
Underworld. 1927. USA. Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Screenplay by Robert N. Lee. With George Bancroft, Evelyn Brent, Clive Brook. 35mm. Silent, with musical accompaniment. Approx. 80 min.
“Realistic treatment of violence and crime, fairly common in the earlier days of the movies, had been so steadily, if imperceptibly, banished from the screen latterly that Underworld upon its appearance created a considerable impression with its relatively frank and uncompromising picture of gangster land, and its comparative lack of whitewash. This was the first professional film of Josef von Sternberg, though he had previously directed The Salvation Hunters, which made independently in Hollywood at amazingly little cost.”