THE JOYLESS STREET Movie Review

Street of Sorrow
Die Freudlosse Gasse

German director G.W. Pabst's famous silent film The Joyless Street created a sensation in 1925 because of its dramatized, vivid portrayal of Vienna's post—World War I economic collapse. The film tells multiple stories of the residents of a single despair-ridden street: a professor's daughter (Greta Garbo) does her best to get food for her starving family, nearly falling into the clutches of a procuress (Valeska Gert); another woman (Asta Nielsen) nearly descends to prostitution, but is rescued by a valiant American (Einar Hanson). The Joyless Street is relatively clumsy as drama; today it seems almost hopelessly cliched, though Garbo (her third film) and Nielsen manage extraordinary performances with their cardboard roles. What the film is really remarkable for is its deign, decor, and cinematography, which brought a haunting, expressionistic touch to the nightmarish reality of Vienna's ever-spiraling poverty and inflation.

NEXT STOP … Pandora's Box, The Last Laugh, Dr. Mabuse

1925 96m/B GE Greta Garbo, Werner Krauss, Asta Nielson, Jaro Furth, Loni Nest, Max Kohlhase, Silva Torf, Karl Ettlinger, Ilka Gruning, Agnes Esterhazy, Alexander Musky, Valeska Gert; D: G.W. Pabst; W: Willi Haas; C: Guido Seeber.Curt Oertel, Walter Robert Lach. VHS.LV VYY, MRV, FST