''Underworld'' (also released as ''Paying the Penalty'') is a 1927 American silent

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combi ...

directed by

Josef von Sternberg Josef von Sternberg (; born Jonas Sternberg; May 29, 1894 – December 22, 1969) was an Austrian-American filmmaker whose career successfully spanned the transition from the silent to the sound era, during which he worked with most of the major ...

and starring

Clive Brook Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English film actor. After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States ...

, Evelyn Brent and

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internatio ...

. The film launched Sternberg's eight-year collaboration with

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, with whom he would produce his seven films with actress

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

. Journalist and screenwriter

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...

won an Academy Award for Best Original Story.

Plot

Boisterous gangster kingpin 'Bull' Weed rehabilitates the down-and-out 'Rolls Royce' Wensel, a former lawyer who has fallen into alcoholism. The two become confidants, with Rolls Royce's intelligence aiding Weed's schemes, but complications arise when Rolls Royce falls for Weed's girlfriend 'Feathers' McCoy. Adding to Weed's troubles are attempts by a rival gangster, 'Buck' Mulligan, to muscle in on his territory. Their antagonism climaxes with Weed killing Mulligan and he is imprisoned. Awaiting a death sentence, Rolls Royce devises an escape plan, but he and Feathers face a dilemma, wondering if they should elope together and leave Bull Weed to his fate.

Cast

as "Rolls Royce" Wensel * Evelyn Brent as "Feathers" McCoy *

as "Bull" Weed *

Fred Kohler Fred Kohler (April 20, 1888 – October 28, 1938) was an American actor. Career Fred Kohler was born in Kansas City, Missouri or in Dubuque, Iowa. As a teen, he began to pursue a career in vaudeville, but worked other jobs to support himself ...

as "Buck" Mulligan *

Helen Lynch Helen Lynch (April 6, 1900 – March 2, 1965) was an American silent film actress, mainly known for her roles playing gun molls and other morally dubious characters. Biography Lynch was born in 1900 in Billings, Montana, where she was also rai ...

as Meg, Mulligan's girl *

Larry Semon Lawrence Semon (February 9, 1889 – October 8, 1928) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter during the silent film era. In his day, Semon was considered a major movie comedian, but he is now remembered mainly for working ...

as "Slippy" Lewis *

Jerry Mandy Jerry Mandy (June 5, 1892 – May 1, 1945) was an American film actor. He appeared in 114 films between 1923 and 1945. He was born in Utica, New York and died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack. Selected filmography * ''North Sta ...

as Paloma * Alfred Allen as Judge (uncredited) * Shep Houghton as Street Kid (uncredited) * Andy MacLennan as One of Laughing Faces at the Ball (uncredited) * Ida May as Laughing Woman at the Ball (uncredited) * Karl Morse as 'High Collar' Sam (uncredited) *

Julian Rivero Julian Rivero (July 25, 1890 – February 24, 1976) was an American actor whose career spanned seven decades. He made his film debut in the 1923 silent melodrama, ''The Bright Shawl'', which starred Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish, William Pow ...

as One of Buck's Henchmen (uncredited)

Background

Josef von Sternberg's brief tenure as director at

M-G-M Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

was terminated by mutual consent in 1925 shortly after he walked off the set of a Mae Murray vehicle ''

The Masked Bride ''The Masked Bride'' is a 1925 American silent romantic drama film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Mae Murray, Francis X. Bushman, and Basil Rathbone. It is currently a lost film. Plot As described in a review in a film magazine, Ga ...

''. The film was completed by director

Christy Cabanne William Christy Cabanne (April 16, 1888 – October 15, 1950) was an American film director, screenwriter, and silent film actor. Biography Born in 1888, Cabanne (pronounced CAB-a-nay) started his career on stage as an actor and director. He a ...

Sternberg's next project was an assignment by Charlie Chaplin (United Artists) to write and direct ''

A Woman of the Sea ''A Woman of the Sea'', also known by its working title ''Sea Gulls'', is an unreleased silent film produced in 1926 by the Chaplin Film Company. It is one of only two lost Charlie Chaplin films (the other being '' Her Friend the Bandit''), havi ...

'' starring

Edna Purviance Olga Edna Purviance (; October 21, 1895 – January 13, 1958) was an American actress of the silent film era. She was the leading lady in many of Charlie Chaplin's early films and in a span of eight years, she appeared in over 30 films with hi ...

