Editing Greed (1924 film) (section)

==Editing==
===Initial editing===
Editing ''Greed'' took almost a year and von Stroheim's contract did not include payment for his post-production work.{{sfn|Weinberg|1972|p=15}} He and his chief film cutter Frank Hull worked on the film for several months before completing a rough cut.{{sfnm|1a1=Finler|1y=1972|1p=29|2a1=Koszarski|2y=1983|2p=326}} Von Stroheim was indecisive during editing. He felt restricted by his contract's limitation on the length of the film.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=140}} Von Stroheim colored certain scenes with gold tinting by using the [[Handschiegl Color Process]], in which individual frames are hand colored with stencils.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=147}} Von Stroheim credited himself in the beginning titles with "Personally directed by Erich von Stroheim."{{sfn|Rosenbaum|1993|p=41}}

Other than studio personnel, only twelve people saw the original 42-reel{{efn|It is traditional to discuss the length of theatrical motion pictures in terms of "[[Reel#Motion picture terminology|reels]]". The standard length of a 35&nbsp;mm motion picture reel is {{convert|1000|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}. This length runs approximately 11 minutes at sound speed (24 frames per second) and slightly longer at silent film speed (which may vary from approximately 16 to 22 frames per second). Therefore the 42-reel version of ''Greed'' was 462 minutes (8 hours) at 24 fps, 551 minutes (9 hours) at 20 fps and longer at other speeds.}} version of ''Greed'' at a special screening in January 1924;{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=29}} they included [[Harry Carr]], [[Rex Ingram (director)|Rex Ingram]], [[Aileen Pringle]], [[Carmel Myers]], [[Idwal Jones (academic)|Idwal Jones]], Joseph Jackson, Jack Jungmeyer, Fritz Tidden, Welford Beaton, Valentine Mandelstam, and [[Jean Bertin]].{{sfn|Weinberg|1972|p=13}} After the screening Jones, Carr and Ingram all agreed that they had just seen the greatest film ever made and that it was unlikely that a better film would ever be made.{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=14}} Carr wrote a review of the advance screening where he raved that he "saw a wonderful picture the other day—that no one else will ever see&nbsp; ... I can't imagine what they are going to do with it. It is like ''[[Les Miserables]]''. Episodes come along that you think have no bearing on the story, then 12 or 14 reels later it hits you with a crash. For stark, terrible realism and marvelous artistry, it is the greatest picture I have ever seen. But I don't know what it will be like when it shrinks to 8 reels."{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=141}} [[Jonathan Rosenbaum]] suggested that Carr was most likely referring to a cut sequence early in the film that introduced all of the characters who lived in McTeague's building. The forty-minute scene depicted what the tenants did on a Saturday afternoon, and established cinematic atmosphere without furthering the plot. Rosenbaum compared the cut sequence to novels of the 19th century and to the first few hours of [[Jacques Rivette]]'s ''[[Out 1]]''.{{sfn|Rosenbaum|1993|p=29}} Jones publicly praised the advance screening and compared ''Greed'' to ''[[The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari]]'' and ''[[Dr. Mabuse the Gambler]]''.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=141}} However, Welford Beaton of ''The Film Spectator'' disliked the 42-reel version and criticized its excessive use of close-ups.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=141}}

[[File:Greed, 1924, 10.1 rapacità.jpg|thumb|left|Some scenes, like this one, were [[Handschiegl Color Process|gold tinted]] by von Stroheim himself, hand coloring individual frames with stencils.]]

Many sources claim that the 42-reel version was only ever intended to be a rough cut,{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=141}} and that Von Stroheim chose to cut it down to 24 reels by March 18, 1924,{{sfn|Wakeman|1987|p=1074}}{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=142}} with the intention of screening it with intermissions over two nights.{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=18}} The director had difficulty cutting the film down, telling his friend Don Ryan, "I could take out sequences and thus get the job over in a day. That would be child's play. But I can't do it. It would leave gaps that could only be bridged through titles. When you do such a thing you have illustrated subtitles instead of a motion picture."{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=141}} Von Stroheim later claimed that at this time the Goldwyn Company wanted him to shoot a scene of McTeague waking up in his dentist chair, showing the entire film to have been a bad dream.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=141}} While von Stroheim was editing the 24-reel cut June Mathis, who was the head of the Goldwyn Story Department, had made her own 13-reel version of ''Greed'' by January 21, 1924. She ordered even more cuts to be made on January 29, but then left for Rome in early February to oversee the production of ''[[Ben-Hur (1925 film)|Ben-Hur]]'' and was uninvolved in the film's editing for several months.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=144}}

After having completed the 24-reel{{efn|264 minutes (4 hours and 24 minutes) at 24 fps and 315 minutes (5 hours and 15 minutes) at 20 fps.}} cut of ''Greed'', von Stroheim told Goldwyn executives that he could not cut another frame.{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=18}} Goldwyn producers thought that this version was still too long and told him to cut it to a more manageable length. Von Stroheim then sent the film to his friend, director Rex Ingram, who turned it over to his editor, [[Grant Whytock]].{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=18}} Whytock had worked with von Stroheim on ''[[The Devil's Pass Key]]'' and was familiar with the director's style and tastes. Whytock initially proposed that it be split in two, with one 8-reel film ending with the wedding and a second 7-reel film ending at Death Valley. Whytock eventually cut the film down to 18 reels.{{efn|198 minutes (3 hours and 18 minutes) at 24 fps and 236 minutes (3 hours and 56 minutes) at 20 fps.}} His only major cut was the entire subplot of Zerkow and Maria, which he thought was "very distasteful".{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=143}} Otherwise he simply cut down scenes and cut out {{convert|1,200|ft|m|sigfig=1}} of quick "flash" shots that only lasted a few frames. However, Whytock's version of ''Greed'' retained the prologue and other subplots, as well as much of the humor that was later cut out of it.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=143}}

