House of Greed (aka Iudushka Golovlev) was based on Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin novel Gospoda Golovlevy. Vladimir Gardin stars as Porfiri Golovlev, a despotic, miserly landowner who runs roughshod over his tenants and relatives. With grim determination, Golovlev murders all his relatives and gains complete control of his estate, rapidly running through his fortune and utterly destroying his family's good reputation. Upon realizing the enormity of his crimes, he descends into gibbering madness, and it is inferred that this would be an appropriate fate for any capitalist. The film was heavily edited before its American release, rendering the plotline incomprehensible at times.