Product Details

• Actors: Renate Brausewetter, Gregori Chmara, Mario Cusmich, Agnes Esterhazy, Karl Etlinger
• Directors: Georg Wilhelm Pabst
• Writers: F.H. Lyon, Hugo Bettauer, Willy Haas
• Producers: Jan-Christopher Horak, Michael Salkind, Romain Pinès
• Format: Black & White, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Kino International
• VHS Release Date: October 15, 1990
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301826671
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,761 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #22 in	Video > Classics > Silent Films > International
  #46 in	Video > Art House & International > European Cinema > Germany > Drama

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Early Garbo - Always Wonderful, October 17, 2001

By	D. A Wend (Buffalo Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memorable Pabst Film, Gritty and Intense, May 29, 2002

By	Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars do not buy this version, December 21, 2006

By	Sandy Camargo - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Joyless Street [VHS] (VHS Tape)

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.