Customer Reviews

Underworld (1927)

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"Underworld" was the first studio film directed by Josef von Sternberg, a surprise hit for Paramount in 1927. Ben Hecht wrote the story, inspired by a couple of real Chicago gangsters, but was so disappointed by the sentimentality of von Sternberg's film that he wanted his name removed from the credits. Even so, Hecht had the honor of winning the first ever Academy Award for Best Original Story for "Underworld" in 1929. It's a gangster movie, romance, comedy, and action film, all rolled together, amid the glamour and revelry of the Roaring Twenties.

Bull Weed (George Bancroft) is a bank robber who lives large and generously. He adores his flapper girlfriend Feathers (Evelyn Brent), called that because she favors feathered fashions. He bankrolls a drunkard whom he met on the street, cleans him up and christens him Rolls Royce (Clive Brook), who becomes the brains of the operation. But the police are determined to capture Bull Weed. Bull's fun-loving nature conceals a jealous rage that surfaces if another man should look at Feathers. And Bull's hatred of rival gangster Buck Mulligan (Fred Kohler) may be his undoing.

"Underworld" showcases von Sternberg's talent for striking lighting and composition. It's fantastic to look at. I found the characters underdeveloped, though, and the story uninteresting until about the halfway mark, when events at an annual amnesty ball turn ugly and set the film in motion. The pace picks up, relationships become more complex, and the characters and the story engage. Von Sternberg's representation of the empty values of the ball is hard-hitting. His talent for explosive action is undeniable. And drama is interspersed with comedic moments, without ever undercutting it.