rare movies.
I have always kind of frowned upon silent movies. I mean, there's no sound. Only that piano in the background. I had heard countless good things about this movie and I thought that I would give it a try. Now because of Greed, I love the silent movies! I'm not kidding, now I see everyone that I can. But none have surpassed this one. Sure they were all good and VERY VERY original but this one is just amazing. When I saw the short extras before the movie I was amazed. Stroheim was really really into this movie. Which, I think, was a big help in making this masterpiece.
Some movies move at a slow pace but manage to keep themselves up with humor or fright or suspense. This movie had plenty of suspense. You almost knew what was going to happen but then, it doesn't. Something else happens. This is a very original movie. Extremely powerful.
FACTS ABOUT THE MOVIE:
Stroheim had originally filmed every scene from the book MCTEAGUE (or however you spell that). The end results were about 9 hours of pure movie. But MGM cut the movie down to 140 minutes. But not to worry, the 140 minutes that remain are still amazing. Strohiem then said, "The man who cut my movie, had nothing on his head but a had."
To shoot the mesmerizing scenes in Death Valley, Stroheim had to cover the camera's with we towels every couple of minutes.
Everyone's heard of the Death Valley scenes and how they are unforgettable. Well, THEY ARE. The end is way way way ahead of it's time. The movie was shunned by critics as being the most vile ugly movie ever made. But that is not true. This movie is simply ahead of it's time. I am almost, Almost, certain that if this movie had been released in this generation (silent and everything) that it would be very appreciated.
One question: Why the hell did AFI leave this out of their top 100 list? That is blasphemy (I don't know what that word means /ubb/confused.gif )
[This message has been edited by DaN (edited 10-16-2000).]
[This message has been edited by DaN (edited 10-16-2000).]
Director: Erich von Stroheim
Starring: Gibson Gowland, Jean Hersholt
Ok let me start off by saying the following. This is the greatest silent movie Ever created. (at least from the ones I have seen). I was moved by this movie in such a good way. After I was done I was sad that it had ended. I'm not kidding. This director sure knew how to get people to appreciate his movies.
PLOT:
A slow thinking man moves to the city and becomes a dentist. He meets his future wife and they fall in love. Right before the wedding she wins the lottery. And the couple is very wealthy. As time passes by, the wife makes McTeague (the man) pay for everything and hardly ever giving him anything. This causes them to become very poor. Then when he finally finds out that she is greedy and won't even touch the lottery money that they won, he leaves her. Then he finds her later and...
ACTING:
Wow. These silent actors always had a hard time. Not only did they have to make clear facial expressions, but they also had to be more of a physical actor rather than a verbal acotor. Gowland was perfect for the part of the slow, strong McTeague. One thing that I really knowticed with the acting was that they were very believable. You know when you see a movie that the acting is just so great that you will always know and distinguish the actor by the role they played in this film? Well, this is one of those rare movies.
I have always kind of frowned upon silent movies. I mean, there's no sound. Only that piano in the background. I had heard countless good things about this movie and I thought that I would give it a try. Now because of Greed, I love the silent movies! I'm not kidding, now I see everyone that I can. But none have surpassed this one. Sure they were all good and VERY VERY original but this one is just amazing. When I saw the short extras before the movie I was amazed. Stroheim was really really into this movie. Which, I think, was a big help in making this masterpiece.
Some movies move at a slow pace but manage to keep themselves up with humor or fright or suspense. This movie had plenty of suspense. You almost knew what was going to happen but then, it doesn't. Something else happens. This is a very original movie. Extremely powerful.
FACTS ABOUT THE MOVIE:
Stroheim had originally filmed every scene from the book MCTEAGUE (or however you spell that). The end results were about 9 hours of pure movie. But MGM cut the movie down to 140 minutes. But not to worry, the 140 minutes that remain are still amazing. Strohiem then said, "The man who cut my movie, had nothing on his head but a had."
To shoot the mesmerizing scenes in Death Valley, Stroheim had to cover the camera's with we towels every couple of minutes.
Everyone's heard of the Death Valley scenes and how they are unforgettable. Well, THEY ARE. The end is way way way ahead of it's time. The movie was shunned by critics as being the most vile ugly movie ever made. But that is not true. This movie is simply ahead of it's time. I am almost, Almost, certain that if this movie had been released in this generation (silent and everything) that it would be very appreciated.
One question: Why the hell did AFI leave this out of their top 100 list? That is blasphemy (I don't know what that word means /ubb/confused.gif )
[This message has been edited by DaN (edited 10-16-2000).]
[This message has been edited by DaN (edited 10-16-2000).]