Editing Greed (1924 film) (section)

===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}}