The Docks of New York

Of course, no waterfront in the world was ever as deliciously seedy as set designer Hans Dreier's in this amazingly atmospheric and evocative masterpiece of late silent cinema. The story is rather tawdry, cheapish even, but plots are very rarely the point of a movie anyway, and Josef von Sternberg has made the perfect film out of next to nothing.

'The Docks of New York' is about a rough and ready stoker, Bill (George Bancroft), on leave for the night. He goes to the Sandbar and gets into a brawl with Hymn-Book Harry (the ever sleazy Gustav von Seyffertitz), and on the way back saves a young girl, Mae the tough kookie (Betty Compson) from drowning herself. Slowly they sorta kinda fall in love and he marries her on the spur of the moment, but what will they do the next morning when Bill is supposed to sail off again? The most astonishing thing about 'The Docks of New York' is its subtlety. We have no heroes or simplified villains here, just people who have had a hard time all their lives and are reluctant to be redeemed. The concept of love in this sneering, loud-mouthed environment is completely alien. "I hope you have better luck than me", says Olga Baclanova's character to Mae on her way to the slammer, "but I doubt it". It is Baclanova who says on the subject of decency that she was decent "before I got married".

It goes without saying that the film is acted as naturalistically as anything we see today, that Compson & Bancroft absolutely shine as the unlikely lovers, grittily played and with no sentimentality. The lighting is superb, photography stupendous, direction acute, and the edition you are most likely to see looks fabulous.

For me, this comes a close second to "Underworld" in Sternberg's films: the twists and turns of the melodramatic plot become ultimately a little too much for me to swallow (a twist too far?), and I found some of the camera devices simply distracting, but even so the film is more or less won by virtue of the impressive acting from all concerned. Betty Compson (who was soon to receive a well-deserved Oscar nomination for her role in the part-talkie "The Barker") stands out as the fragile, cynical girl who has "had too many good times" already but allows herself to believe in the possibility of redemption; Baclanova is memorable as the petty officer's deserted wife, while George Bancroft is a cheerful, callous but not unkindly Colossus of a stoker. The weary, sensitive features of Gustav von Seyffertitz, in a small role as the threadbare Bible-basher who ministers to this godless 'flock', also make a strong impression. The film is almost all atmosphere, but it is atmosphere well-done.

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!

Docks of New York, The (1928)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Impressive melodrama benefits from some strong performances and some terrific visuals. The film tells the story of Bill Roberts (George Bancroft) a man who lives down on the docks who ends up saving a woman (Betty Compson) from killing herself. Over the period of a day he saves her life, then the two get to know one another before getting married hours later but neither of them know what the future might hold. The plot of this film is pretty simple and in many ways it's not too original but that doesn't hamper the film too much as director von Sternberg has such an amazing eye that each scene contains something fresh even if the story in that scene isn't anything new. I'm not sure how much a better story would have helped overall but it might have benefited in a few ways including the two actually falling for one another. In many ways this film plays out like a lonely males fantasy of him just happening to save a beautiful woman and then she gives him a chance of winning her heart. Being made years before the Code went into full effect allowed the director to show off some darker moments to both characters as it's made clear in a very funny scene that neither person are virgins and that they've both had their share of wild moments. What's most impressive about the direction here is his visual style, which is easily the most impressive that I've seen from him. Just take a look at the scene where Bill saves the woman. The fog is laid on very thick making the scene come off almost like a fantasy sequence and the way von Sternberg edits the thing makes it seem like some sort of strange dreamland. The way the girl is seen, pulled from the water and eventually carried home are all shot very darkly with very little light and what light there is comes mainly from the reflections off the fog. I loved the way von Sternberg shot the scene where the woman comes to and is introduced to the man who saved her. I loved where the camera was placed and how the lighting once again plays a very important part. The atmosphere is a very thick one as you can feel how dirty the docks are and all the people there seem like the type you'd actually find living and working there. Bancroft delivers a very good performance in a role he has no problem playing. The toughness of the character is very believable with Bancroft in the role but he also handles the more quiet and tender moments. Compson has the harder of the two roles as her character is much darker but she has no problem making us care for her. The two don't look like the types who would be together but their performances are so good and the two act so well together that they make us believe. While the film is far from flawless it's well worth watching for the performances and directing.

It was great to see the old New York of the '20's in this movie, only though it's just in a couple of establishment-shots. It still looked so much different of course, with a totally different skyline, without as many and such high skyscrapers as there are this present day.

The build-up of the movie and its drama is done very well. It has a sort of dark and depressing, dirty atmosphere, which suits the movie its time period and themes. The story also all enhances this. I really liked the story, also not in the least that it isn't just another standard written love-story. I also liked how tings came together at the end. The movie really reached a right and satisfying conclusion. The movie however as a whole is a bit too short though perhaps to let all of its drama work out as effective as it perhaps could had. Nevertheless the themes in the movies still work out efficient enough and shows that "The Docks of New York" was a quite edgy and unusual movie for its time.

The movie gets mostly carried by its two main leads, played by George Bancroft and Betty Compson. Both are such compelling characters, greatly and charismatically portrayed by the two main actors, each in their own way. But a complaint would be that's hard at times to always care for the characters. Bill Roberts is one tough hard guy that smacks things around and punches people in the face. And Mae also obviously has some issues and a dark past.

The movie was professionally directed and with some excellent camera-work, that also uses some early moving shots. This also really added up to the movie its quality and atmosphere.

A great unique little film from the silent era!

9/10

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