Greed - Region 1

Von Stroheim digs at his characters' weaknesses with ferocious irony, exposing recurring hypocrisy and ugliness whenever money enters the picture. Visually, the director understood the thematic importance of setting his characters against contrasting landscapes, and Greed was among the first films shot almost entirely on location. As it moves from the buzzing, crowded streets of San Francisco to the haunting last images in the desolate wasteland of Death Valley--a place where money has no value--von Stroheim's ruthless satire demolishes everything American in its path. --Dave McCoy