Customer Reviews

The Joyless Street [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This edition of "The Joyless Street" is a severely truncated version of the film. It runs for about 60 minutes, which includes a brief introduction. Yes, there are many versions of this film out there which vary widely in length--the only other version I've seen is the longer and more complete Kino VHS--but this has got be one of the shortest. Almost all the material with Asta Nielsen is excised. The disc lists the runtime at 90 minutes for some reason. Beware.

Director G.W. Pabst would later achieve considerable success with such films as PANDORA'S BOX and DIARY OF A LOST GIRL (both starring Louise Brooks), but while his earlier JOYLESS STREET is less sophistocated it is no less effective in its intense and gritty story of poverty and corruption in post-WWI Vienna.

Pabst was particularly noted for his realistic style, and the grainy, harsh look of the film serves well the story of a woman (the celebrated Asta Nielsen) driven to a life of prostitution and crime by her lover's betrayal. Today, however, the film is chiefly recalled as one of Greta Garbo's first major films, and although somewhat occasionally stiff, Garbo acquits herself very well in the role of a woman who contemplates prostitution in an effort to provide for her suddenly destitute family.

Considered scandalous at the time of its release, THE JOYLESS STREET was frequently cut for distribution--particularly in America. For many years the film existed only in edited form; the Kino video release, however, restores the film to its original form and length. Recommended.

This particular version of JOYLESS STREET is described as running 126 minutes, which is the running time of the best-restored version of the film. However, in actual fact, this VHS from Timeless Video is the truncated 60-minute version. SO DO NOT BE FOOLED. JOYLESS STREET features the stories of two women: the daughter of an immpoverished army veteran and the daughter of a retired civil servant. Both have fallen on hard times in the post-WWI era and both feel responsible enough for their families to compromise their morality in exchange for food and the trappings of wealth. Greta Garbo plays the daughter of the civil servant, and, after she moved to Hollywood and became famous, the film was re-released to feature her, practically eliminating the second and far more tragic story. So, while I highly recommend the fully restored version of the film, I want to warn buyers to be sure that that is the version they are getting. This one is not it.

Perhaps the only reason why this film is remembered is for Greta Garbo's performance. However, this story about the tough times in Vienna after the First World War is worth a look in itself. Garbo appears in one of the film's sub-plots and, as noted, considers becoming a prostitute to make ends meet. Her father looses all his money but she is saved by a Red Cross officer who loves her. Things do get quite tense and Garbo's performance is a highlight of the film.

As for the "The Joyless Street" being deary, I would say it gives us a picture of the times, which were bad indeed in Germany and Austria. Pabst was a master film maker and his subjects, like the later Pandora's Box, explore the seemy side of society. It is melodramatic at times but an interesting film that devotees of silent films will not want to be without.

The film quality is excellent and the music admirably fits the subject.

An excellent movie, but stay away from the 60 minute USA version which cut out everything but Garbo. I love Garbo, but there's so much more to the story. For now the only restored DVD (142 minutes)is available from Austria filmmuseum and in May 2009 from the German filmmuseum (148 minutes). They both have English subtitles. However they are in the PAL format (Europe), not the NTSC format (USA) so they will not work in your DVD player. You'll have to view them on your pc and they are expensive to ship over.

I'm glad to see that someone is starting to release more of Garbo's silents. The 3-star rating is mainly for the movie itself and not the actual DVD. I'll give Synergy points for having initiative but this DVD is far from perfect. There is no interactive menu or bonus features. Once you put the DVD in you will see the usual copyright warning and then the movie just starts. Once the movie ends it will automatically restart itself so it's basically just in a continuous loop. The copy of the movie that was used here appears to be the same re-issue edition one from my old VHS copy. Also, there doesn't seem to be any signs of a restoration. Some parts are scratchy and it seems like it was directly transferred from a VHS copy. The only thing about this that's different from the VHS version is that there is a musical score. Don't expect anything on a Carl Davis level though, it's pretty much just classical music, but it's better than nothing. So, once again, it's not perfect, but if you're a Garbo fan it might be worth $9.99 to you.

Director Georg Wilhelm Pabst's "The Joyless Street" is one of the most censored and mutilated films in history. The film premier on May 18, 1925 in Berlin. The film was a sensation and launched the new reality movement in German filmmaking.

The film was based on Hugo Bettauer's 1924 serialized novel. The film version would propel Greta Garbo to international fame.

