George Bancroft (Bull Weed), Clive Brook (Rolls Royce), Evelyn Brent (Feathers McCoy), Larry Semon (Slippy Lewis), Fred Kohler (Buck Mulligan), Helen Lynch (Mulligan's girl-friend), Jerry Mandy (Paloma), Karl Morse (High Collar Sam), Alfred Allen (judge), Shep Houghton (street kid), Julian Rivero (Mulligan henchman).Director. JOSEF VON STERNBERG. Screenplay: Howard Hawks. Adapted by Robert N. Lee and Charles Furthman from the story by Ben Hecht. Titles: George Marion, Jr. Director of photography: Bert Glennon. Supervising film editor: E. Lloyd Sheldon. 2nd unit director: Henry Hathaway. Art director: Hans Dreier. Associate producer: B.P. Schulberg. Producer: Hector Turnbull. Presented by Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky.Copyright 29 October 1927 by Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. New York opening at the Paramount, 2 August 1927. U.S. release: 29 October 1927. 8 reels. 7,643 feet.SYNOPSIS: New member of an underworld gang takes an interest in the boss' moll.NOTES: Academy Award, Original Story, Ben Hecht (defeating The Last Command and The Patent Leather Kid). Number 8 in The Film Daily 1927 poll of U.S. film critics.COMMENT: Just as entertaining today as when first released nearly 80 years ago, this fast-paced story (with concise, often-amusing titles by George Marion, Jr.) is made marvelously vivid by von Sternberg's passion for atmospheric effects (especially in the fantastic climax) and by a number of particularly vibrant performances. Miss Brent is perfect. Her first scene with the reformed Clive Brook is an acting tour-de-force. Mr. Brook is also quite extraordinary. In his introductory scenes he is almost unrecognizable, making the transition from bum to gentleman crook with a polished ease that dazzles with fluid charm. Can this be the same wooden Brook that gave such stiff performances in early talkies? Bancroft is also a powerhouse, and all are well served by von Sternberg's (don't take any notice of the name on the credits) film noir photography. (The photographer's union enforced the rule that one of their members be engaged, even if he did no work and offered no suggestions.)

Joining in a poll on ICM for a poll on the best movies of 1927,I started looking for titles at the last minute. While scrolling for short films I stumbled on a Silent Film Noir. Just beating Fritz Lang's Noir-style Spiv epic Spiones,I was thrilled to discover that this appears to be the first ever full-on Film Noir.The plot:Proudly robbing stores sing-handed, 'Bull' Weed feels top of the world. Using some of his cold hard cash,"Bull" gets lawyer 'Rolls Royce' Wensel back on his feet,and starts working with him. Whilst becoming an unstoppable team, 'Rolls Royce' starts feeling tempted to steal what is most valuable to Bull:his girlfriend 'Feathers' McCoy. Caught up in a shoot-out with thug 'Buck' Mulligan,Bull lands in a Death Row pen. Needing help to escape,Bull discovers the loyalties of the underworld. View on the film:Paving the path of a new genre/style,director Josef von Sternberg (replacing fired Arthur Rosson) and cinematographer Bert Glennon pave the path with an extraordinary confidence,as ultra-stylised blasts of smoke gunfire give the shootouts a frantic energy which is still felt in Neo-Noir and Crime films. Sending 'Feathers' in the air with glowing lights giving this deadly siren a Femme Fatale aura,Sternberg gives the melodrama romance between 'Bull'/ 'Feathers' and Rolls Royce a Film Noir grilling via the locations having a documentary grit and hanging shadows lighting the darkness awaiting the trio.Wanting his name (and that of co-writers Howard Hawks/Charles Furthman & Robert N. Lee) removed from what was expected by the studio to be a flop, Ben Hecht ended up winning Best Screenplay at the first ever Oscar's.Giving a voice to the genre,Hecht makes the dialogue crackle with a rich pessimism,lit by an awareness from Bull of sinking into the depths of the underworld.Stepping into the first pair of Femme Fatale heels,the elegant Evelyn Brent gives a marvellous performance as 'Feathers',whose Melodrama romantic feelings towards the guys is given a Film Noir sass by Brent which is as light as a feather. Taking aim at the Noir loner figure, George Bancroft gives a magnificent performance as 'Bull',which strikes with a burning madness in Bull's eyes,which Bancroft subtly underlines with a growing sorrow,as Film Noir comes out of the underworld.

Of the three silent classics made by Josef von Sternberg in the 1920s, "The Last Command" and "The Docks of New York" were declared part of the US National Film Registry, but according to my personal taste and appreciation of film art, the obvious choice for this distinction should have been "Underworld". Sternberg would later meet Marlene Dietrich for the classic early sound film "The Blue Angel" and become the creator of the "Marlene myth"; but in "Underworld" there are already hints of mastery of composition and framing, without the tendency to exotica through the eyes of Hollywood displayed in the Dietrich films ("Morocco", "Blonde Venus", "Shanghai Express", for example), although a couple of them are good. "Underworld" is the fascinating story of the rise, decadence and fall of a criminal (George Bancroft) in luscious black & white: for those who have seen Howard Hawks' "Scarface" (1932), the plot may seem familiar, because both films are based on a story by Ben Hecht, who won one of the first Oscars when there was an Academy Award for "Best Story", for his tale of "Underworld". Closer to Expressionism than Hawks' film, and away from the strident first experimentations with sound, "Underworld" is an elegant motion picture, with seductive silhouettes and aural suggestions, to evoke the climate of violence that determines the story. A must-see film.

I just saw a re-issue of this film tonight as part of the 26th annual Three Rivers Film Festival in Pittsburgh and I was highly satisfied. The Alloy Orchestra were on-hand to provide an all-new live score, which created a near-perfect match for this underrated classic.The acting was spot-on (although admittedly a much different style than modern audiences are used to), the set design and lighting were pitch-perfect (check out the copious amounts of confetti at the Underworld Ball), and the complexities of the characters and plot line far exceeded anything I was expecting from an 80 year-old film. Suffice it to say that modern cinema has not cornered the market on engaging, surprising and provocative storytelling.If you have a chance to see Underworld, particularly when accompanied by the Alloy Orchestra, take the opportunity. It's a rarefied experience that's well worth your 90 minutes.