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Three Silent Classics by Josef Von Sternberg (Underworld / Last Command / Docks of New York) (The Criterion Collection)

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On August 24, Criterion releases the brand-new Josef von Sternberg Silent-Classic Collection, a 3-Disc set. Fully restored, two films were available in the past(both in 1987) on VHS tape, and the third, "Underworld", has likely never been seen by almost anyone, except private collectors, since 1927. Vienna-born, New Jersey- raised Josef von Sternberg directed some of the most influential, stylish dramas to come out of Hollywood. Best known for his collaborations with Marlene Dietrich, von Sternberg began his career during the final years of the silent era. First up is "Underworld", the movie responsible for starting the gangster-film cycle. At the Academy Awards in May, 1929, the film received an Oscar for writer Ben Hecht, who soon would be at work on "Scarface". "Underworld" achieved fame overnight, earning success in public screenings at the New York Paramount, and soon an all-night schedule was improvised to accommodate the unexpected crowds. "Underworld" opens with title cards telling of a "great city in dead of night..streets lonely...moon clouded..empty buildings of a forgotten age". Sudenly an explosion shatters a bank building. Crime leader Bull Weed(George Bancroft) emerges carrying loot. He spots a derelict(Clive Brook) nearby, in an inebriated state. Weed throws him in his car and speeds off. Weed takes a liking to his new friend, known as "Rolls Royce", who, when sober, becomes his stooge, friend, and driver. We also meet Feathers McCoy(Evelyn Brent), Weeds'gal. A violent gun-battle ends the show; a famous scene that scored with jazz-era audiences. Sternberg's underworld is a hell of false illusions. Though rich in mis-en-scene, "Underworld" is sadly dated and slow; Bancroft's learing ganster fails to carry the film. Next up is the real jewel of the bunch. In "The Last Command", Emil Jannings is passionate and heartbreaking as an exiled Russian military officer. "The Last Command" was based on the true story of Duke Alexander, who arrives penniless in the US after the 1917 Russian Revolution. He supports himself by playing movie bit parts. In Russia, the Duke had mistress Natacha(Evelyn Brent), who once thought of killing the Duke. Natacha is dispatched by the Bolsheviks, and her loss throws the Duke into dispair. Now the Duke is a Hollywood extra, performing for the director(a young William Powell). In a surreal final sequence, the Duke and director share a sense of futility; they recognise the correct positioning of the medal on the general's costume at the same time. Jennings is powerfully tragic. The late Preson Sturges called this film the only perfect movie he had ever seen. Finally, there is 1928's "Docks of New York". Geroge Bancroft plays a two-fisted ship's stoker. In a famous scene, he rescues Betty Comson from suicide. Bancroft marries her, but sobers up later, and decides to set-sail on the open sea...perhaps forever. The story is secondary to von Sternberg's careful camerawork and direction. Bancroft's career would fade with the gangster-film-cycle, and by 1939, he was playing a small part as the sheriff with John Wayne in "Stagecoach". This Criterion release is a three-DVD set, with new, restored digital transfers, a 1968 TV interview, essays by Geoffrey O'Brien, the film treatment by Hecht, and parts of von Sternberg's autobiography. Von Sternberg would shoot two more films for Paramount, and then, in 1930, his career would escalate again, with an ironic tragedy about "Naught Lola". It was called "The Blue Angel".

Criterion's announcment that they will be releasing a package of three of Josef Von Sternberg's silent masterpieces is one of the greatest pieces of news to come out of the home video front in some time. And if Criterion does their usual impeccable job in regard to transfers and supplements, then the results should be satisfactory to everyone. Speaking as one who has lived with Paramount's old VHS versions of DOCKS OF NEW YORK and THE LAST COMMAND for over twenty years now, it will be very interesting to see the films with music other than the Gaylord Carter organ scores that were attached to those releases; one hopes that the new scores that Criterion has commissioned for this release are at least as good as the ones Carter did (especially in regard to DOCKS). In any case, the films themselves are visually superb, and among the finest examples (along with William Wellman's still unavailible on DVD WINGS and the equally elusive THE WEDDING MARCH directed by Erich Von Strohiem) of silent film artistry in the late 1920's. These films are elegant and eloquent without any talk; indeed, any talk in them would have destroyed the beautifully evocative moods that Von Sternberg creates. This set should be a must for anyone who loves film, and I cannot wait to get my copy.

I've been waiting for years for Paramount to do something with these titles. I have "Docks of New York" and "The Last Command" on VHS from years ago - I think it was Paramount's 75th anniversary edition. It's Underworld that has never been available on any format and that I saw only once on PBS years ago. Yet it too made quite an impression.

