The Docks Of New York (1928)

After putting into port, a burly stoker (George Bancroft, Ford's STAGECOACH) has one night ashore. He saves a young prostitute (the luscious Betty Compson) from a suicide attempt and carelessly flirts with her and marries her. The morning after proves more difficult than anticipated. Based on the short story THE DOCK WALLOPER by John Monk Saunders and directed by Josef von Sternberg (SHANGHAI EXPRESS). This is an absolutely lovely and poignant movie with an atmosphere so thick you can almost breathe it. Von Sternberg, mercifully doesn't condescend to his subjects but rather tosses us into the thick of it so we feel part of the milieu. He's abetted in this by the striking black and white images of Harold Rosson (THE WIZARD OF OZ) and the superb, authentic waterfront and its dives from art director Hans Dreier (SUNSET BOULEVARD). In addition to Bancroft and Compson, there's a third major character and solid performance by Olga Baclanova (FREAKS) as the disenchanted ex-wife of Bancroft's nemesis (Mitchell Lewis). With Clyde Cook and Gustav von Seyffertitz.