Editing Greed (1924 film) (section)

==Plot==
{{quote box|bgcolor=#CCDDFF|align=left|width=30%|quote=I never truckled, I never took off the hat to fashion and held it out for pennies. By God, I told them the truth. They liked it or they didn't like it. What had that to do with me? I told them the truth; I knew it for the truth then and I know it for the truth now.|source=—Frank Norris, quoted from his essay "The True Reward of the Novelist", in a title card at the beginning of ''Greed''.{{sfn|Lennig|2000|pp=187–188}} }}

In 1908, John McTeague works in a gold mine in [[Placer County, California]]. A traveling dentist calling himself Dr. "Painless" Potter visits the town, and McTeague's mother begs Potter to take her son on as an apprentice. Potter agrees and McTeague eventually becomes a dentist, practicing on [[Polk Street]] in [[San Francisco]].

Marcus Schouler brings Trina Sieppe, his cousin and intended fiancée, into McTeague's office for dental work. Schouler and McTeague are friends and McTeague gladly agrees to examine Trina. As they wait for an opening, she buys a [[lottery]] ticket. McTeague becomes enamored with Trina and begs Schouler for permission to court her. After seeing McTeague's conviction, Schouler agrees. Trina eventually agrees to marry McTeague and shortly afterwards her lottery ticket wins her $5,000.{{efn|Approximately ${{Inflation|US|5000|1908|fmt=c|r=-3}} in {{inflation-year|US}} dollars}} Schouler bitterly claims that the money should have been his, causing a rift between him and McTeague. After McTeague and Trina wed, they continue to live in their small apartment with Trina refusing to spend her $5,000.

{{multiple image|align = right|direction = vertical|total_width=250px|image1 =Greed, 1924, 03 mac e trina al primo appuntamento.jpg |image2 = Greed, 1924, 12 scale.jpg |footer=Trina and McTeague have a relationship that moves from romance to tragedy.}}

Schouler leaves San Francisco to become a cattle rancher. Before he goes, he secretly reports McTeague for practicing dentistry without a license to ruin him. McTeague is ordered to shut down his practice or face jail. Even though she has saved over $200 in addition to the original $5,000 from the lottery ticket, Trina is still unwilling to spend her money. Money becomes increasingly scarce, with the couple forced to sell their possessions. McTeague finally snaps and bites Trina's fingers in a fit of rage. Later, he goes fishing to earn money, taking Trina's savings (now totaling $450).

Trina's bitten fingers become infected and have to be [[amputation|amputated]]. To earn money she becomes a janitor at a children's school. She withdraws the $5,000 from the bank to keep it close to her, eventually spreading it on her bed so she can sleep on it. McTeague then returns, having spent the money he took, and asks Trina for more. The following day McTeague confronts Trina at the school. After a heated argument McTeague beats Trina to death and steals her $5,000.

McTeague returns to Placer County and teams up with a prospector named Cribbens. Headed towards [[Death Valley]], they find a large quantity of [[quartz]] and plan to become millionaires. Before they can begin mining, McTeague senses danger and flees into Death Valley with a single horse, the remaining money and one water jug. Several marshals pursue him, joined by Schouler. Schouler wants to catch McTeague personally and rides into Death Valley alone.

The oppressive heat slows McTeague's progress. Schouler's progress is also beginning to wane when he spies McTeague and moves in to arrest him. After a confrontation, McTeague's horse bolts and Schouler shoots it, puncturing the water container. The water spills onto the desert floor. The pair fight one last time, with McTeague proving the victor but Schouler has handcuffed himself to McTeague. Finally, McTeague is left in the desert with no horse and no water, handcuffed to a corpse and unable to reach the remaining money.

===Sub-plots===
Stroheim's original edit contained two main sub-plots that were later cut. The point of these sub-plots was to contrast two possible results of Trina and McTeague's life together. The first depicted the lives of the junkman Zerkow and Maria Miranda Macapa, the young Mexican woman who collects junk for Zerkow and sold Trina the lottery ticket. Maria often talks about her imaginary solid gold dining set with Zerkow, who becomes obsessed by it. Eventually, believing she has riches hidden away, Zerkow marries her. He often asks about it, but she gives a different answer each time he mentions it. Zerkow does not believe her and becomes obsessed with prying the truth from her. He murders her and having lost his mind, leaps into [[San Francisco Bay]].

The second sub-plot depicts the lives of Charles W. Grannis and Miss Anastasia Baker. Grannis and Baker are two elderly boarders who share adjoining rooms in the apartment complex where Trina and McTeague live. Throughout their time at the apartment complex, they have not met. They both sit close to their adjoining wall and listen to the other for company, so they know almost everything about each other. They finally meet and cannot hide their long-time feelings for each other. When they reveal their love, Grannis admits he has $5,000, making him just as rich as Trina but this makes little difference to them. Eventually, they marry and a door connects their rooms.