The Last Command is a rare chance to see Emil Jannings and is a compelling tale involving the Russian Revolution, winning Jannings the first Academy Award for Best Actor. Docks of New York is an early precode starring Betty Compson, a truly overworked actress during the early talking film period, in a rare surviving silent work of hers. Finally there is Underworld. If you've only seen Clive Brooks play rather stuffy aristocratic parts I think you'll find this a revelation. Here he plays Rolls Royce, a bum turned respectable by a gangster who then goes into competition with the gangster for his girl, played by Evelyn Brent. All three have great photography and - as first class late silent films - make me quite sad that the silent film era had to end. The following is the scoop on the extra features:

Six scores: one by Robert Israel for each film; two by the Alloy Orchestra, for Underworld and The Last Command; and a piano and voice piece by Donald Sosin 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
1968 Swedish television interview with director Josef von Sternberg, covering his entire career
PLUS: A ninety-six-page booklet featuring essays by film critic Geoffrey O'Brien, film scholar Anton Kaes, and author Luc Sante; the original film treatment for Underworld by Ben Hecht; and an excerpt from Sternberg's autobiography, Fun in a Chinese Laundry, on Emil Jannings

The three films included in this set - UNDERWORLD, DOCKS OF NEW YORK and THE LAST COMMAND represent some of Josef von Sternberg's greatest work from the time before he discovered Marlene Dietrich, and clearly show that he was already a master at his art. His trademark style in the use of light and shadow, complex mis en scene, slow lap dissolves, deceptively simple storylines and characters of psychological depth are in full bloom during this late silent period.

Josef von Sternberg was unquestionably a unique genius among film directors, and as such is frequently misunderstood by those who are accustomed to a more conventional approach to how movies are made. In terms of visual style and sustained atmosphere he virtually has no equal, even though others have tried to imitate him and have borrowed many of his ideas in their own films. For example in UNDERWORLD, one can see foregleams of plot devices that figured prominently in the gangster genre that emerged during the 30's, particularly in the films from Warner Bros. Von Sternberg already laid the groundwork. In DOCKS OF NEW YORK there is the romantic relationship between George Bancroft and Betty Compson, but von Sternberg achieves it with little, if any, passionate embracing or kissing between the couple. This is typical von Sternberg and is part of what makes his screen romances different from other directors. His protagonists share a psychological bond more than a physical one, and yet one senses a potent eroticism that seems to permeate all of his films. In THE LAST COMMAND we have a wonderful example of life imitating art imitating life within the background of a motion picture studio as a former Russian general, played by Emil Jannings, is demoted to an extra recreating his past glories in a Hollywood production. The film presents the irony of life that von Sternberg liked to explore in so much of his work.

Criterion did a terrific job with all three films as well as with the supplemental material, and I highly recomended this DVD set to anyone interested in true cinematic art.

Now if only someone would put out THE SALVATION HUNTERS...

This three-disc set features a trio of restored silent films directed by Josef Von Sternberg. Titles include UNDERWORLD (1927), THE LAST COMMAND (1928) and THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK (1928). The box set also includes a 96-page booklet, filled with photographs and essays dealing with the director's work.


Josef Von Sternberg is probably best remembered as the director who discovered and "created" Marlene Dietrich. He directed her in THE BLUE ANGEL, MOROCCO and several other films.

Von Sternberg, however, was much more than Dietrich's collaborator. He was one of the cinema's most influential directors. His unique visual style and unconventional use of lighting and shadows anticipates the film noir work of Anthony Mann, Edward Dmytryk and other top directors of the genre, as well as Orson Welles.

Sadly, with the exception of the Dietrich movies, most of Von Sternberg's sound pictures are virtually forgotten. His gift as a director was in creating an all-encompassing atmosphere through his visuals, not in his abilities as a storyteller. Indeed, much of his work in the 1930s and 1940s is dramatically inept.

The three silent films in this collection are, arguably, the director's finest work, yet two of them suffer from an actor who does not seem to understand the word "subtlety".

George Bancroft, best known to today's audiences for his performance as "Curley," the sheriff, in John Ford's STAGECOACH (1939), stars in both UNDERWORLD and THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK.

In UNDERWORLD, one of Hollywood's first ventures into the gangster film, Bancroft plays the boisterous head of a gang of crooks who befriends a down-on-his-luck lawyer (Clive Brook) with an alcohol problem. Unfortunately, Bancroft's lady (the lovely Evelyn Brent) and the lawyer fall for each other, which motivates Bancroft, facing execution for killing a rival mob boss, to break out of prison and seek revenge.

UNDERWORLD is a fairly involving, fast-paced story that, despite a few awkward moments, still works today. The key problem is that Bancroft's acting style is so over-the-top, compared to the other actors, that it's like they're performing in two different pictures.

His performance is even more obnoxious in THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK, in which Von Sternberg does a magnificent job of recreating the New York waterfront, circa 1900.

This movie is supposed to be a gentle love story about a ship's stoker (Bancroft) and his relationship with an attractive waif (Betty Compson), who he rescues after she attempts to drown herself.

Compson is absolutely charming, one of the most talented actresses of the silent cinema. But, Bancroft is such a brute, the kind of guy who would rather punch you in the nose than say "Hello," that one has to wonder why Betty would ever agree to marry him, even if he did save her life.

The best overall movie in this set is THE LAST COMMAND, which won star Emil Jannings the first Best Actor Academy Award. This engrossing story, told primarily in flashback, has Jannings cast as a former Russian general, cousin to the Czar, who was forced to flee his native country at the start of the 1917 revolution, and now (in 1928) works as a movie extra in Hollywood.

