{"id":28569,"date":"2025-05-23T12:44:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T09:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?post_type=movies&p=28569"},"modified":"2025-05-23T12:44:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T09:44:26","slug":"greed","status":"publish","type":"movies","link":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/","title":{"rendered":"Greed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erich von Stroheim’s <\/span>Greed<\/span><\/i> is probably, along with Orson Welles’ <\/span>The Magnificent Ambersons<\/span><\/i> (1942), the most famous mutilated masterpiece in the history of cinema, an epic exploration of human nature that has been slashed from its original length of over nine hours to its current running time. What remains is the main plot line, in which San Franciscan dentist McTeague (Gibson Gowland) marries Trina (ZaSu Pitts), an initially shy woman who, after winning the lottery, reveals herself to be a sickly miser. The setup also leaves the third wheel Marcus (Jean Hersholt) feeling bitter, having relinquished his beloved to his friend before her wealth became known, and the final showdown takes place in the deadly heat of Death Valley.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stroheim’s more characteristic courtly glitz and glamour are replaced by the chaos of a poorhouse and the dust of the desert, but the theme of decay remains constant. Hoarding and checking\u00a0 on her banknote stashes, McTeague’s neurotically self-destructive wife gradually descends into drunken brutality, proving herself every bit as predatory as her husband. A more pessimistic view of the destructive power of money would not be seen until Robert Bresson’s L’Argent (1983). We shall enjoy this great silent film classic in the North to the power of Anssi Tikanm\u00e4ki’s (1955\u20132024) music. The Film Orchestra, which has provided countless experiences for the Testival, is led by his sons Eljas and Eemil Tikanm\u00e4ki, fulfilling their father’s wish.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lauri Timonen<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Erich von Stroheim’s Greed is probably, along with Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), the most famous mutilated masterpiece in the history of cinema, an epic exploration of human nature that has been slashed from its original length of over nine hours to its current running time.","protected":false},"featured_media":28567,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-28569","movies","type-movies","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","filters-35-mm-en","filters-puhuttu-tai-tekstitetty-suomeksi-en","filters-silent-films","filters-special-screenings","filters-subtitles-in-english-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGreed — Midnight Sun Film Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Erich von Stroheim's Greed is probably, along with Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), the most famous mutilated masterpiece in the history of cinema, an epic exploration of human nature that has been slashed from its original length of over nine hours to its current running time. What remains is the main plot line, in which San Franciscan dentist McTeague (Gibson Gowland) marries Trina (ZaSu Pitts), an initially shy woman who, after winning the lottery, reveals herself to be a sickly miser. The setup also leaves the third wheel Marcus (Jean Hersholt) feeling bitter, having relinquished his beloved to his friend before her wealth became known, and the final showdown takes place in the deadly heat of Death Valley.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Greed — Midnight Sun Film Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Erich von Stroheim's Greed is probably, along with Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), the most famous mutilated masterpiece in the history of cinema, an epic exploration of human nature that has been slashed from its original length of over nine hours to its current running time. What remains is the main plot line, in which San Franciscan dentist McTeague (Gibson Gowland) marries Trina (ZaSu Pitts), an initially shy woman who, after winning the lottery, reveals herself to be a sickly miser. The setup also leaves the third wheel Marcus (Jean Hersholt) feeling bitter, having relinquished his beloved to his friend before her wealth became known, and the final showdown takes place in the deadly heat of Death Valley.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Midnight Sun Film Festival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/b1a5de_3ca968a47cd446f19e0e6ecfe4840c5bmv2.jpg.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"890\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"594\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@msfilmfest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/\",\"name\":\"Greed — Midnight Sun Film Festival\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/b1a5de_3ca968a47cd446f19e0e6ecfe4840c5bmv2.jpg.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-23T09:44:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Erich von Stroheim's Greed is probably, along with Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), the most famous mutilated masterpiece in the history of cinema, an epic exploration of human nature that has been slashed from its original length of over nine hours to its current running time. What remains is the main plot line, in which San Franciscan dentist McTeague (Gibson Gowland) marries Trina (ZaSu Pitts), an initially shy woman who, after winning the lottery, reveals herself to be a sickly miser. The setup also leaves the third wheel Marcus (Jean Hersholt) feeling bitter, having relinquished his beloved to his friend before her wealth became known, and the final showdown takes place in the deadly heat of Death Valley.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/b1a5de_3ca968a47cd446f19e0e6ecfe4840c5bmv2.jpg.