The New York docks
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The New York docks |
| Original title | The Docks of New York |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1928 |
| length | 8 files, 7202 feet / 2195.24 meters, at 24 fps approx. 80 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Josef von Sternberg |
| script | Jules Furthman |
| production | Josef v. Sternberg, JG Bachmann |
| music |
Willy Schmidt-Gentner (1929) Robert Israel (2010) |
| camera | Harold Rosson |
| cut | Helen Lewis |
| occupation | |
Not in the credits:
| |
The Docks of New York is the title of a silent film drama that Josef von Sternberg directed for Paramount Pictures Co. in 1928 based on a screenplay written by Jules Furthman based on the story The Dock Walloper by John Monk Saunders . George Bancroft , Betty Compson and Olga Baclanova can be seen in the leading roles .
action
Bill, a coarse but good-natured stoker, pulls the dance hall girl Mae out of the water in which she had jumped with suicide on the only night he had left for a shore leave before his steamer left. He steals dry clothes for them, then they go to a pub. Later that evening, he and the rescued girl discuss love and come to the conclusion that they might as well get married. "Hymnal Harry", a self-appointed priest, still trusts her in the pub. The next morning Bill goes to his ship.
Bill's buddy Andy, the steamer's third engineer, is already married, but still approaches Mae in his absence. His jealous wife Lou finds out and kills him in an argument. Mae is arrested for stealing her clothes and has to go to trial.
But Bill cannot forget the girl who is now his wife. He starts an argument with his superior and, as the ship drives along the coast, just jumps overboard and swims ashore. Before the judge, he pleads guilty and goes to prison for Mae; she in turn promises to wait for him until he has served his sentence.
background
The film was made at Paramount Studios. The set was designed by Hans Dreier , the costumes by Travis Banton . Julian Johnson wrote the subtitles. Harold Rosson was in front of the camera . The production was led by the general manager B. P. Schulberg . The film premiered on September 16, 1928 in New York City, New York. A year later he also came to Europe.
In Germany, on April 18, 1929, the film was submitted to the Reichsfilmzensur at a length of 2223 meters and was banned from young people under the number B. 22 235. Alternative titles were “In New York Harbor” or “One Night on Land”. On September 30, 1929 it was premiered in Berlin in the Gloria Palast . Kapellmeister Willy Schmidt-Gentner wrote and conducted the illustration music.
It première on November 19, 1929 in Portugal and on March 10, 1930 in Spain. It also ran across Europe in France, Poland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece and Hungary.
reception
“The Docks of New York” was one of the last successful silent films before the cinema turned to talkies.
The film was reviewed in the New York Times on December 17, 1928; it was complained that it was too long and had a preposterous ending ; nevertheless, “nine tenths of the audience” would enjoy him. Nevertheless, the box office results after the world premiere in the USA fell short of expectations.
The British film historian Kevin Brownlow described “The Docks of New York” in 1968 as “the greatest film Von Sternberg ever made” and not without reason, because “He achieves a feeling of warmth and humanity - he seems to care about his characters .. . "(The Parade's Gone By, p. 198)
The German film theorist Klaus Wyborny defines in Sternberg's handling of the lighting in “The Docks of New York” “the smooth, pleasing narrative form of Hollywood cinema of the time, supported by light effects”.
"The Docks of New York" was also selected for the retrospective at the 2014 Berlinale , which had the motto The Aesthetics of Shadow , because of its "high-contrast camera work, the lighting strategy that accentuates the gender dynamics and also the silhouettes that are particularly evident during the apartment scenes" .
“The shadows are oppressive when the sailors shovel coal on the ship. The light was clouded by fog and rain when Mae woke up deserted the next morning. The characters' feelings and circumstances are particularly emphasized in this film by the lighting. This is where the relationship between the characters and the cold awakening the next morning is hidden when nothing is as it was before. "(Katharina Hetze)
In 1999, the Washington Library of Congress rated the film as "culturally historically, or aesthetically significant" and entered the National Film Registry .
In 2010 Robert Israel wrote new music to accompany "The Docks of New York". Donald Sosin accompanied the performance at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival 2012. Maud Nelissen sat at the piano at the presentation at the 2014 Berlinale .
literature
- John Baxter: The cinema of Josef von Sternberg. Verlag A. Zwemmer, London / New York 1971, pp. 53, 54, 56, 95.
- Kevin Brownlow: The Parade's Gone by… University of California Press, 1968, ISBN 0-520-03068-0 .
- John Douglas Eames: The Paramount story. Publisher Crown, 1985, ISBN 0-517-55348-1 , p. 57.
- Gero Gandert: 1929 - The film of the Weimar Republic . Publisher: Deutsche Kinemathek Foundation. New edition. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 1993, ISBN 3-11-085261-6 .
- Illustrated film courier. No. 1251 (Berlin)
- Eddie Muller: Essay on The Docks of New York. at silentfilm.org 2012.
- Luc Sante: The Docks of New York: On the Waterfront. at The Criterion Collection . August 24, 2010.
- Rudolf Ulrich: Austrians in Hollywood: their contribution to the development of American film . Edition S. Verlag d. Austrian Staatsdr., 1993, ISBN 3-7046-0419-4 , pp. 276, 296, 297.
- Guntram Vogt: The City in Film: German Feature Films 1900–2000 . Verlag Schüren, 2001, ISBN 3-89472-331-9 , p. 209.
- Herman G. Weinberg: Josef von Sternberg; a critical study . Publisher Dutton, 1967, pp. 11, 39, 42.
- Klaus Wyborny: Try. Film theoretical writings volume 3 (= aesthetics and cultural philosophy. Volume 10). LIT Verlag, Münster 2016, ISBN 978-3-643-12311-4 , pp. 141, 147.
- Friedrich von Zglinicki: The way of the film. History of cinematography and its predecessors. Rembrandt Verlag, Berlin 1956.
Web links
- The Docks of New York in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- 1928 Paramount movie poster
- lobby card for "The Docks of New York"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Zglinicki p. 438.
- ↑ Gandert 1929, p. 790 [AS 27]
- ↑ cf. IMDb / release info
- ↑ so moviepilot.de
- ↑ cf. "The Docks of New York" an entertaining picture. In: The New York Times. December 17, 1928. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
- ↑ cf. Baxter S. 54: "The Docks of New York, which followed The Drag Net, is today the most popular of Sternberg's silent films, although it did poorly at the box-office on its release."
- ↑ Film Theoretical Writings Volume 3, p. 141.
- ↑ so “Mr. Vincent Vega ”at moviepilot.de
- ↑ discussed the performance at the Berlinale 2014, cf. aka-filmclub.de