Ben Gur 1925 and Greed 1924 on the Blue-Ray

[Dave Bannion]

Still waiting on Greed. If ever a film deserved a big Criterion release, it's Greed.

But if they or anyone else ever do release it, I hope the "theatrical" cut (the mutilated 2-hour version) is included in addition to the "restored" cut (the 4-hour version).

I appreciate the work put into the restored version, and it serves an academic purpose. But it's very difficult to enjoy Greed in this form because so much of the running time is devoted to still photographs. It's like watching a Ken Burns documentary with bits and pieces of Von Stroheim's scenes scattered throughout.

Not to mention, at least on the TCM showings, the film footage is at times very soft. We've been spoiled by seeing how good silent films can look in high definition (see Metropolis, e.g.), so much so that Greed in SD looks quite disappointing.