Evelyn Brent co-stars as a revolutionist with whom Jannings falls in love and William Powell plays a former revolutionary leader, imprisoned by Jannings in 1917, who becomes a top Hollywood director and hires Emil in order to get some measure of revenge.

Jannings may have been the greatest character actor of his day, but he, according to Von Sternberg (supposedly a major egomaniac himself), was impossible to deal with. When his Hollywood career ended with the coming of sound, Jannings returned to his home country of Germany where he became a minion of Hitler. According to legend, at the end of World War II when Allied troops were patrolling the streets of Berlin, Jannings was seen holding his Oscar statuette and begging the soldiers not to shoot him.

© Michael B. Druxman

It has been a long time in coming but at last Josef von Sternberg's three legendary silent masterpieces are coming to DVD and in a Criterion edition no less. I'm not quite sure how or why Paramount agreed to this but I'm certainly not complaining. As others have pointed out, DOCKS OF NEW YORK and THE LAST COMMAND were available on home VHS some 20 years ago. They were high quality transfers accompanied by newly recorded Gaylord Carter organ scores. UNDERWORLD has never been available in a first rate transfer of any kind so that alone makes this set extra special. In addition, all three films will have 2 new scores to accompany them which will only enhance the viewing experience even more. Too bad the Gaylord Carter scores weren't included as they were models of their kind. Throw in the Criterion extras like the 96 page booklet and a 1968 interview with von Sternberg himself and you have something no silent movie enthusiast or film buff should be without.

For those of you unfamiliar with these films the stories are as follows. UNDERWORLD, the first of the three, can rightfully be considered the first gangster feature as it chronicles the rise and fall of crime boss Bull Weed and his associates. It also offers silent comedy fans a rare opportunity to see Larry Semon in a more serious role which was one of his last film appearances. Film number two, THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK, positively oozes atmosphere as it takes us into BLUE ANGEL territory with its vivid depiction of a lowlife bar full of smoke and fishnets and the poor souls who inhabit it. The best of the three, THE LAST COMMAND, features Emil Jannings' greatest American performance as a Russian general traumatized by the Russian Revolution and reduced to appearing as an extra in Hollywood movies. William Powell scores as a former revolutionary who is now a movie director. If you don't want to purchase these then get your Netflix queues ready for they are indispensible.

this set from Criterion contains three of Josef von Sternberg's silent films. The films are Underworld, The Last Command, and The Docks of New York.

Disc one
Underworld is one of the first gangster films ever made in the United States and was very influential in the way many other films in the genre were made. The film contains two scores and a video essay by film scholar, Janet Bergstrom.

Disc two
The last command is about a retired Russian solider who emigrated to the United States after the revolution. He later plays a soldier in a film directed by another Russian expatriate. There are two scores and an essay by Tag Gallagher. I found this to be the best film of the set due to the subject matter.

Disc three
The Docks of New York is about a prostitute working in the New York docks who is seeking more in life. The film has two scores and a 1960's interview with Josef von Sternberg from a Swedish television program.

I found this to be one of the best sets released by Criterion in 2010 and Sternberg remains one of the finest and most overlooked directors of all time.

This marvelous set is a mini-film course that illustrates just how advanced the art of silent film had become by 1927-28 when sound began to take over. The art of cinematography is captured in all three films, especially so in THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK. The scores (there are two for each film) are very effective and give the viewer a taste of how moviegoers originally experienced these films in larger cities such as NY. The extras are outstanding in giving one an insight to the director's method of working. Josef Von Sternberg was first and foremost a visual artist, a master of lighting and composition. The enclosed booklet adds greatly to the viewing experience. When you watch Emil Jannings Oscar winning performance in THE LAST COMMAND you will see one of the great examples of visual acting that remains powerful to this day. The performances of George Bancroft and Betty Compson in THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK are a tribute to what could be done without the spoken word. UNDERWORLD; THE LAST COMMAND and THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK are three films that along with F.W. Murnau's SUNRISE (1927) are prime examples of what the silent cinema was capable of doing. Well worth purchasing.

UNDERWORLD is the first great gangster movie,and THE DOCKS OF NEWYORK a fascinating illustration of a slum melodrama "a girl in every port" style.But the real masterpiece is THE LAST COMMAND,which looks brillantly in the mirror of cinema,with a sublime Jannings and a great William Powell.Sternberg's silent movies equal the work of Griffith,and the Criterion edition is simply magnificent

First let me say I am not a very patient person with respect to entertainment. It takes a well-polished presentation to maintain my interest due, I suppose, to years of watching blatantly ingratiating sitcom episodes. So when I purchased Three Silent Classics produced by Josef Von Sternberg, I did not actually believe that I could make it through even one of the movies. I was pleasantly surprised. These movies are quite slick and polished. Everything is "right:" the music, the dialog, the acting, the plot, the camera angles and lighting. These movies are not double speed, shaky, dust covered, cheap reproductions with carnival-like 1920's jazz. They are high quality films that will capture your attention and keep your interest. One star taken off for the price, but otherwise I highly recommend this DVD set.