Foolish Wives is a 1922 American silent drama written, directed by and starring Erich von Stroheim as a con man posing as Russian nobility who preys on wealthy women in Monte Carlo. The production was noted at the time for its then-extraordinary cost, including an elaborate full-scale reconstruction of Monte Carlo built on the studio lot, and for von Stroheim's insistence on a runtime far longer than the studio was willing to release, leading to significant cuts against his wishes. Foolish Wives is widely regarded as an early landmark of directorial extravagance in American silent cinema and a forerunner of the studio-versus-director conflicts that would later mark von Stroheim's Greed.
Facts
Release Year CountrySourced to the subject's own account Classification
Original Language FAQs
How much footage did Erich von Stroheim shoot for Foolish Wives and how was it cut for release?
Stroheim shot about sixty hours and delivered a cut of over six hours that was reduced to ten reels for release.
According to Daniel Eagan's essay for the Library of Congress National Film Registry, Stroheim had shot sixty hours of material eleven months into filming. After months of editing he handed the studio a thirty-reel cut running over six hours. Editor Arthur Ripley was assigned to cut the running time by half, censors asked for further cuts, and by general release the film was down to ten reels, with even shorter versions appearing later.
How much did Foolish Wives cost to make?
Over a million dollars by July 1921, more than thirty times the cost of an average feature.
A Universal cost memorandum dated July 7, 1921 listed the total spent so far on Foolish Wives at $1,053,290.80, more than thirty times the cost of an average feature, according to Daniel Eagan's essay for the Library of Congress. Carl Laemmle publicized the expanding budget with a billboard in Manhattan. The film ended up among the year's top ten performers but was still too expensive to be profitable.
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Source Foolish Wives (Wikipedia)
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Source Foolish Wives (Wikipedia)
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Sources
1. Wikidata: Foolish Wives
Wikidata Q1116541, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source 2. Foolish Wives (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationlead sentence, Wikipedia REST summary extract
Foolish Wives is a 1922 American erotic silent drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures under their Super-Jewel banner and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim.
Foolish Wives, Description, original language
Foolish Wives is a 1922 American silent drama written, directed by and starring Erich von Stroheim as a con man posing as Russian nobility who preys on wealthy women in Monte Carlo.
Created By: Erich von Stroheim, Article lead sentence
Foolish Wives is a 1922 American erotic silent drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures under their Super-Jewel banner and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim.
In Group: American Silent Dramas and Adventures, Lead
Foolish Wives is a 1922 American erotic silent drama film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures under their Super-Jewel banner and written and directed by Erich von Stroheim.
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