THUNDERBOLT (1929)

While pacing tends toward Early Talkie slow in director Josef von Sternberg’s synch-sound debut, visual flair & fluid camera work are nearly as striking as in his silents, largely making up for technically generated longueurs.  And with story, dialogue & characterization from Charles & Jules Furthman with Herman Mankiewicz, building on modern movie gangster foundations as codified by Ben Hecht for Sternberg in UNDERWORLD/’27*, the film offers far more than mere historic interest.  George Bancroft, in his fourth & last Sternberg pic, brings a deep voice & halting speech to tough-guy/crime boss Thunderbolt, dodging fate and police to keep Fay Wray by his side and away from handsome pup Richard Arlen.  Even in romantic defeat, he’s still able to pull strings after landing on Death Row to frame Arlen on a murder rap.  Will he fess up and save the boy for his ex lover, or watch the kid walk to the chair before him?  Lovingly restored on Kino Lorber, the soundtrack notably improved, the better to hear every poisoned pearl of wisdom in Jules Furthman subversive talk.  As the warden, Tully Marshall is priceless, bemoaning his position to the condemned men.  Naturally, a Black prisoner is around to sing spirituals, but also working upright piano when we’re not being treated to competition in the form of a Death Row Barbershop Quartet . . . with a fast changing line-up.  Yikes!  When’s the new tenor arriving?  Wonderful/appalling stuff.  Beautifully designed (by Hans Dreier) and shot (Henry Gerrard), Sternberg would soon be off to Germany, and destiny, hiring Marlene Dietrich to star in THE BLUE ANGEL.  But these four with Bancroft (one now lost), along with THE LAST COMMAND/’28*, already stamped with greatness.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *As mentioned above, two of Sternberg’s best silents: UNDERWORLD and THE LAST COMMAND/’28.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2011/07/underworld-1927.html   https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2011/04/last-command-1928.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Someone took the trouble to make this film racially diverse, and not only in prison.  Check out the Black-owned & operated nightclub with a mixed clientele watching an All-Black floorshow.  That’s gorgeous Theresa Harris debuting with a hot number on stage, before Hollywood demoted her to the usual maid & servant roles.