UNDERWORLD
starring George Bancroft, Clive Brook, Evelyn Brent and Larry
Semon.
MOTION PICTURE MAGAZINE
November, 1927
When it was shown to the public for the first time at the Paramount Theater in New York, "Underworld" received notices studded with laudatory adjectives from virtually all of the criti8cs. They regard it as an unusual, vigorous and thrilling melodrama which will make a hit in most places where it is shown. Josef von Sternberg, the director who leaped into the limelight some time ago by his direction of "The Salvation Hunters," has definitely taken his place among the top-notchers, believe the critics, who heap praise on him for capturing unusually authentic atmosphere in this film. Goerge Bancroft, recently made a star, gives one of the finest performances seen in some time as the gangster, the reviewers opine. Clive Brook, who plays Bancroft's pal, and Evelyn Brent, the girl in the case, come in for similar notices. "This film," says Donald Thompson in the Telegram, "which opens with the dynamiting of a bank and ends with a machine-gun battle, to be followed, one presumes, with a first-rate hanging, is consistent melodrama, smoothly and convincingly done . . . 'Underworld' . . . is the most worthy offering of its kind to be shown at Paramount's pet theater since it opened." Langdon W. Post, the Evening World's reviewer, has this to say: "Ben Hecht . . . and Josef von Sternberg . . . have so manipulated George Bancroft, Clive Brook and Evelyn Brent that we are glad to announce that 'Underworld' is as good a picture of its kind as has come to Broadway in some months." Mordaunt Hall, writing in the Times, says that "although there are several episodes in this picture that could have been improved upon. . . it is a compelling subject, one that has a distinctly original vein." Declaring it to be one of the significant pictures of the year, Marquis Busby, in the Los Angeles Time, says that the film is played throughout "at terrific pitch suspense toward the end is almost nerve-racking, and there is raw, vivid drama from beginning to end. . . It is a true slice of life."
Video source: Grapevine