Unlike it's bigger rivals Paramount eagerly embraced talking pictures with both hands. They were one of the first studios in 1928 to bring out an all talkie movie with the sophisticated "Interference" and by 1929 boasted stars (Maurice Chevalier, Ruth Chatterton etc) who were foremost in their field. They also had a big star in George Bancroft, a silent star who came to fame in Josef von Sternberg's gangster movies and whose clear speaking voice guaranteed him a long career in talkies. Unfortunately ego got in the way but "Thunderbolt" was a mighty effort - it talked, in all the right places and in 1929 that was a very big deal. It was the 4th and final collaboration between von Sternberg and Bancroft - it wasn't their best effort but there was plenty of gangster violence and tough talk!!
It was a stylish underworld showcase for George Bancroft. When you see other films of 1929 with awkward pauses and stilted dialogue - this film moved and talked at a rapid, natural pace - it was like Sternberg had been making talkies all his life. The stylization, especially in the early scenes, when Ritzie is bought in for questioning, she is seated on a raised platform, almost like a witness box, and she caresses her furs. Also the Harlem night club is seen through a lattice work of shadows (could it be a symbol for prison bars)?
Music and songs are also incorporated naturally. When delectable Theresa Harris sings "Daddy, Won't You Please Come Home?", it is not just a throwaway song but is especially listened to by a thoughtful Thunderbolt and there is a wealth of meaning in their gazes. When he is on death row, the songs are supplied by the prison band. "Broken Hearted" with it's trite words, "here's the boy, here's the girl, here am I broken hearted" almost mocks the complex feelings of Bancroft and Arlen.
The story is basic - Ritzie (Fay Wray) and Bob (Richard Arlen) meet night after night clandestinely in the park. He is a lowly bank employee, she is the girl friend of the town's most notorious mobster, "Thunderbolt" Jim Carson. She wants to quit and be decent again but Carson will see her in Hell first - furthermore he would track down the other guy if it is the last thing he does!! It almost is as Bob is caught in a holdup - all orchestrated by Thunderbolt and finds himself in the condemned cell, adjoining Thunderbolt's own. Jim has gruesome plans for Bob - but he doesn't count on the faithfulness of a scruffy little mutt!!
Richard Arlen, like Bancroft, was perfect for the talkies - there is a really nice scene where Arlen is horseplaying around with his mother (Eugenie Besserer, who was Al Jolson's "mammy" in "The Jazz Singer"), a natural banter between the pair but in typical Sternberg style, the camera was focused on Fay Wray's reaction to them, a tearful smile playing around her lips.
Highly Recommended.
It was a stylish underworld showcase for George Bancroft. When you see other films of 1929 with awkward pauses and stilted dialogue - this film moved and talked at a rapid, natural pace - it was like Sternberg had been making talkies all his life. The stylization, especially in the early scenes, when Ritzie is bought in for questioning, she is seated on a raised platform, almost like a witness box, and she caresses her furs. Also the Harlem night club is seen through a lattice work of shadows (could it be a symbol for prison bars)?
Music and songs are also incorporated naturally. When delectable Theresa Harris sings "Daddy, Won't You Please Come Home?", it is not just a throwaway song but is especially listened to by a thoughtful Thunderbolt and there is a wealth of meaning in their gazes. When he is on death row, the songs are supplied by the prison band. "Broken Hearted" with it's trite words, "here's the boy, here's the girl, here am I broken hearted" almost mocks the complex feelings of Bancroft and Arlen.
The story is basic - Ritzie (Fay Wray) and Bob (Richard Arlen) meet night after night clandestinely in the park. He is a lowly bank employee, she is the girl friend of the town's most notorious mobster, "Thunderbolt" Jim Carson. She wants to quit and be decent again but Carson will see her in Hell first - furthermore he would track down the other guy if it is the last thing he does!! It almost is as Bob is caught in a holdup - all orchestrated by Thunderbolt and finds himself in the condemned cell, adjoining Thunderbolt's own. Jim has gruesome plans for Bob - but he doesn't count on the faithfulness of a scruffy little mutt!!
Richard Arlen, like Bancroft, was perfect for the talkies - there is a really nice scene where Arlen is horseplaying around with his mother (Eugenie Besserer, who was Al Jolson's "mammy" in "The Jazz Singer"), a natural banter between the pair but in typical Sternberg style, the camera was focused on Fay Wray's reaction to them, a tearful smile playing around her lips.
Highly Recommended.