Underworld
"'Nobody helps me -- I help them!'"
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
"'Nobody helps me -- I help them!'"
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
George Bancroft
Bull Weed
Evelyn Brent
Feathers
Clive Brook
Rolls Royce
Fred Kohler
Buck Mulligan
Helen Lynch
Mulligan's Girl
Larry Semon
Slippy Lewis
Jerry Mandy
Paloma
Alfred Allen
Judge (uncredited)
Shep Houghton
Street Kid (uncredited)
Boisterous gangster kingpin Bull Weed rehabilitates his former lawyer from his alcoholic haze, but complications arise when he falls for Weed's girlfriend.
Josef von Sternberg does well here with his adaptation of Ben Hecht's gangster thriller. George Bancroft is "Bull Weed", a rumbustious character, in love with the aptly monikered "Feathers" - because she wears them everywhere - Evelyn Brent. His former attorney, the dapper "Rolls Royce Wensel" (Clive Brook) has problems with the bottle, but "Weed" manages to ween him off - only for the latter to fall in love with his gal. When "Weed" is finally apprehended by the police for murder, and sentenced to swing for it - the others must decide whether to abscond together, or to try to spring him! "Bull", meantime has plans for revenge of his own - and this all builds to an exciting denouement. There's a lot packed into this film. The love-triangle theme gradually underpins the story, but the romance doesn't overwhelm it - it's still a gangster movie with just the tiniest hint of menace from an engaging Bancroft, and quite bit of on-screen chemistry between the three. As you'd expect, the photography is pristine. Though maybe just a few too many static shots for me that slow the pace a bit, the story is well constructed and the last ten minutes are super.
A prisoner leads his counterparts in a protest for better living conditions which turns violent and ugly.
Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?
Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Blizzard, deranged from a childhood operation in which both his legs were needlessly amputated after an accident, becomes a vicious criminal, and eventually mob leader of the San Francisco underworld.
Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.
A young woman who is determined to maintain her independence finds herself at odds with her family who wants her to tame her wild side and get married.
A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
Fresh out of law school and desperate for work, idealistic rookie Rudy Baylor takes on a powerful insurance company accused of denying a dying boy’s claim. Teaming up with a scrappy, unlicensed paralegal, he finds himself in a David-versus-Goliath courtroom battle that tests his ethics, courage, and belief in justice.
An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.