Josef von Sternberg's "Thunderbolt" Blu-ray - Fay Wray / George Bancroft @indicatorseries
Added 2023-07-21 14:15:06 +0000 UTCBONUS CAPTURES:
Josef von Sternberg's "Thunderbolt" Blu-ray - Fay Wray / George Bancroft @indicatorseries
OUR REVIEW:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film11/blu-ray_review_175/thunderbolt_blu-ray.htm
George Bancroft (Angels with Dirty Faces) and Fay Wray (King Kong) star in the first sound film from legendary director Josef von Sternberg (Shanghai Express), made just prior to his celebrated series of collaborations with Marlene Dietrich.
Murderer ‘Thunderbolt’ Jim Lang (Bancroft) is arrested and imprisoned with the help of his former moll, Ritzie (Wray). Whilst on death row in Sing Sing, Jim enacts his revenge by framing Ritzie’s lover, Bob (Richard Arlen), for a crime he didn't commit.
With a screenplay from Herman J Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane) and Joseph L Mankiewicz (Suddenly, Last Summer), adapted from a story by Jules Furthman (Blonde Venus), Thunderbolt is a classic pre-Code crime thriller.
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Josef von Sternberg's Thunderbolt is often described as a Pre-Code proto-noir - similar to the director's 1927 Underworld also with George Bancroft. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1929 for Thunderbolt. There are hardened criminals, a death-penalty prison sentence for the title character and minor redemption(s.) Thunderbolt is notable as Sternberg’s first film using synchronized sound technology. Unique shots through the bars of the prison cells also show an artistic cinematographic leaning. After completing Thunderbolt Sternberg, went to Germany with the experience of his first "Talkie" and made The Blue Angel (1930) - one of the first German language sound films (filmed simultaneously in an English-language version) - representing his initial collaboration with his immortal muse, Marlene Dietrich. Thunderbolt might lean more toward von Sternberg completists or those keen on its Pre-Code proto-noir qualities.
