From Mr. Potter to Gordon Gekko: The greediest movie characters ever

As Wall Street II makes its way into production, it seems like a good time to take a look back at America's cinematic depictions of greed. While Michael Douglas' Gordon Gekko might be the flashiest and most charismatic of the silver screen's money-hungry monsters, he hardly stands alone. After all, many people would argue that greed is just another word for ambition, which makes it both a deadly sin and the basis of a strong economy.

In fact, greed is so common in American cinema that we had a hard time narrowing our focus. For the purposes of this piece, we tried to look at characters whose actions were solely motivated by the quest for lucre, although we made exceptions for villains who were attempting to take over the world. On the other hand, characters who were searching for love or trying to gain eternal life were definitely off the island.

Even with these restrictions, we undoubtely missed a few major money monsters. If we forgot your favorite, let us know -- as the new Gordon Gekko flick shows, there's always room for Part II!