Underworld (1927)

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writers:

Charles Furthman (adaptation)
Ben Hecht (story)

Release Date:

20 August 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

'Nobody helps me -- I help them!' boasts open-handed gangster Bull Weed, handing over what will prove...

Plot Keywords:

Gangster | Revenge | Irish American | Judge | Murder

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

George Bancroft	...	'Bull' Weed
Evelyn Brent	...	'Feathers' McCoy
Clive Brook	...	Rolls Royce Wensel
Fred Kohler	...	'Buck' Mulligan
Helen Lynch	...	Meg, Mulligan's Girl
Larry Semon	...	'Slippy' Lewis
Jerry Mandy	...	Paloma

Also Known As:

Paying the Penalty (UK)

Runtime:

80 min | Portugal:87 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Finland:K-8 (1992) | Finland:(Banned) (1929) | Portugal:17 (director's cut)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The film was predicted to be a flop, was shelved by Paramount and eventually released in only one theater in New York. Screenwriter 'Ben Hecht' demanded that his name was taken off the credits. As a result of strong word-of-mouth the movie became an enormous hit and won Hecht the first of his two Academy Awards.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Scarface (1983)

ethics

One of the great joys of prohibition-era gangster films is the colorful dialogue spat out by the likes of James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson. As that element would, obviously, be missing from a silent film, I wasn't sure how I would react to Underworld.

Not to worry. This is a great film, one of the best prohibition-era gangster films I've seen, ranking slightly ahead of Little Caesar and the Public Enemy, and maybe only slightly below Scarface (1932). Tough, tense, tightly written--interestingly, Howard Hawks is credited for the scenario--and with gorgeous DARK cinematography and Josef von Sternberg's usual excellence in direction. I barely missed the lack of gangster-speak.

I suppose this film was a template upon which a lot of gangster films were based. It struck me while watching it how much it had in common with the Coen brothers' Miller's Crossing (1990)--a love triangle between a mob boss, his moll, and his right hand man. And it's all about the gangsters' peculiar code of ethics.

I'd rate it a perfect 10, but for a muddled and badly-handled prison break sequence, which I watched three times and still couldn't figure out. Maybe I'm just dense; maybe it was actually a genius bit of filmmaking and it just flew over my head, but for now, 9/10.