RetroClips

Foolish Wives is often cited as the first film to cost over a million dollars, and most of that budget went into having Universal build a full-scale replica of Monte Carlo's central plaza, casino, cafe, and all, on the studio backlot rather than shoot on location. Erich von Stroheim directed, wrote, and starred as a fake Russian count preying on wealthy women, and became notorious enough for the excess of his original six-hour cut that the studio took the film away from him and re-edited it down to under two hours without his approval.