tiered branding system in order to market  its feature product to independent theater owners: Red Feather (low  budget programmers), Bluebird (mainstream releases) and Jewel  (prestige pictures produced to draw higher roadshow ticket prices).  At $1.104 million, this production was so costly that the studio  wanted to differentiate it from even its Jewel releases, branding  this a "Super" Jewel, ensuring it special promotion and premium  admission prices. Although the film made a nice profit,  Erich von Stroheim (qv) (acting as producer as well as director)  was rapidly becoming unemployable due to his flagrant excesses which  enraged Carl Laemmle (qv).