First Step Ashore / The Docks of New York

April 28, 2017 - 7:30 pm

Billy Wilder Theater

Print courtesy of National Film Center, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

First Step Ashore (Japan, 1932)

Joriku dai-ippo

Described by Japanese film journal Kamata at the time of its release as a “splendid imitation” of The Docks of New York, First Step Ashore differs from it in its lighting style which is marked by “diffused and flat high key” lighting that exemplified the approach taken by Shochiku at its Kamata studio at the time of its production.

35mm, b&w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 88 min. Director: Yasujiro Shimazu. Screenwriter: Komatsu Kitamura. Cast: Yaeko Mizutani, Joji Oka, Ureo Egawa.

Print from UCLA Film & Television Archive

The Docks of New York (1928)

Sternberg's penultimate silent feature stars Bancroft as a stoker on a tramp steamer and Compson as the dockside waif he marries. This moody, beautifully photographed psychological study is one of the best American films of the late silent era.

Live musical accompaniment by Cliff Retallick.

35mm, b&w, silent, 76 min. Director: Josef von Sternberg. Screenwriter: Jules Furthman. Cast: George Bancroft, Betty Compson, Olga Baclanova.

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First Step Ashore / The Docks of New York

First Step Ashore (Japan, 1932)

The Docks of New York (1928)

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