1927 · crime · drama · silent
Underworld
Directed by Josef von Sternberg1h 27m1927
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
Our read: Underworld (1927) reads as a sombre, kinetic, grounded crime · drama · silent entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook, with a strong directorial signature.
Sombre, kinetic, measured crime / drama, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured.
- sombre
- brisk
- intense
Watching Underworld tonight? Spin for your lens.
Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.
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Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.
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How Underworld feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You want the stylish silent-era template for every Hollywood gangster movie.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if deliberate 1920s pacing or intertitles will test your patience tonight.
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