One of the downsides of the holiday season is the plethora of films that advertise themselves as “A Revered Christmas Tradition.” Granted, films such as It’s A Wonderful Life, or A Christmas Carol (1951) can justify that claim; I’m more than a wee suspicious when films starring Tim Allen or Jim Carrey do the same. In keeping with this new bogus tradition of anything being a holiday classic, my nominee for the perfect Christmas (as a gift for the new corporate order) is one of the greatest films ever made in the history of cinema, Eric Von Stroheim’s 1924 Greed.

Greed is perhaps best remembered as the great lost film in the annals of cinema. After the original 9.5-hour cut was delivered to MGM, the masters at the studio decided to make the film more commercial, resulting in a cut-down two hour version that premiered in theaters during the 1924 Christmas season. The film subsequently bombed and marked the beginning of the end of Von Stroheim’s career as a director in Hollywood. The remaining footage from the original cut was destroyed soon after the release of the edited version and the only remnants of that original cut was Von Stroheim’s shooting script and production stills — until now.

Based on the American literary classic of the same name by Frank Norris, Greed is the story of San Francisco dentist McTeague and his wife Trina who are destroyed by the American Dream and its obsession with wealth, power and envy. The film is a detailed overview  of American life in the early 20th century, more akin to the literary works of Victor Hugo or Emile Zola as opposed to any movie. Von Stroheim was a renowned master of realistic detail and the film displays the rich tapestry of life and death amongst the forgotten classes that make up the majority of humanity. The scope and power of the film is breathtaking and should not be missed if you have any interest whatsoever in the art of cinema.

For a film that is 85 years old, it still is ahead of its time and my guess will still be so 100 years from now.

After his masterful work on restoring Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil, producer Rick Schmedlin was hired by Turner Classic Movies to restore Von Stroheim’s original cut using existing stills and Von Stroheim’s personal continuity notes from his shooting script. Schmedlin was able to honorably fill in the gaps missing from the released film so the new 4 hour version of the film is the definitive version. What’s striking and profound about the new version is how the original film (a masterpiece in it’s own right) was such a compromise to Von Stroheim’s vision. One can now fully understand why Von Stroheim became a broken man for the remainder of his life.

Greed is the perfect example of how anything beautiful and full of meaning is destroyed by the powers of profit. It’s a fitting testimony to what Christmas has become in the new world order and the fitting film to celebrate what we’ve become as a collective society.