The Criterion DVD offers a superb restoration of this famous title, but G. B. Pabst’s film of the legendary Brecht/Weill production still represents a missed opportunity of epic proportions. The sets, fluid camera work (by the great F. A. Wagner) & cast are all one could hope for, but Pabst, dipping into Brecht’s largely rejected rewrite, stitched his thieves, bankers, capitalists & prostitutes together into forced parallels. The original concept was far less doctrinaire and (crucially) had twice as much music as you'll hear in this adaptation. Perhaps so much music has gone missing since Brecht could never quite forgive Weill for making him, of all things, a commercial success. A difficult spot for Brecht. (Brecht did everything possible to sabotage their follow-up collaboraton, HAPPY END, yet Weill's phenomenal score triumphs over the messed up libretto.) It’s still essential viewing for anyone interested in Weimar, Berlin culture in the ‘20s, Hi-Lo art trends or Mackie & his London cutthroats. Oh, but what might have been . . .
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