Die freudlose Gasse (1925)

Director:

Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Writers:

Hugo Bettauer (novel) and
F.H. Lyon (translator)

Release Date:

5 July 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Vienna in the biggest depression, directly after WW1. In a slum, Lila Leid, the wife of lawyer Leid is murdered...

Plot Keywords:

Money | Food | Nightclub | Depression | Brothel

Cast

Renate Brausewetter	...	Frau (uncredited)
Gregori Chmara	...	Kellner (uncredited)
Mario Cusmich	...	Col. Irving (uncredited)
Agnes Esterhazy	...	Regina Rosenow (uncredited)
Karl Etlinger	...	Max Rosenow (uncredited)
Maria Forescu	...	Uncredited (uncredited)
Jaro Fürth	...	Hofrat Rumfort (uncredited)
Greta Garbo	...	Greta Rumfort (uncredited)
Robert Garrison	...	Don Alfonso Canez (uncredited)
Valeska Gert	...	Mrs. Greifer (uncredited)
Tamara Geva	...	Lia Leid (uncredited)
Ilka Grüning	...	Mrs. Rosenow (uncredited)
Einar Hanson	...	Lt. Davis (uncredited)
Max Kohlhase	...	Maria's Father (uncredited)
Krafft-Raschig	...	American Soldier (uncredited)
Werner Krauss	...	Butcher of Melchior Street (uncredited)
Lya Mara	...	Uncredited (uncredited)
Edna Markstein	...	Mrs. Merkel (uncredited)
Alexander Murski	...	Dr. Leid (uncredited)
Loni Nest	...	Rosa Rumfort (uncredited)
Asta Nielsen	...	Maria Lechner (uncredited)
Iván Petrovich	...	Uncredited (uncredited)
Raskatoff	...	Trebitsch (uncredited)
Otto Reinwald	...	(uncredited)
Henry Stuart	...	Egon Stirner (uncredited)
Gräfin Tolstoi	...	Fräulein Henriette (uncredited)
Sylvia Torf	...	Maria's Mother (uncredited)
Hertha von Walther	...	Else (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Joyless Street (UK)
The Joyless Street (USA)
The Street of Sorrow (USA)
Viennese Love (Canada: English title)

Runtime:

125 min | France:94 min (1981 restored version) | Germany:175 min (1998 restored version at Berlin Film Festival, 16 fps) | Spain:109 min | Belgium:115 min (copy with English titles at Brussels Musée du Cinéma) | Germany:148 min (1998 restored version at Arte/ZDF, 19 fps) | 142 min (1998 restored version on DVD, 20 fps) | Germany:151 min (2009 DVD, 19 fps)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:(Banned) (1925)

Company:

Sofar-Film

Trivia:

The dark-haired woman waiting in the butcher shop line who is often mistaken for Marlene Dietrich is actually Hertha von Walther. She had a much larger role in the original uncut version of the film. She can also be seen as the lab assistant in Geheimnisse einer Seele (1926) with Werner Krauss.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Den talende muse - samtaler med Asta Nielsen (2003)

Interesting silent drama...

1st watched 2/6/2007,61 minute edited version - 6 out of 10 (Dir-G.W. Pabst): Interesting silent drama that shows the major differences between upper-echelon and depression Austria after World War I and portrays it very well for the most part. The movie turns into a romantic piece in the last quarter which negates it's effectiveness but still shows us more than we normally see from this type of film. Greta Garbo plays in what is labeled as her first starring role in the version I watched, and does an admiral job as the daughter of a retired civil servant who's always trying to do the right thing to help her family's financial situation but it never seems to work out. Her performance is all about her facial and body gestures which, of course, is a must for a silent film and she is excellent with this. The hero in the film is an American do-gooder who helps the family survive by moving into their home and paying rent, but the authorities would prefer that he mingle with the uppity crowd and soon removes him from the setting. Everything works out in the end like a good Hollywood movie, which in my opinion takes away from the effectiveness of what could have been a more impressive piece of movie-making.