Main Cast: Asta Nielsen, Greta Garbo, Valeska Gert, Werner Krauss, Einar Hansen
Release Year: 1925
Country: DE
Run Time: 96 minutes
Plot
G. W. Pabst's The Joyless Street (Die freudlose Gasse) is an unvarnished study of post-World War I Vienna. Plagued with skyrocketing inflation, the Austrian metropolis becomes the domain of every scurrilous form of profiteering. The central character is a crooked butcher, whose negative influence dominates the lives of virtually everyone on a single Viennese street. The supporting characters include a poverty-stricken professor, his beleaguered daughter, an idealistic American Red Cross worker and a slinky harlot. Each character is photographed in a symbolic manner underlining his or her basic personality: the domineering butcher is photographed from a low angle, emphasizing his corrupt power, while the professor is lensed in long shot, highlighting the bareness of his apartment-and by extension, his life. The stars of The Joyless Street include Asta Nielsen and Werner Krauss, but latter-day audiences will find more interest in the supporting part played by young Greta Garbo. Incidentally, despite the claims of many film historians, Marlene Dietrich does not appear as an extra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Although The Joyless Street is remembered chiefly as the film that made an international star out of the legendary Greta Garbo, it's actually much more than a star showcase. Indeed, though Garbo dominates much of the film through her sheer star power, hers is actually a secondary role in what is essentially an ensemble drama. Even the part played by top-billed Asta Nielsen, at the time a much bigger established star than Garbo, is simply part of the larger cast. That's as it should be, for Street is not about any one person but about a time, a place and, above all, a society that was perilously divided into two very unequal parts. Director G.W. Pabst and scenarist Willy Haas have created a social conscience melodrama that is enormously powerful; it's manipulative at times, but there's such commitment behind it that most viewers won't mind. Pabst is excellent at exploring the bleakness and despair of the residents of the Street and contrasting it with the amorality and immorality of the upper classes, who think nothing of spreading false rumors that will destroy many but will increase their own already considerable wealth. Money exerts a powerful grip on almost all the characters, whether through greed or necessity, and Pabst demonstrates how it can become a dangerously controlling force. The director is helped immensely by the atmospheric lensing of Robert Lach and Guido Seeber, and even more so by his cast. Garbo is wonderful, more vibrant and alive than she was often allowed to be in her Hollywood outings, yet still having that world-weary air; the battle between the two conditions exemplifies the battle her character also undergoes. Nielsen is also striking, giving a performance that is imbued with tremendous nuance; even in her bizarre "mad" costume, she is mesmerizing. Werner Krauss is appropriately villainous, and the rest of the cast is quite good. Street was heavily censored and mercilessly mutilated in many countries, including the U.S., when it was originally released; viewers should be wary of any version that is considerably shorter than 96 minutes. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Loni Nest - Rosa Rumfort; Max Kohlhase - Maria's Father; Countess Agnes Esterhazy - Regina Rosenow; Alexander Mursky - Dr. Leid, a lawyer; Rob Garrison - Don Alfonso Cafiez; Hertha Von Walther - Else; Marlene Dietrich - Extra; Karl Etlinger - Mr. Rosenow [or Loming]; Ilka Gruning - Mrs. Rosenow; Tamara Tolstoi - Lia Leid; Sylvia Torf - Maria's Mother; Jaro Fuerth - Hofrat Rumfort
Credit
G.W. Pabst - Director, Otto Erdmann - Production Designer, Hans Sohnle - Production Designer, Guido Seeber - Cinematographer, Robert Lach - Cinematographer, Willy Haas - Screenwriter, Hugo Bettauer - Book Author
