Underworld is a slice of early film noir and the gangster conventions from director Josef von Sternberg. You can sense films like Scarface both the original and the 1983 remake were influenced by it.
Set during prohibition America. Rolls Royce Wensel (Clive Brook) a former lawyer turned drunk witnesses boorish gangster Bull Weed (George Bancroft) pull off a bank job.
Instead of killing him, Bull rehabilitates him, Rolls Royce cleans up his act and becomes a trusted confidant of Bull. However Rolls Royce falls for Bull's moll Feathers McCoy (Evelyn Brent.) A rival gangster Buck Mulligan also has eyes for Feathers.
At a gangsters ball, Buck attempts to rape Feathers and Bull finds himself in death row.
Although a silent, the title cards hold some humour. It is a love triangle melodrama with street hoods with a touch of a Shakespearean tragedy. Underworld won the very first Best Story Oscar. However the prison break scene was choppy as Bull doubts Feathers and Rolls Royce's loyalties.
Set during prohibition America. Rolls Royce Wensel (Clive Brook) a former lawyer turned drunk witnesses boorish gangster Bull Weed (George Bancroft) pull off a bank job.
Instead of killing him, Bull rehabilitates him, Rolls Royce cleans up his act and becomes a trusted confidant of Bull. However Rolls Royce falls for Bull's moll Feathers McCoy (Evelyn Brent.) A rival gangster Buck Mulligan also has eyes for Feathers.
At a gangsters ball, Buck attempts to rape Feathers and Bull finds himself in death row.
Although a silent, the title cards hold some humour. It is a love triangle melodrama with street hoods with a touch of a Shakespearean tragedy. Underworld won the very first Best Story Oscar. However the prison break scene was choppy as Bull doubts Feathers and Rolls Royce's loyalties.