THUNDERBOLT (1929)

 

Kino has released on Region A Blu-ray Josef von Sternberg's first talking film, the 1929 THUNDERBOLT, from Paramount. 

THUNDERBOLT is a follow-up to von Sternberg's gangster hit UNDERWORLD of a few years earlier. Both movies star George Bancroft. In my opinion UNDERWORLD is the much better film. 

Bancroft plays crime lord Jim Lang, nicknamed "Thunderbolt" due to his powerful right-hand punch. Bancroft's girl, Ritzie (Fay Wray), is tired of the gangster life, and wants to go back to her childhood sweetheart Bob Moran (Richard Arlen), who is an ordinary teller in a bank. Jim decides to take care of Bob personally, but Ritzie puts the cops onto him. Jim is sent to death row to await execution. While in the stir, Jim's gang robs the bank that Bob worked for, and they set Bob up for murder during the heist...and now Bob is on death row, in a cell right across from Jim! Will Thunderbolt carry out his revenge on Bob, or will he save him to make it up to Ritzie? 

I have to say that THUNDERBOLT did not live up to my expectations. It is a very creaky early talkie, and the acting is rather stilted at times. It's not a hard-edged crime thriller--what little shooting there happens to be is done off-screen. Most of the film takes place on death row, but it's not a realistic prison story either--the other inmates and even the warden are portrayed as comic figures. 

Josef von Sternberg does try to put in some of his usual visual flair when he can, but the pacing is sluggish. The director also attempts to use sound in a interesting manner, but due to the limitations of early audio equipment the dialogue at times is hard to make out. 

George Bancroft was nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in THUNDERBOLT, but honestly I didn't think he was that overwhelming in it. Richard Arlen is very stodgy as nice guy Bob (in his defense though the role wasn't written very well). I felt that Fay Wray was miscast as a gangster's moll--she seems uncomfortable when she is on the screen. 

The visual quality of the film is decent, but not outstanding. The audio is certainly not going to be perfect, considering this is a sound film from 1929. 

The main extra here is a new audio commentary from Nick Pinkerton. He does some analysis of the movie, but he spends most of his time reciting biographical facts about the cast and crew and naming off film titles that they worked on. 

Kino deserves credit for releasing a film such as THUNDERBOLT on Blu-ray. (Even though the movie was originally produced by Paramount, it is now owned by Universal.) One does have to make allowances for THUNDERBOLT, since it is such an early talkie, but I believe it is more a curiosity piece than an entertaining movie. It might have been better as a silent picture altogether.