I just got back from the annual silent film screening at the Maryland Film
Festival, held at the Charles Theatre in Baltimore. This year's film was
"Underworld", accompanied with an excellent score by the Alloy Orchestra.

Josef von Sternberg's career was launched, after one or two false starts,
with the splendid gangster film, "Underworld", produced at Paramount
Pictures in 1927. The film is the prototypical gangster film, spawning a
whole series of pictures that would really flourish in the early years of
the following decade, when the technological introduction of sound in film
gave whole new possibilities to the genre.

Watching a silent gangster film such as this one, or Lewis Milestone's "The
Racket" from the following year, it can be difficult to remember that at the
time, audiences didn't have films like "Little Caesar" and "The Public
Enemy" to compare it against. Those films so completely formed the gangster
film, with the gangster-slang dialog, machine gun rattle and police sirens
on the soundtrack. Watching "Underworld", it's easy to imagine it as a sound
film. In fact, this is a criticism of Sternberg's silent work in general
that I've read in several different sources. Ironically, his sound films,
especially "The Scarlet Empress", had an amazingly fluid camera style and
stylized design that link them with the best techniques of the silent era.

It's also a good example of how a completely routine story can be greatly
enhanced by the style and visual flourishes of the director. There was one
bit in particular that stood out to me. Just after the main gangster, Bull
Weed (played by George Bancroft) has gone on a rampage, he holes up in his
apartment, trying to decide what to do next, and as he is thinking, gently
feeds a stray kitten some milk that has just been delivered. It's a
seemingly minor touch, but is a great, subtle character moment in the middle
of the film that allows the audience to feel sympathy for him.

The performances were quite good, particularly Clive Brook, who delivered an
incredible performance in "Cavalcade", one of my very favorite films. It was
also a treat to see silent screen comedian Larry Semon in a rare,
semi-dramatic supporting role.

There were moments of the film that really stood out as examples of silent
film technique at its finest: the opening shot, of a clock reading "2:00 am"
superimposed over a giant skyscraper and the camera moves during the scene
in which the two gangsters confront eachother at the nightclub. There was
also an interesting but brief montage of the various underworld characters
gathered at the annual party, with the shots growing increasingly frantic
and more chaotic.

The score was provided by the Alloy Orchestra, who always provide fine
accompaniment to the silent films shown at the Maryland Film Festival, and
this was no exception. The score really captured the energy of the film
without being overpowering, and also captured the lighter moments quite
well.

--
Matt Barry
View my films at:www.youtube.com/comedyfilm
Read my blog at:http://filmreel.blogspot.com