The Docks of New York

Moviecut—The Docks of New York

source: The Docks of New York

Some of my most cherished impressions come from filmmakers who have this unique ability, as I have discovered, to paint a beautiful image with the notions that give rise to it built-in; it has to do with how a source outsources itself to itself and in that space creates a visible illusion, that is to say creates a living theater in which she is both author and player. Tarkovsky. Mizoguchi minus the melodrama. Storytelling in these cases is nothing more than our proxy in a world made of stories; something's got to be unfolding on that stage for us to be able to sift inside. Sternberg has given me one such film before this, so that alone ensures I will be always interested in what he had to say. But now and then in my journeys through these otherwise visionary makers I encounter a film like this; perfectly well-drawn, with a story finely crafted, fine acting, but I just don't know what to do with it. It's a straight romance between these two people who were never too good and never all bad, who made they choices they could. They are hurt or embittered, but sail through as best they can. Before they meet she has already given up and let sink. The story behind is more interesting; the woman is saved by him from death, and is thus given a new lease, a new life to be reborn into - he tells her her sins were all washed away in the slush - and she then turns for guidance to this man with the life-wisdom of sailing; who toils in the coalblack bowels of a ship, and now and then surfaces above for a night in the shared life. What he can teach her is this: life as the transient cycle of constant renewal, between anonymous work and small pleasure, between suffering and grace. The world shared between these two people is an incredibly rich construct, it suggests passage inside. The passage begins with a watery reflection suddenly rippled as the woman jumps into water. We don't see the action, the life going out of the world, only how it ripples across the surface. It's magic cinema. Unfortunately for me, Sternberg doesn't swim in these dim reflections. The rest of the film is written in crystal-clear waters. You can look down and see everything swimming where it's supposed to. Oh, it's perfectly fine as is, but it's all floating on the surface; the hidden streams and ebbs that move these people are forgotten in lieu of the more pressing but ultimately mundane social anxieties of the waking world. Is he going to stick with her, is he going to leave? More importantly, has she learned what was worth for him to leave behind?

Josef von Sternberg is a director not very well known among the normal audience. He is a legend to be learned thoroughly. The movie is about a ship worker called Bill. He has just one night to spend ashore. He finds a young lady, Mae, trying to commit suicide in the sea. He helps her and takes to the near by bar. Later Bill asks her to marry him on an instant. The bar then gets ready for the wedding at that night. The rest you should watch and enjoy!. It is hard to believe that the entire movie was shot on a Hollywood sound stage. The set was so perfect to be made up. Josef von Sternberg is always an expert at it. If you are a movie freak, this movie should be added to the watch list. A worth watch. #KiduMovie

Film that tells a story to which could have been extracted much more benefit. aesthetically very influenced by the German expressionist movement. The result is a cold movie that does not leave much memory. Even some point are not clear enough such as the reasons why the girl protagonist tries to commit suicide. It seems a training of Von Sternberg, (not to be confused with Von Stroheim) -Too much German "Von" aristocratic in Hollywood those days- Anyway this movie looks like an essay for his farther works.

It's the fine directing and good performances that really make the film worth watching. The story is interesting enough, covering one night ashore in the life of ship stoker, Bill Roberts (George Bancroft), and the mysterious beauty he meets (Betty Compson). Bancroft is all masculinity as Roberts, a man who won't let anything or anyone stand in the way of what he wants. He meets his match, though, in Compson, who is all sex appeal as Mea, the seductive but troubled blonde with a dark past. These two are backed up with good supporting performances from the rest of the cast, the only exception being Olga Baclanova, who hams it up more than necessary. Director Josef Von Sternberg handles the ensemble cast well, giving each character importance. He also does a good job of portraying and letting us experience the seedy life they live. Nonetheless, some of the main characters aren't fleshed out enough for us to understand their actions. The film also tries too hard at times to be shocking and edgy. All in all, it's not the best film ever, but it has enough good qualities to be enjoyable.

Docks of New York (1928) is a prime example of the power of silent film at its height. After 1928, the medium would be crushed underneath the rise of sound technology, which was a shame considering how technically dazzling and sophisticated they had become by the latter half of the 1920s. The film is a character study of a rough stoker and a suicidal woman. The two fall in love after he rescues her from an attempt to take her own life, though there is a chance they may be separated by the stoker's aversion to commitment and responsibility. The characters are all flawed, compelling people, each one brought to life with subtle performances from the leading actors. The atmosphere is appropriately seedy and dark, with chiaroscuro lighting and crowded spaces. It's a slow film, one that will not please those who prefer more plot or action, but it is worth your time, showcasing silent cinema at its loftiest heights. It is films like Docks of New York which make one wish the silent era had lingered on a little while longer.

What a treat this tough, realistic movie is. George Bancroft, Betty Compson, and Olga Baclanova are all great is this cynical yet tender story of the waterfront. Director Josef von Sternberg fills a simple tale with pathos and great atmosphere. Tough stoker Bancroft rescues a girl (Compson) from a suicide attempt and "marries" her for a night of fun. But he gets involved in a web of murder, thievery, and drunkenness. When Norma Desmond said "we had faces then" in Sunset Boulevard (and yes I know it was Gloria Swanson), Betty Compson was at the top of the list. With her big eyes and crooked mouth, Compson was expert at expressing emotion with a twist of the mouth, a flick of the eyelashes. She is wonderful here as Mae, the waterfront gal. Bancroft is also terrific as the big lug who falls hard for Mae. And Baclanova, best remembered for "Freaks" is a dynamo as the wronged wife. Great scenes of water and fog and birds serve as a backdrop to the drama that enfolds. Bancroft and Compson won Oscar nominations in the early days of the award and are pretty much forgotten now, but they serve up sparks here in this terrific film. A must see!

Intense drama that has a story line so strong that after awhile you forget the film is silent. Performances by George Bancroft and Betty Compson are brilliant. Curious that this film is not better known or praised more by critics. A true example of how artistic silent films became right before the advent of sound.

One of the fascinating things about the movie to me was that, before he fetishized Dietrich, Sternberg's erotic sensibility seems broader. The opening scene of the men in the boiler room of a ship, wiping oil and coal dust from their gleaming skin, is one of the few times that he dwells on the male body that I can recall. And George Bancroft's swaggering, boisterous Bill is the most virile male I've seen in any of Sternberg's movies -- other than Bancroft as Bull Weed in UNDERWORLD from the year before. Of course, once Betty Compson splashes into the story, the camera loves her world-weary, wry beauty, and Sternberg constantly reminds us that she's naked under her clothing. As in his later, sound films, the settings are also sensual and full of complicated textures, reflections, and depth, with some great dockside shots in a foggy night. The story itself is a fairly simple, but it has a warmth and genuine (or even sentimental) sympathy for love that is perhaps lost in the power struggles of Sternberg's Dietrich films. All four major characters are strongly drawn, rough-hewn, and well-played. Along with Bancroft and Compson, Olga Baclanova (of FREAKS fame) is also especially good as a sailor's bitter, abandoned wife. The dialogue in the intertitles is full of hard-boiled gems, as when the wedding ceremony is rendered, "If any of you eggs know why these heels shouldn't get hitched, speak now or forever after hold your trap!" Kevin Brownlow says in THE PARADE'S GONE BY that THE DOCKS OF NEW YORK is Sternberg's finest film, and it may be so. I love the Dietrich films, and the bizarre SHANGHAI GESTURE, but DOCKS stands out for the sweet grittiness.