Underworld (1927)
Directed by:	Josef von Sternberg
Written by:	Ben Hecht, George Furthman, Robert N. Lee, and George Marion Jr.
Cinematography by:	Bert Glennon
Starring:	George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook, Fred Kohler, Helen Lynch, and Larry Semon
Rated:	not rated
Running Time:	80 minutes
File Under:	Silent

In this seminal and violent gangster film, which was banned in Finland, George Bancroft plays Bull Weed, a notorious bank robber who steals with impunity and flauts the law, living the high life with his moll "Feathers" (Evelyn Brent) on his arm. He's one of those magnetic goons who are endlessly fascinating and repellent at the same time. After robbing a bank, he kidnaps the only witness, an alcoholic lawyer (Clive Brook). Instead of killing him, he takes pity on the drunk and gets him a job at a seedy bar frequented by gangsters.

Ben Hecht won the first Oscar given for original story (his first of two wins), but he was upset because Josef von Sternberg supposedly ruined his scenario, so he refused the Oscar. He eventually accepted it, only to use it as a doorstop. Two things: I doubt that von Sternberg could be blamed for any "ruining," since Furthman, Lee, and an uncredited Howard Hawks reworked Hecht's story, and von Sternberg was the second director to work on the project, since Arthur Rosson was fired from the project. Second, and most important, is that Hecht was so enthralled with his own ideas that he didn't realize that what the collective filmmakers did worked. This is a really good film, full of tension, action, unrequited love, and great performances. I don't know what Hecht's story was like, but the finished product, after it was "ruined," is quality stuff.

This page copyright 2004 by Michael W. Phillips Jr.