davidhare wrote:Joe was probably the greatest visual artist of the sound era
Yes, and he was also one of the greats of the late silents. I was surprised to hear our friend was not so crazy for Docks of NY. Certainly I have to count myself very lucky to have seen the MOMA nitrate prints of this (and Underworld and Last Command) albeit 40 years ago. The simple visual experience of Docks in particular is prime Sternberg (THIS is the picture that must have wiped out Mizo and Ozu and Ophuls) and the sheer silvery gelatinous luxury of the image literally brings you to tears of pleasure.
VERY large Group Karmic Chant for Paramount reissue this year.
A little clarification (and a little backtracking as well, to be fair...) It was by comparison relative to The Last Command, which really blew me away, and while I did indeed appreciate the look of Docks, and that is usually more than enough for me, I found the story less satisfying than The Last Command. (My tape went a bit naff for the last 20" and lost the sound which did not help either, though the print on both tapes looked very good otherwise.) Am I right in seeing Betty Compson as a prototype Dietrich? I certainly saw Dietrich in her. I also found it
very homoerotic but that is hardly a surprise I guess.
Expectations played their part as well, of the three I have now seen, I expected Docks to be way ahead of Last Command and Der Blau Engel, whereas those two proved very pleasant surprises (I really did
not expect to like Der Blaue Engel but it too impressed me, even if I found some of the humiliation of the professor hard to take. Jannings does humiliation so well though, doesn't he?). I suspect that when the weight of expectation is removed and I go back to these films Docks may come over better. I often find that I get so much more out of a film, especially a "big" film, i.e. a film I have longed to see, second time round. (Lordy, more than enough backtracking...)
Is there any word of a Paramount reissue, or Eclipse or similar? If not, should I take a chance on one of the PD versions of Underworld?