Underworld (1927 film)
| Underworld | |
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 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Josef von Sternberg |
| Produced by | Hector Turnbull |
| Written by | Charles Furthman Robert N. Lee |
| Starring | George Bancroft Clive Brook Evelyn Brent Larry Semon Fred Kohler |
| Cinematography | Bert Glennon |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 20 August 1927 |
| Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
Underworld (also released as Paying the Penalty) is a 1927 silent crime film directed by Josef von Sternberg.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
[edit] Cast
- George Bancroft as "Bull" Weed
- Evelyn Brent as "Feathers" McCoy
- Clive Brook as "Rolls Royce" Wensel
- Fred Kohler as "Buck" Mulligan
- Helen Lynch as Meg, Mulligan's girl
- Larry Semon as "Slippy" Lewis
- Jerry Mandy as Paloma
[edit] Production background
Originally, it was to have been directed by Arthur Rosson, but he was fired by Paramount Pictures. It was written by Ben Hecht, adapted by Charles Furthman and Robert N. Lee, with titles by George Marion Jr.. It was produced by B.P. Schulberg and Hector Turnbull with cinematography by Bert Glennon and edited by E. Lloyd Sheldon.
Paramount Pictures initially predicted this film to be a failure and therefore released it in only one theater initially in New York. Ben Hecht even asked for his name to be taken off the credits. After strong word-of-mouth, the movie went on to become a hit.
The gangster role played by George Bancroft was modeled on "Terrible" Tommy O'Connor, an Irish-American mobster who gunned down Chicago Police Chief Padraig O'Neil in 1923 but escaped three days before execution and was never apprehended.[2]
[edit] Reception
TIME felt the film was realistic in some parts, but disliked the Hollywood cliche of turning an evil character's heart to gold at the end.[3]
Ben Hecht won the Academy Award for Writing in the 1st Academy Awards ceremony in 1927 for his work on this film.
Underworld was nominated for AFI's Top 10 Gangster Films list.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ "Silent Era: Underworld". silentera.com. http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/U/Underworld1927.html. Retrieved 2011-09-24.
- ^ Jay Robert Nash (1981). Almanac of World Crime. Anchor Press/Doubleday. pp. 145–146. ISBN 0385150032.
- ^ "New Pictures: Sep. 5, 1927"
- ^ AFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot
[edit] External links
- Underworld at the Internet Movie Database
- Underworld at AllRovi
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