from
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sternberg - Underworld
Just saw Underworld, the oldest title in the Criterion Josef von Sternberg collection, filmed in 1927.
The acting is a bit over-the-top as happened sometimes in the silents, and the ending a bit weak, but the darned thing kept me riveted. George Bancroft and Fred Kohler, who have leading roles, are particularly weak. (Kohler gets shot in the style of Bugs Bunny - stumble, wave arms, and then fall down. We may have a direct path to Chuck Jones here.)
The plot, which concerns gangsters and a romantic triangle, was new back then - crime movies would have a heyday in the '30s, but were not common yet in 1927. The film is slow at the start but ends with a shoot-out that apparently wow'd them when the film first came out.
The direction and cinematography are superb with a rich use of shadows.
The disc has 2 scores. I've only listened to the Robert Israel score, which is always appropriate and helps move the action along.
The print quality is fine, and the set comes with generous notes (a 96 page book). Among the items in the book are an extract from Ben Hecht's original story, which was pretty much ignored, for the better in my opinion. (Hecht ended up winning an Oscar for best original story anyway).
The other 2 films in the set (The Last Command and The Docks of New York) have better reps (Billy Wilder called Last Command the only perfect film that he knew of) so things should only get better. The set looks like it deserves all of the praise that it has garnered.
The acting is a bit over-the-top as happened sometimes in the silents, and the ending a bit weak, but the darned thing kept me riveted. George Bancroft and Fred Kohler, who have leading roles, are particularly weak. (Kohler gets shot in the style of Bugs Bunny - stumble, wave arms, and then fall down. We may have a direct path to Chuck Jones here.)
The plot, which concerns gangsters and a romantic triangle, was new back then - crime movies would have a heyday in the '30s, but were not common yet in 1927. The film is slow at the start but ends with a shoot-out that apparently wow'd them when the film first came out.
The direction and cinematography are superb with a rich use of shadows.
The disc has 2 scores. I've only listened to the Robert Israel score, which is always appropriate and helps move the action along.
The print quality is fine, and the set comes with generous notes (a 96 page book). Among the items in the book are an extract from Ben Hecht's original story, which was pretty much ignored, for the better in my opinion. (Hecht ended up winning an Oscar for best original story anyway).
The other 2 films in the set (The Last Command and The Docks of New York) have better reps (Billy Wilder called Last Command the only perfect film that he knew of) so things should only get better. The set looks like it deserves all of the praise that it has garnered.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)