SOURCE: "Stroheim, Sex and Symbolism," in Hollywood Scapegoat: The Biography of Erich von Stroheim, The Fortune Press, 1950, pp. 82-92.

In the following essay, Noble examines Stroheim's portrayal of sexuality.

Thanks to Stroheim the women and young girls of America learned to prefer the slick, insolent archdukes, whose kisses burned like the lash of a whip, to the bucolic American heroes. He was the true creator of a sophisticated cinema.

[Herman Weinberg in Film Art (Spring 1937)]

Foolish Wives is an insult to every American … Stroheim has made a film that is unfit for the family to see; that is an insult to American ideals and womanhood. It gives an insight into Continental morals and manners such as only, so far, we have been able to get from certain books and paintings.

[Photoplay (March 1922)]

Stroheim taught the Americans how to make love.

[Oswell Blakeston in Film Quarterly (Spring 1947)]

Hollywood without...