Thunderbolt (1929)

A gangster (George Bancroft in an Oscar nominated performance) is furious when his moll (Fay Wray) announces she's leaving him. Hiding from the cops, he attempts to get revenge on the bank clerk (Richard Arlen) his girl is in love with but he is caught by the police. Sentenced to death row for his crimes, he plots to get his revenge on the man who stole his girl. Directed by Josef von Sternberg, this inert piece of early sound cinema was a disappointment. Two tears earlier, von Sternberg had made one of the best gangster movies of the silent era, UNDERWORLD also with George Bancroft. So I was surprised to see how terribly sentimental this one was. The film has no underscore but there are a lot of sappy songs on the soundtrack and the acting is very primitive. The only character in the movie I had any feeling for was the stray dog adopted by Bancroft. He adores his master unconditionally even if he is a murderous thug and when the film was over, all I could think of was that I hoped the dog was placed in a good home. With Tully Marshall and Eugenie Besserer.