3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg [Criterion Collection] [3 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Introduced to the film industry strictly by accident as a poverty-stricken youngster looking for a job in Brooklyn, the Vienna-born director broke through in the 1920s near the end of the silent era. Awards are scattered across all three of these silent classics: Underworld (George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent. 1927/81 min.), The Last Command (Emil Jannings. 1928/88 min.) and The Docks of New York (George Bancroft, Betty Compson. 1928/75 min.). 3 DVDs. B&w/NR/fullscreen.

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 3
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (Pre-1954 Standard)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Screen: Black and White
• Features:
  • New, restored high-definition digital transfers
  • Six scores: by Robert Israel for all three films, Alloy Orchestra for Underworld and the Last Command, and Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton for the Docks of New York
  • Two new visual essays, one by UCLA film professor Janet Bergstrom and the other by film scholar Tag Gallagher
  • Swedish television interview from 1968 with director Josef Von Sternberg

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Original Screenplay - 1927- (Lajos Biró, Ben Hecht)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1927-

• Library of Congress

•     Won U.S. National Film Registry - 1999

• Telluride Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 1998

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Emil Jannings - Gen. Dolgorucki
       Betty Compson - Sadie
       Evelyn Brent - "Feathers" McCoy
       Clyde Cook - "Sugar" Steve
       Fred Kohler - "Buck" Mulligan
       Gustav von Seyffertitz - "Hymn Book" Harry
       Guy Oliver - The Crimp
       Karl Morse - "High Collar" Sam
       Lillian Worth - Steve's Girl
       Alexander Ikonnikov - Drillmaster

• Director:

  Josef von Sternberg

• Producer:

  Hector Turnbull, Jesse Lasky, Adolph Zukor

• Screenwriter:

  Charles Furthman, Robert N. Lee, John F. Goodrich, Lajos Biró, Jules Furthman

• Cinematographer:

  Bert Glennon, Harold Hal Rosson

• Composer (Music Score):

  Gaylord Carter

• Editor:

  William Shea, Helen Lewis

• Art Director:

  Hans Dreier

• Associate Producer:

  B.P. Schulberg

• Set Designer:

  Hans Dreier

• Intertitle Writer:

  Herman Mankiewicz

• Short Story Author:

  Ben Hecht

REVIEWS:

• Josef von Sternberg's films are known for their sumptuous atmosphere; his evocative lighting and shadows made Marlene Dietrich a sex symbol for the ages. Though some critics find his films to be inconsequential exercises in style, 1928's The Last Command demonstrated that he was capable of more. The picture features his typically stunning photography, but, in this case, the plot and performances are equally interesting. Much of the credit for the film's lasting impact goes to venerable German actor Emil Jannings. In the kind of "fallen man" role that he was known for (as in The Last Laugh and von Sternberg's later The Blue Angel), Jannings' gift for forlorn tragedy matches the movie's perceptions about the cruelty of life. He won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Actor for this part, as well as for his role in The Way of All Flesh. The glory was short-lived, as his heavy German accent hindered his career in Hollywood talkies. ~ Brendon Hanley, Rovi
• The year 1928 was arguably the greatest in the career of Josef Von Sternberg, who released four unabashed, uncontested classics in that 12 month period. And The Docks Of New York is not only considered by many to be the best of those four -- which also included The Wedding March and The Last Command -- but arguably the best picture he ever made. The director himself is at his visual best, not only in his storytelling but the atmosphere -- one quickly forgets that this is a stage 5000 miles from the real docks of New York -- and the characters. George Bancroft is near top form as the rough, tough stoker Bill Roberts, whose two-fisted approach to life and love is changed when he rescues a girl, Sadie (Betty Compson), from a suicide attempt, and impulsively marries her, knowing that he's only in port of one night. But that night is going to change the lives not only of Bill and Sadie, but a lot of the people around them. Von Sternberg manages the neat trick of never losing sight of the setting as the real "star" of the movie, all the while keeping his characters -- especially Bill -- in center stage. The camera movement, the framing of the shots, and the cutting are among the most graceful that you'll find in the late silent era, and all as sophisticated as the story and setting are rough-hewn and gritty. And the performances, starting with Bancroft's bold, swaggering laborer and Compson's slightly unhinged but beguiling heroine, are all worth seeing on their own terms -- and viewers who only know Bancroft from his sound films, as a somewhat older leading man, may well be amazed and impressed by the swaggering screen magnetism that he projects here. The movie's reputation has justifiably held up for almost a century, and as late as 2010 The Docks Of New York could still sell out a theatrical showing in New York on less than a day's notice. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
• Underworld is the greatest of all silent gangster films, and it was highly influential on the classic crime dramas of the early 1930s. Director Josef von Sternberg, along with cinematographer Bert Glennon, creates a visual masterpiece, with consciously dark motifs offset by the effective and judicious lighting of art director Hans Dreier's sets. The film retains interest when viewed by current-day audiences, and it is an excellent example of the European-influenced artistic creativity that came to prominence in the United States during the late 1920s. While by no means the first film of its type, Underworld was nonetheless the starting point for the gangster film as a part of U.S. cultural mythology. At the first Academy Awards ceremony in May 1929, the film received one award, for story writer Ben Hecht. ~ Richard Gilliam, Rovi