. This episode also ended badly: the film was never released and Chaplin felt compelled to destroy all film negatives. As Sternberg sardonically quipped in his 1965 memoir ''Fun in a Chinese Laundry'', "It was dna Purviances last film and nearly my own." Sternberg accepted a contract offer from Paramount Pictures in 1926, with the humbling condition that he was demoted to the role of assistant director. He was quickly assigned to reshoot portions of director

Frank Lloyd Frank William George Lloyd (2 February 1886 – 10 August 1960) was a British-born American film director, actor, scriptwriter, and producer. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its preside ...

's '' Children of Divorce''. His work was so outstanding that the studio awarded him with a project of his own. The result was his most famous film to date of his career -''Underworld''. The film would "establish Sternberg in the Hollywood system."

Production

''Underworld'' is based on a story by

, a former Chicago crime reporter, and adapted for screenplay by

Robert N. Lee Robert N. Lee (12 May 1890 – 18 September 1964) was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 31 films between 1922 and 1945. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay at the 4th Academy Awards for '' Little Caesar''. He w ...

with titles by

George Marion Jr. George Marion Jr. (August 30, 1899 – February 25, 1968) was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 106 films between 1920 and 1940. He also wrote lyrics for at least one Broadway musical revue: 1943's "Early To Bed" with music by Thomas " ...

It was produced by B. P. Schulberg and

Hector Turnbull Hector Turnbull (September 11, 1884 – April 8, 1934) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote for 25 films between 1915 and 1937. He was born in Arlington, New Jersey and died in New Hope, Pennsylvania from a heart attack. ...

with cinematography by Bert Glennon and edited by

E. Lloyd Sheldon E. Lloyd Sheldon (May 27, 1886 – January 24, 1957) was an American screenwriter, film producer, and film editor. He wrote for more than 40 films from 1916 to 1942. He also produced 19 films from 1927 to 1939. He was born in Springfield, Ma ...

. Sternberg completed ''Underworld'' in a record-setting five weeks. The gangster role played by George Bancroft was modeled on "Terrible" Tommy O'Connor, an Irish-American mobster who gunned down Chicago Police Chief Padraig O'Neil in 1923 but escaped three days before execution and was never apprehended. Paramount Pictures, initially cool towards the production, predicted the film would fail. Initial release was limited to only one theater, the New York Paramount. The studio did not provide advance publicity. Writer Ben Hecht requested (unsuccessfully) to have his name taken off the credits, due to the dismal prospects for the film.

Reception

Contrary to studio expectations, the public response to the New York screening was so positive that Paramount arranged for round-the-clock showings at the Paramount Theatre to "accommodate the unexpected crowds that flocked to the attraction." ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' felt the film was realistic in some parts, but disliked the Hollywood cliché of turning an evil character's heart to gold at the end. ''Underworld'' was well-received overseas, especially in France, where directors

Julien Duvivier Julien Duvivier (; 8 October 1896 – 29 October 1967) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are '' La Bandera'', ''Pépé le Moko' ...

and

Marcel Carné Marcel Albert Carné (; 18 August 1906 – 31 October 1996) was a French film director. A key figure in the poetic realism movement, Carné's best known films include ''Port of Shadows'' (1938), '' Le Jour Se Lève'' (1939), '' The Devil's Envoy ...

were deeply impressed with Sternberg's "clinical and spartan" film technique. Filmmaker and surrealist

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

named ''Underworld'' as his all time favorite film. Paramount, overjoyed at the film's "critical and commercial success" bestowed a gold medal and a $10,000 bonus on Sternberg. Ben Hecht won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

for Writing in the

1st Academy Awards The 1st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and hosted by AMPAS president Douglas Fairbanks, honored the best films from 1 August 1927 to 31 July 1928 and took place on May ...

ceremony in 1929 for his work on this film. In 2008, the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

nominated this film for its Top 10 Gangster Films list.

Theme

Sternberg has been credited with "launching the gangster film genre." Critic

Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Kat ...

cautions that ''Underworld'' is "less a proto-gangster film than a pre-gangster film" in which the criminal world of the

Prohibition Era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic be ...

provides a backdrop for a tragic tale of a "

Byronic hero The Byronic hero is a variant of the Romantic hero as a type of character, named after the English Romantic poet Lord Byron. Both Byron's own persona as well as characters from his writings are considered to provide defining features to the char ...

