The Docks of New York (1928)
Movie Info
Cast
as Bill Roberts
as Sadie
as Lou
as "Sugar" Steve
as Third Engineer
as "Hymn Book" Harry
as The Crimp
as Mrs. Crimp
as Steve's Girl
Critic Reviews for The Docks of New York
All Critics (13) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (0) | DVD (1)
Sternberg suppresses direct emotional appeal to concentrate on something infinitely fine: a series of minute, discrete moral discoveries and philosophical realignments among his characters.
In a way lost to contemporary social-work movies, von Sternberg's unsentimental poetic realism ennobles his lower-class protagonists through beauty. Classic.
It fulfills their requirements, somewhat obscure to this reviewer, of rhythm, plasticity and unity. In simpler and more popular terms, it seems to be exceptionally good motion picture entertainment.
It's a corking program picture, thanks to George Bancroft, a good story and Julian Johnson's titles.
The film's romantic fatalism is compelling, and von Sternberg creates some stunning imagery out of his lowlife settings.
Josef von Sternberg enjoys a challenge, so he pulls into Borzage's waterfront to suppress and heighten emotionalism with sang-froid deadpans.
Audience Reviews for The Docks of New York
A ship worker falls for a suicidal woman. Much of George Bancroft's performance as Bill Roberts is spent strutting and posing with a masculine air that borders on satire, and the plot of the film is victim to silent film's inability to express full character interaction: if this is a love story, it's a love that the audience must endow with its own background and motivations. However, the film is a technical achievement. The cinematography is beautiful, and while Bill is a tough guy to like, there's enough compassion in him that we can find ourselves siding with him. This is a seedy world, and director Joseph von Sternberg presents it in all its bleak charm. There aren't many good guys, so von Sternberg makes the bad guys all themore interesting. Overall, this is a solid and remarkable film but not without its flaws.
Super Reviewer
In "The Docks of New York," Bill Roberts(George Bancroft) is a stoker on board of a steamboat that is about to dock for a night in New York. As such, he has plans but is warned not to be late for the boat's departure in the morning. Those same plans hit a snag when Bill dives into the harbor to rescue Mae(Betty Compson) who just tried to kill herself. As she recovers her wits, they get to know each other. Just after he shows off his tattoos, she pops the question. "The Docks of New York" is an engrossing and lively film about people in the lowest rungs of life who are not so much given a reprieve, but just the barest glimmer of hope. At the start, Mae has given up on any possibilties for her future while Bill takes advantage of whatever fun he can find for himself, when he is not at his grueling job, to enjoy himself and forget everything else. All of which is set in a close knit community of people who look out for each other when they have nothing else.
Super Reviewer
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