Joyless Street

Joyless Street
Video cover for Die Freudlose Gasse
Directed by	Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Written by	Hugo Bettauer (novel) Willy Haas
Starring	Greta Garbo Asta Nielsen Agnes Esterhazy Henry Stuart Robert Garrison Einar Hanson
Cinematography	Guido Seeber Curt Oertel Robert Lach
Editing by	Marc Sorkin
Distributed by	Sofar-Film-Produktion GmbH
Release date(s)	18 May 1925 (Berlin)[1] 5 July 1927 (US premiere)
Country	Germany
Language	German

Joyless Street (German: Die freudlose Gasse, 1925, exhibited in the U.S. as The Street of Sorrow, in Britain as The Joyless Street^[2]), a film based on the novel by Hugo Bettauer and directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst in France, is one of the first films of the "New Objectivity“ movement. Greta Garbo stars in her second major role. The film is often described as a morality story in which the 'fallen woman' suffers for her sins, while the more virtuous is rewarded.^[3]

Plot

In 1921 in the poor part of an Austrian town called Melchiorgasse there are only two wealthy people: the butcher Josef Geiringer and his wife. Mrs. Greifer runs a fashion boutique and a nightclub patronized by wealthy Viennese. Annexed to the nightclub is Merkl Hotel, a brothel to which the women of the nightclub bring their clients. The film follows the lives of two women from the same poor neighborhood as they try to better themselves during the period of Austrian postwar hyperinflation. They are Marie, who becomes a prostitute, and Grete who does not.

At the finale Else kills the butcher because he will not give her meat. The poor of the neighborhood, hearing the sounds of the nightclub, revolt against the clients by throwing stones. The nightclub burns down killing two beggars. Only Grete seems to have any hope of leaving Melchiorgasse and this because of her relationship with an American Red Cross officer.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes reports per July 2010 that 83% of six sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 8 out of 10. ^[4]

Versions of the Film

Shortly after its release, different versions of the film circulated because of censorship cuts. The Filmmuseum in Munich restored the film in 1999 to its original length.^[5] A digital version of this new film, 142 minutes in length, was then produced by Austrian Filmarchiv, from whom it is available.

References

1. ^ David Robinson; Paul Duncan (2007). Greta Garbo. Taschen. p. 180. ISBN 9783822822098. http://books.google.com/books?id=A3daNQAACAAJ. Retrieved 18 July 2010. 
2. ^ Alexander Walker; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (October 1980). Garbo: a portrait. Macmillan. p. 183. ISBN 9780026229500. http://books.google.com/?id=nmZZAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 27 July 2010. 
3. ^ Essay by Michael Kohler on The Joyless Street at Senses of Cinema: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2004/cteq/the_joyless_street/
4. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/joyless_street/
5. ^ "Progressive Silent Film List: Joyless Street". Silent Era. http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/F/FreudloseGasse1925.html. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 

External links

• Joyless Street at the Internet Movie Database
• Joyless Street is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• Filmarchiv Austria
• Literature on Joyless Street