The Docks of New York: On the Waterfront
By August 24, 2010
The Docks of New York is one of those orphaned silents, released in 1928, the very end of the . . . Read more »
Film Info
- United States
- 1928
- 75 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- English
- Spine #531
Roughneck stoker Bill Roberts (George Bancroft) gets into all sorts of trouble during a brief shore leave when he falls hard for Mae (Betty Compson), a wise and weary dance-hall girl, in Josef von Sternberg’s evocative portrait of lower-class waterfront folk. Fog-enshrouded cinematography by Harold Rosson (The Wizard of Oz), expressionist set design by Hans Dreier (Sunset Boulevard), and sensual performances by Bancroft and Compson make this one of the legendary director’s finest works, and one of the most exquisitely crafted films of its era.
Cast
| The Stoker | George Bancroft |
| His Pal | Clyde Cook |
| A Girl | Betty Compson |
| The Third Engineer | Mitchell Lewis |
| His Wife | Olga Baclanova |
| Hymn-book Harry | Gustav von Seyffertitz |
Credits
| Director | Josef von Sternberg |
| Photographed by | Harold Rosson |
| Story and screenplay | Jules Furthman |
| Suggested by | John Monk Saunders' "The Dock Walloper" |
| Titles by | Julian Johnson |
| Editing | Helen Lewis |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Two scores, one by Robert Israel and another by Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton
- Swedish television interview from 1968 with director Josef von Sternberg
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