Greed

Greed (1924) — watch online one of the most audacious silent films ever made, directed by Erich von Stroheim and adapted from Frank Norris's naturalist novel McTeague. Gibson Gowland, ZaSu Pitts and Jean Hersholt lead the cast through a slow, merciless portrait of avarice.

Dentist John McTeague and his wife Trina start out ordinary enough. Then a lottery win of five thousand dollars begins its quiet work. Trina grows obsessed with hoarding the money. Their friend Marcus turns into a bitter rival. What follows is not a thriller but something more unsettling — a clinical record of how greed hollows people out from the inside.

Von Stroheim shot on location in Death Valley in brutal summer heat, and his original cut ran over nine hours. MGM hacked it down to 140 minutes; the rest is lost. What survives is still one of the most uncompromising films American cinema produced in the silent era. Stream Greed (1924) on iFILM.