Bettauer would never see the premier of the film based on his novel. On March 26, 1925, a national socialist thug shot him to death. Bettauer had ironically written a highly controversial dystopian satirical novel, called "A City Without Jews, A Novel About The Day After Tomorrow." The novel was about the expulsion of the Jews from Austria. Bettauer, had he lived, would have seen his fictitious world become a prophetic reality in 1938.

The original version of Joyless Street was a dark study of life in hyper-inflation Vienna in the wake of the Great War. It was about poverty and despair in a defeated country. In the original film, as in the book, Pabst set out to tell the story how inflation destroyed the sundry spectrums of society and led to people to lives of impoverishment, desperation and despair. Pabst would tell his story through the lives of two main characters, Marie and Greta. Nielson would play Marie, a poverty stricken character with a brutal and cruel father who would prostitute herself for the man she loves but who despises her. Greta would play Greta, the daughter of a foolish and sickly middle class bureaucrat, would would resist the temptation of easy money and prostitution.

The film shocked European governments. England banned the film from public viewing. Italy, France, Austria and elsewhere would show the film only after it had been considerably mutilated.

Americans thought that the only value of the film was the presence of Greta Garbo. Curiously, Garbo was paid in American dollars rather than worthless German ones.

As a result, most of the available versions of this film were cut to make the international sensation Great Garbo the star the film over the top billed Asta Nielson, who played a woman driven to murder.

Over the years, Nielson's leading part in the film will almost entirely vanish like the Jews in Bettauer's novel.

Garbo was the second lead to the once legendary Asta Nielson.

Most of the story line involving Asta Nielson's character Maria Lechner was cut out of the film.

Most of the story line involving Warner Krauss' abhorrent butcher of Melchoir Street was cut out of the film.

Other story lines, involving other characters, were cut out or toned down.

International censorship removed these segments long ago.

They were deemed too controversial and too dangerously political.

When the film was released in America in 1927, Asta Nielson's character was edited out except for a brief part at the beginning.

In 1937, this version was re-released with synchronized music and sound effects. It is this terrible version people have most likely seen.

The result of this censorious butchery is that the human tragedy that Pabst was intent on showing in "Joyless Street" was replaced by a sappy happy Hollywood ending where an American saves Greta from a life of hunger, misery and prostitution.

Rumors persist that Marlene Dietrich had a part in this film. There is no evidence that she ever had a role in this film.

The German actress Herta von Walther played the part of the woman in Butcher's line who comforts Greta when she collapsed. In the original version, Herta had a bigger part that involved prostituting herself to the Butcher.

Herta Von Walther is Forgotten today, but she made four films with director Georg Wilhelm Pabst between the years 1925 and 1928. The four are Joyless Street, Secrets of a Soul, Love of Jeanne Ney, Abwege.

There is no record of director Georg Wilhelm Pabst having ever made any films with Marlene Dietrich. Still the rumors persist.

In 1999, the Munich Filmmuseum partially restored this this film. A 16 mm reduction positive exists in the museum.

Today, the film is mostly remembered as the last European role the timorous, timid Greta Garbo played before coming to America with her mentor Maurice Stiller. In the January 1932 edition of Photoplay magazine, Ruth Biery wrote, "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer paid her $250 a week to secure him for the movies.

It is hard to say, "Joyless Street" is a good or poor picture in its mutilated form but it did not harm Greta Garbo.

The Joyless Street is famous for being butchered. Each European country edited it to suit their nationalist leanings and or censorship board demands. Many nationalities were less than thrilled with how they were portrayed in this epic early film by G.W. Pabst from 1924.

Others have written reviews so rather than duplicate their efforts, I will simply tell the viewer that this edition, Synergy Video, has a running time of 90 mins. which leads me to believe this is the French release from 1981 (albeit remastered onto DVD format).

Jan-Christopher Horak has written a superlative history of this film and to him I would direct the serious film buff for further explanation about the butchery this film has been subjected to.

Mr. Horak's research tells us that we may never see this film the way G.W. Pabst intended. Isn't it a pity...

This is the best version out there. Furthermore, this 1990 KINO release (listed as such on the Amazon product page) does match the picture shown, but that release is 96 minutes long. I own a copy of that 1990 video release and verified it. Says it clearly on the box and also the tape label. I don't know why the product page lists this release as 126 minutes, nor why another reviewer here acts as if the KINO is indeed 126... baloney. And the other listings here, especially the 153 minute "Hollywood" release for sale...bah...that's just total hogwash. No such thing exists.

Awfully cutted version, 30 minutes shorter than written on the disc. And film is not from 1927, but from 1925