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/b1a5de_3ca968a47cd446f19e0e6ecfe4840c5bmv2.jpg.webp\",\"width\":890,\"height\":594},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Etusivu\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Movies\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/elokuvat\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Movie Categories\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/movie-categories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Special Screenings\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/special-screenings\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Greed\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/\",\"name\":\"Midnight Sun Film Festival\",\"description\":\"Midnight Sun Film Festival - Sodankyl\u00e4n Elokuvajuhlat\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png\",\"width\":957,\"height\":77,\"caption\":\"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/msfilmfest\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/midnightsunfilmfestival\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Greed — Midnight Sun Film Festival","description":"Erich von Stroheim's Greed is probably, along with Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), the most famous mutilated masterpiece in the history of cinema, an epic exploration of human nature that has been slashed from its original length of over nine hours to its current running time. What remains is the main plot line, in which San Franciscan dentist McTeague (Gibson Gowland) marries Trina (ZaSu Pitts), an initially shy woman who, after winning the lottery, reveals herself to be a sickly miser. The setup also leaves the third wheel Marcus (Jean Hersholt) feeling bitter, having relinquished his beloved to his friend before her wealth became known, and the final showdown takes place in the deadly heat of Death Valley.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Greed — Midnight Sun Film Festival","og_description":"Erich von Stroheim's Greed is probably, along with Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), the most famous mutilated masterpiece in the history of cinema, an epic exploration of human nature that has been slashed from its original length of over nine hours to its current running time. What remains is the main plot line, in which San Franciscan dentist McTeague (Gibson Gowland) marries Trina (ZaSu Pitts), an initially shy woman who, after winning the lottery, reveals herself to be a sickly miser. The setup also leaves the third wheel Marcus (Jean Hersholt) feeling bitter, having relinquished his beloved to his friend before her wealth became known, and the final showdown takes place in the deadly heat of Death Valley.","og_url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/","og_site_name":"Midnight Sun Film Festival","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/","og_image":[{"width":890,"height":594,"url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/b1a5de_3ca968a47cd446f19e0e6ecfe4840c5bmv2.jpg.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@msfilmfest","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/","name":"Greed — Midnight Sun Film Festival","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/b1a5de_3ca968a47cd446f19e0e6ecfe4840c5bmv2.jpg.webp","datePublished":"2025-05-23T09:44:26+00:00","description":"Erich von Stroheim's Greed is probably, along with Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), the most famous mutilated masterpiece in the history of cinema, an epic exploration of human nature that has been slashed from its original length of over nine hours to its current running time. What remains is the main plot line, in which San Franciscan dentist McTeague (Gibson Gowland) marries Trina (ZaSu Pitts), an initially shy woman who, after winning the lottery, reveals herself to be a sickly miser. The setup also leaves the third wheel Marcus (Jean Hersholt) feeling bitter, having relinquished his beloved to his friend before her wealth became known, and the final showdown takes place in the deadly heat of Death Valley.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/b1a5de_3ca968a47cd446f19e0e6ecfe4840c5bmv2.jpg.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/b1a5de_3ca968a47cd446f19e0e6ecfe4840c5bmv2.jpg.webp","width":890,"height":594},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/greed\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Etusivu","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Movies","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/elokuvat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Movie Categories","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/movie-categories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Special Screenings","item":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/filters\/special-screenings\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Greed"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#website","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/","name":"Midnight Sun Film Festival","description":"Midnight Sun Film Festival - Sodankyl\u00e4n Elokuvajuhlat","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#organization","name":"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MSFF-LOGOx2-v2-e1496143012921.png","width":957,"height":77,"caption":"Sodankyl\u00e4n elokuvajuhlat"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MidnightSunFilmFestival\/","https:\/\/x.com\/msfilmfest","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/midnightsunfilmfestival\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies\/28569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/movies"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies\/28569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28570,"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/movies\/28569\/revisions\/28570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}