Foolish Wives (1922)

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In an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, entitled "Hollywood Follies," a young Indiana Jones (played by Sean Patrick Flanery) is sent to Hollywood by Carl Laemmle to order Erich von Stroheim (played by Dana Gladstone) to shut down production on "Foolish Wives" - something the egomaniacal director refuses to do, despite Indy's efforts. Ironically, one of the actual cast members of "Foolish Wives" was Harrison Ford, a noted silent movie actor (and no relation to the "Indiana Jones" series star).
After six months in the editing room, Erich von Stroheim turned over his cut of the film to Universal Pictures in December of 1921. The film was 32 reels and 8 hours long, but von Stroheim insisted it was now "a perfect story." When asked how it would be possible to present 32 reels for an evening's entertainment, he replied, "That's a detail I hadn't time to bother about" (the magazine "Photoplay" suggested that the movie should be re-titled, "Foolish Directors," and released as a serial). Universal took over the movie, and edited it down to 14 reels, with a 210-minute running time. Von Stroheim hated the shorter version, complaining that all that was left of his masterpiece was "the bones."
Erich von Stroheim's excesses on the film also included ordering lavish evening gowns from Paris, silk stockings, and monogrammed silk underwear for his actors to wear so they could "feel more like aristocrats." He decorated his sets with real porcelain, tapestries and crystal chandeliers. At banquet scenes he insisted on using real champagne and caviar. When asked by a studio executive why he couldn't substitute ginger ale and blackberry jam as props for the champagne and caviar, von Stroheim replied, "Because my actors will know the difference, I will know the difference, and the camera will know the difference."
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