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I just had the pleasure to watch Asphalt (1929) by Joe May. The story may be a cliche but the filmmaking was anything but ordinary. It is so enjoyable to see a movie that is unpredictable and surprising, even despite its familiarity. Trying to guess the motives of the floozy, Else (Betty Amann), was the most fun. She comes out of the dark with a face surrounded in a white hat, looking like Sally Boles in "Cabaret", and from then on, you can't take your eyes off her. I'm still not sure what her intentions were supposed to be when she invites the innocent traffic cop into her den, and steals his I.D. But this performance foreshadows all the hard-bitten, scheming, seductive dames that were to appear in the later 40's film-noir types.

Gustav Frohlich as the mama's boy cop gives an equally persuasive performance as the man who tries really hard--but fails--to fall into her trap. And pays the consequences with guilt and shame.

Besides the acting, direction, camera a great deal of the credit goes to the Kino DVD which wisely includes one of the best scores I've ever heard. It skillfully blends the sound of the 20's with a more modern saxophone theme that reinforces the character of a woman who cries, cheats, steals, and seduces her way to take whatever she wants, but ultimately fails to get.

What I do not like is the title! I tried to find an alternate German title, but it appears that this is it. Besides the unpleasant sound of the word that just means "pavement in the road", what significance does it have to the story?

Danny

Thought it an odd title myself. Wonder if it's a direct translation of the German term for this material, & if it carries some connotation in German missing in English. Most Germans, I'd think, would be more familiar with the British term "macadam."

Wonderful atmosphere, photography, acting, but I thought the ending as sappy as MGM or Fox would have made it. She's preggo, he's jobless in the midst of the Depression, disgraced & banned from the family profession, but nevertheless "love conquers all." In real life, the sequel would be obvious: nothing at all left for him to do but join the Brown Shirts.

" Asphalt" in German has the same meaning and spelling as the English word. I take it to connote the harsh life of a big city, as with "The Asphalt Jungle."

Wonderful film, and it's nice that Metropolis is not the only well-known silent vehicle for Gustav Fröhlich. His very different performances in the two films are examples I sometimes use as evidence when arguing with those who still claim that silent era actors knew only one performing style - the "arm-flailing exaggeration."

Let's not forget about the female lead...German born American Betty Amann who played Elise. A very strong performance by an exceptionally beautiful lady. Now I have another screen beauty like Clara Bow or Phyllis Haver to dream about.

The artwork on the IMDB page is not nearly as sensual as how she appeared on the screen in "Asphalt."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019655/" target="_blank" target="_blank

Netflix has it.

[quote="Rollo Treadway"]" Asphalt" in German has the same meaning and spelling as the English word. I take it to connote the harsh life of a big city, as with "The Asphalt Jungle."

That's the way I see it as well, and this is one story in the naked city and how enmeshed in the big city the lead is. He's a traffic cop. Just started to watch this on Netflix myself. Amazing production values and post production opticals (maybe the effects were done in camera? although I doubt it) with sterling photography and lighting by UFA

I saw this excellent film many years ago. I thought then the term ASPHALT meant it as in the raw material to make roads not the actual road. Its black hot, dirty, smoky, smelly and suffocating to be around.

Changsham wrote:I saw this excellent film many years ago. I thought then the term ASPHALT meant it as in the raw material to make roads not the actual road. Its black hot, dirty, smoky, smelly and suffocating to be around.

Perhaps, but when used as a title to a film, ASPHALT must also be an allegory with a broader meaning than simply what is seen in the opening scene.

The film is a look at the dark side of life and how the young officer gets caught up in it. It is a sticky mess indeed.

To me all of the characters were very childlike. Maybe the country was under carefully planned social engineering which would lead them into acceptance of Nazi Germany. Or maybe just the director was childlike which takes it's toll on the entire production. This is why I don't like D. W. Griffith movies. Aside from BOAN, which I like for the unintentional humor, I have an intolerance for his movies for this reason.

Nosferatu wrote:Maybe the country was under carefully planned social engineering which would lead them into acceptance of Nazi Germany.

Let me guess - you've maybe read Kracauer? But why would Joe May of all people want to help the Nazis to power?

Like many German silents this is as much a fairy tale as it is a moral parable. The characters are kept simple - childlike if you want to call it that - so that we can all get the message. The film deliberately sets out to tell a simple story, but to tell it really well, in an entertaining and pleasing way. I think it succeeds magnificently.

Arndt wrote: Like many German silents this is as much a fairy tale as it is a moral parable.

The "happy ending" is certainly a fairy tale: an ex-cop disgraced & jobless, with a pregnant girlfriend. During the '20s in Germany, there probably was no occupation as stable as that of a policeman, but now the miserable couple must join the multitude of others desperate for work of any kind...the very situation (not "social engineering") that paved the way for Nazi ascendancy.

Arndt wrote:

Nosferatu wrote:Maybe the country was under carefully planned social engineering which would lead them into acceptance of Nazi Germany.

Let me guess - you've maybe read Kracauer? But why would Joe May of all people want to help the Nazis to power?

Like many German silents this is as much a fairy tale as it is a moral parable. The characters are kept simple - childlike if you want to call it that - so that we can all get the message. The film deliberately sets out to tell a simple story, but to tell it really well, in an entertaining and pleasing way. I think it succeeds magnificently.

