Foolish Wives Overview:

Foolish Wives (1922) was a Drama - Black-and-white Film directed by Erich von Stroheim and produced by Irving Thalberg.

Foolish Wives was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2008.

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More than Max: Erich von Stroheim and Foolish Wives (1922)

By shadowsandsatin on Dec 16, 2023 From Shadows and Satin

If you?re like me, you know Erich von Stroheim best as Max Von Mayerling, the butler (and first husband) of aging silent movie star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) in the classic 1950 noir Sunset Blvd. But there was so much more to von Stroheim than Max. While writing about von Stroheim for the soon-... Read full article


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Originally 6 hours long, censored to about 130 minutes.
The most expensive part of the movie were the lavish sets, built at Universal Studios. The sets featured a full exterior replica of Monte Carlo, complete with an artificial lake. The total cost of the sets was $421,000. Erich von Stroheim said in an interview that he ought to know what Monte Carlo looked like, for he had been "busted there twice."
Initially budgeted at $250,000, the film's production soared above $1 million, thanks to Erich von Stroheim's excesses. He started shooting in July 1920 and kept going for 11 months, until he was taken off the picture in June 1921. Afraid that the movie might bankrupt Universal, studio chief Carl Laemmle sent his assistant, 21-year-old Irving Thalberg, from New York to Hollywood to try to get von Stroheim to finish the film. When Thalberg threatened to replace him with another director, von Stroheim laughed in his face, pointing out that he was the star of the movie as well as the director; if he were replaced, the movie would never be finished. However, Thalberg outsmarted him. He carefully watched production on the picture and, when he thought enough footage had been shot to make up a story, took von Stroheim's cameras away, reminding the director that they were studio property. For proving his mettle against von Stroheim, Laemmle made Thalberg the new head of production at Universal Pictures.
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National Film Registry

Foolish Wives

Released 1922
Inducted 2008
(Silent)




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Also directed by Erich von Stroheim




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Also produced by Irving Thalberg




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Also released in 1922




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