" destroyed, not by "the avenging forces of law and order" but by the eternal vicissitudes of "love, faith and falsehood." Journalist Ben Hecht's influence appears in the phony flower shop operation and killing of "Bull" Weed's archenemy, "florist" Buck Mulligan, evoking the 1922 real-life murder of kingpin Dion O'Bannon by the Tony Torrios mob. Funeral hearses also abound in the film, notorious as capacious conveyances used to conceal criminal activities and personnel in Chicago. Despite these contemporary references, ''Underworld'' does not qualify as "the first gangster film" as Sternberg "showed little interest in the purely gangsterish aspects of the genre" nor the "mechanics of obpower." Rather than invoking contemporary social forces and inequities, Sternberg's "Bull" Weed is subject to "implacable Fate", much as the heroes of classical antiquity. The female companions to the outlaws are less gangster molls, addicted to violent men, but protagonists in their own right, who induce "revenge and redemption." The genre would only be properly established in such film classics as ''

Little Caesar Little Caesar may refer to: People * Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar, nicknamed Caesarion ("Little Caesar"), last pharaoh of Egypt, son of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra * Little Caesar (singer) (1928-1994; birth name Harry Caesar) U.S. sing ...

'' (1930), ''

The Public Enemy ''The Public Enemy'' (''Enemies of the Public'' in the UK) is a 1931 American talkie, all-talking Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code gangster film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The film was directed by William A. Wellman and stars James Ca ...

'' (1931), '' Scarface'' (1932), '' High Sierra'' (1941), ''

White Heat ''White Heat'' is a 1949 American film noir directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly and Steve Cochran. Written by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, ''White Heat'' is based on a story by ...

'' (1949), ''

The Asphalt Jungle ''The Asphalt Jungle'' is a 1950 American film noir heist film directed by John Huston. Based on the 1949 novel of the same name by W. R. Burnett, it tells the story of a jewel robbery in a Midwestern city. The film stars Sterling Hayden and ...

'' (1950) and '' The Killing'' (1956). Film critic

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a c ...

, writing for the

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by ...

in 2014, rates ''Underworld'' as one of the great gangster films of the silent era. "The film established the fundamental elements of the gangster movie: a hoodlum hero; ominous, night-shrouded city streets; floozies; and a blazing finale in which the cops cut down the protagonist." Siegel, Scott, & Siegel, Barbara (2004). ''The Encyclopedia of Hollywood''. 2nd edition. Checkmark Books. p. 178. Weinberg, 1967. p. 34: "... the angstergenre ... so eloquently established."

References

Sources

* Axmaker, Sean. 2010. ''Silents Please: Shadows, Silence and Sternberg''. Parallax View. Retrieved May 10, 2018. http://parallax-view.org/2010/08/26/shadows-and-silence-and-josef-von-sternberg-john-cassavetes-and-citizen-mccain-dvds-of-the-week/ * Barson, Michael. 2005. ''Josef von Sternberg: Austrian-American director''. ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA Online. Retrieved May 10, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Josef-von-Sternberg * Film Sufi. 2013. ''"Underworld": Josef von Sternberg (1927).'' The Film Sufi. February 12, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2018. http://www.filmsufi.com/2013/02/underworld-josef-von-sternberg-1927.html * Rodriguez-Ortega, Vicente. 2005. ''Underworld''. Senses of Cinema. Retrieved May 10, 2018. http://sensesofcinema.com/2005/cteq/underworld/ * Sarris, Andrew. 1966. ''The Films of Josef von Sternberg''. Museum of Modern Art/Doubleday. New York, New York. * Weinberg, Herman G., 1967. ''Josef von Sternberg. A Critical Study''. New York: Dutton.

External links

* ''Underworld'': How it came to be. Documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plj7vghnVd4 Retrieved May 12, 2018. * * * *
''Underworld: Dreamland''
an essay by Geoffrey O’Brien at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...

{{Authority control 1927 films American silent feature films American black-and-white films American crime drama films Films set in Chicago Films shot in Chicago Films about organized crime in the United States Films directed by Josef von Sternberg American gangster films Films that won the Academy Award for Best Story Films produced by B. P. Schulberg 1927 crime drama films Paramount Pictures films 1920s American films Silent American drama films