Not what I'm talking about your "kept simple" theory. Main character cop is a grown man that lives with his parents. Kind of odd for someone that is stable, successful, with a steady job unless he was taking care of his parents. It is not that way though. Once he gets home he plays the role of a child in relation to his parents. His mommy and daddy know his exact whereabouts at all times. Nothing that he is thinking or feeling can be hidden from them. He gets fed, cleaned, and tucked in for bedtime. He has a block for this beautiful dream girl that his throwing herself at him because society says it is wrong. He can't make his own choice as a free thinking person. The government is effectively his parents, his God, and he is an obedient child. The dad is also an obediant child when he finds out about his son's problems. He is a retired policeman, yet, instead of just trying to do what is best for his son, his brain is only programmed as an obedient childlike brainwashed slave to the governement to "do the right thing and bring his only beloved son to jail" without any thought for any alternatives. Then he proceeds to robotically put on his uniform and bring his son to jail. The criminals, the girl, and her criminal boyfriend, even though are less childlike, are still just disobedient children to the government. The man and woman's love, is puppy love, that of teenagers at best.

I would rather have been aborted than to live my entire life as a child as portrayed in this movie. Also, I don't know who Kracauer is, I don't look for "shepards" to make decisions about things. I don't know Joe May or any agenda's the said person could have had or not had. Most likely, as many, are unknowingly, and blindly working for the social engineering taking place in their society, not even seeing it, or seeing what they are doing.

Nosferatu wrote:

Arndt wrote:

Nosferatu wrote:Maybe the country was under carefully planned social engineering which would lead them into acceptance of Nazi Germany.

Let me guess - you've maybe read Kracauer? But why would Joe May of all people want to help the Nazis to power?

Like many German silents this is as much a fairy tale as it is a moral parable. The characters are kept simple - childlike if you want to call it that - so that we can all get the message. The film deliberately sets out to tell a simple story, but to tell it really well, in an entertaining and pleasing way. I think it succeeds magnificently.

Not what I'm talking about your "kept simple" theory. Main character cop is a grown man that lives with his parents. Kind of odd for someone that is stable, successful, with a steady job unless he was taking care of his parents. It is not that way though. Once he gets home he plays the role of a child in relation to his parents. His mommy and daddy know his exact whereabouts at all times. Nothing that he is thinking or feeling can be hidden from them. He gets fed, cleaned, and tucked in for bedtime. He has a block for this beautiful dream girl that his throwing herself at him because society says it is wrong. He can't make his own choice as a free thinking person. The government is effectively his parents, his God, and he is an obedient child. The dad is also an obediant child when he finds out about his son's problems. He is a retired policeman, yet, instead of just trying to do what is best for his son, his brain is only programmed as an obedient childlike brainwashed slave to the governement to "do the right thing and bring his only beloved son to jail" without any thought for any alternatives. Then he proceeds to robotically put on his uniform and bring his son to jail. The criminals, the girl, and her criminal boyfriend, even though are less childlike, are still just disobedient children to the government. The man and woman's love, is puppy love, that of teenagers at best.

I would rather have been aborted than to live my entire life as a child as portrayed in this movie. Also, I don't know who Kracauer is, I don't look for "shepards" to make decisions about things. I don't know Joe May or any agenda's the said person could have had or not had. Most likely, as many, are unknowingly, and blindly working for the social engineering taking place in their society, not even seeing it, or seeing what they are doing.

Why do you even watch films, if they make you so angry?

Pregnant girlfriend? When did we learn she was pregnant?

Father Retired?

Son had a successful career?

I've seen it several times (even wrote a long review) but I guess I need to watch it again.

I only remember a rookie traffic officer (working the nightshift) and him being pursauded to go to the girls apartment after much pleading. Since it wasn't his regular job to arrest crooks, he probably was nervous and confused about what would happen.

A 'nightshift' traffic cop probably didn't earn enough to support himself.

Big Silent Fan wrote:Pregnant girlfriend? When did we learn she was pregnant?

Thought I remembered her being preggo...but maybe I was forecasting her future.

I should think ANY steady job in Weimar Republic Germany was a good one; the unemployed had two alternatives: Reds or Brownshirts.

entredeuxguerres wrote: the unemployed had two alternatives: Reds or Brownshirts.

You're forgetting Mutter Krausen's gas tap.

[quote="Big Silent Fan"]Pregnant girlfriend? When did we learn she was pregnant?

Father Retired?

Son had a successful career?quote]

When the story begins, the clock on the wall near the kitchen says 7:15 and we see the father relaxing in his uniform (his hat and coat having been removed and we see those as well in the room. He isn't retired.

It at this time of night their son is preparing to go to his post, directing traffic.

The film certainly isn't any more immature than "Metropolis" was.

She certainly is not pregnant, or even had enough time to find out if she was. The story doesn't cover more than a couple of days at the most. In the end, young Officer Holk promises to wait for her (as his parents look on with a puzzled look). Does she really care?

Perhaps, since it was she who came and confessed to save him from the law.

As for the father, it's reminisant of "Les Miserables" when the father declares, "The Law is the Law." The same line as is in the Victor Hugo film.