Out of any American director of his era, only von Stroheim could have found such beauty in ugliness and created such fascination for the commonplace. He shot Greed with utter faithfulness to the Norris book and proposed to run the lengthy film on more than one evening, but the idea was far ahead of its time and the releasing studio, MetroGoldwyn-Mayer, insisted on radical trimming.
Mr. von Stroheim has not missed a vulgar point, but on the other hand his direction of the effort is cunningly dramatic.
Nitrate Online
June 09, 2004
Von Stroheim's groundbreaking film is still intriguing.
The Spectator
May 08, 2018
On behalf of the minority of film-goers who will, however even they may be shocked by [Erich von Stroheim's] fierce realism, perceive that he has made here a masterpiece in quite a new manner, one feels inclined to thank him.
Von Stroheim's rep, after a long dormancy, has been on the rise, and this is the best evidence of his work you'll get until someone finds those lost five hours in some Ukrainian subcellar.
Von Stroheim's rep, after a long dormancy, has been on the rise, and this is the best evidence of his work you'll get until someone finds those lost five hours in some Ukrainian subcellar.
ColeSmithey.com
December 12, 2006
Even in its severely edited form Von Stroheim's masterpiece is just that; a masterpiece.
Time Out
February 09, 2006
Even now its relentlessly cynical portrait of physical and moral squalor retains the ability to shock, while the Von's obsessive attention to realist detail is never prosaic.
[Stroheim's] obsession with realistic detail reached its zenith during the final sequences in Death Valley, where the actors suffered hugely for the director's art.