Whytock and Ingram screened their version of ''Greed'' to studio executives, who responded favorably to it but worried that the tragic ending would be hard to sell to the public.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=144}} Ingram then sent the 18-reel version to von Stroheim and told him, "If you cut one more frame I shall never speak to you again."{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=28}} On April 10, 1924, the Goldwyn Company officially agreed to merge with Metro Pictures, putting von Stroheim's nemesis Thalberg directly in charge of ''Greed''.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|pp=142–143}} Von Stroheim and [[Louis B. Mayer]] had a lengthy confrontation over the film's editing, which according to both men ended with von Stroheim claiming that all women were whores and Mayer punching him.{{efn|In a remarkably similar story, screen actor [[John Gilbert (actor)|John Gilbert]] once told Mayer that his own mother was a whore and Mayer allegedly chased him with a knife.{{sfn|Flamini|1994|pp=85-86}}}}{{sfn|Rosenbaum|1993|p=38}} Mayer disliked the film because of its lack of glamor, optimism, or morality and considered it to be a guaranteed flop.{{sfn|Curtiss|1971|p=178}}

===Studio editing===
MGM executives screened ''Greed'' at full length once to meet contractual obligations. [[Idwal Jones (novelist)|Idwal Jones]], a San Francisco critic, attended the all-day screening and wrote that while some of the scenes were compelling, von Stroheim's desire that "every comma of the book [be] put in" was ultimately negative.<ref name="ebert">{{cite news|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-greed-1925 |title=Greed (1925) |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |publisher=[[Sun-Times Media Group]] |location=Chicago |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=December 12, 1999 |access-date=December 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223214214/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19991212%2FREVIEWS08%2F912120301%2F1023 |archive-date=December 23, 2010}}</ref> MGM then took control and re-edited it. The studio ordered June Mathis to cut it down further;<ref>{{cite book|last=Unterburger|first=Amy L.|author2=Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey|title=The St. James Women Filmmakers Encyclopedia: Women on the Other Side of the Camera|publisher=Visible Ink Press|year=1999|page=[https://archive.org/details/stjameswomenfilm0000unse/page/270 270]|isbn=1-57859-092-2|url=https://archive.org/details/stjameswomenfilm0000unse/page/270}}</ref> she assigned the job to [[Joseph W. Farnham]], a well-known "titles editor", who patched scenes together using title cards to keep continuity. His contributions to ''Greed'' include the notorious title cards "''Such was McTeague''" and "''Let's go over and sit on the sewer''", which were snickered at for years.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=145}} Eventually, Farnham reduced ''Greed'' to 10 reels,{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|pp=144–145}} totaling {{convert|10,607|ft|m}}.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=327}}{{efn|Approximately 118 minutes (1 hour and 58 minutes) at 24 fps.<ref name="Kodak">[https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/page/film-calculator Kodak Film Calculator]</ref>}} Von Stroheim said that the film "was cut by a hack with nothing on his mind but his hat."{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=18}} He later bitterly lamented that ''Greed'' was made before the financial success of [[Eugene O'Neill]]'s five-hour play ''[[Strange Interlude]]'' in 1928.{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=28}} Von Stroheim angrily disowned the final version, blaming Mathis for destroying his masterpiece.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ward Mahar|first=Karen |title=Women Filmmakers in Early Hollywood|url=https://archive.org/details/womenfilmmakersi0000maha|url-access=registration|publisher=JHU Press|year=2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/womenfilmmakersi0000maha/page/200 200]|isbn=0-8018-8436-5}}</ref>

One week before ''Greed''{{'}}s release the New York State Motion Picture Committee (which censored films) demanded several more cuts on moral grounds. These cuts included the administration of [[diethyl ether|ether]] in the dental scenes and certain instances of foul language. Although these cuts were made to prints that were screened in New York State, the footage was kept in many other prints.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=145}}

===Difference between von Stroheim's cut and MGM's cut===
The main cuts to ''Greed'' were the elimination of its two sub-plots and other entire sequences, while individual scenes were often not touched.{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=11}}{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=12}} Commenting about the cuts made in the film to the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', Thalberg stated:
{{blockquote|1= This whole story is about greed—a progressive greed. It is the story of the way greed grew in Trina's heart until it obsessed her. I found that the junk dealer's greed was so much greater than hers that it almost destroyed the theme. His intense greed drowned out Trina's greed just as a steam whistle drowns out a small street noise. Instead of hurting the picture, throwing out this junk dealer's story made the picture stronger.{{sfn|Vieira|2010|p=47}}}}

Thalberg also stated that he "took no chances in cutting it. We took it around to different theaters in the suburbs, ran it at its enormous length, and then we took note of the places at which interest seemed to droop."{{sfn|Vieira|2010|p=47}}

Individual scenes or sequences that were cut include McTeague and Trina's early, happy years of marriage, the sequence showing McTeague and Trina eventually moving into their shack,{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=12}} the family life of the Sieppe family before Trina's marriage, the prologue depicting McTeague's mother and father at the Big Dipper mine and McTeague's apprenticeship. Other cuts included the more suggestive and sexual close-up shots depicting McTeague and Trina's physical attraction to each other, the scenes after McTeague has murdered Trina and roams around San Francisco and Placer County, additional footage of Death Valley, additional footage of Trina with her money, and a more gradual version of Trina's descent into greed and miserly obsession.{{sfn|Finler|1972|pp=19–20}}