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Joyless Street

Play trailer Joyless Street 1927 2h 19m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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67% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 62% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
In the aftermath of World War I, Vienna is undergoing a drastic deterioration in its social conditions due to an economic crisis, and the residents living in one slum struggle to survive amid greed and exploitation. Lila Leid (Tamara Geva) is murdered, and hapless Egon (Henry Stuart) is arrested for the crime. Meanwhile, former bureaucrat Rumfort (Jaro Fürth) is ruined financially, so he and his daughter, Greta (Greta Garbo), are forced to live off the money Greta earns working at a brothel.

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Joyless Street

Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety 11/12/2007
The picture has minor virtues and major defects. Go to Full Review Time Out 06/24/2006
It later came as a major revelation, both when compared with Pabst's later work and in the context of the development of a film narrative able to accommodate a large number of characters. Go to Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader 01/01/2000
Despite Garbo, it's heavy going -- an official classic that hasn't quite earned the title. Go to Full Review Michael W. Phillips, Jr. Goatdog's Movies 02/29/2008
5/5
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 07/16/2005
4/5
Film4 Staff Film4 05/24/2003
As the film cuts between scenes of wretched poverty and luxurious excess, Pabst's imagery and Garbo's magnetic presence more than make up for a rather weak drama. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D 02/20/2024 Garbo keeps it quite entertaining. See more 04/15/2013 Why this was packaged in the Cult Classics collection by Mill Creek Entertainment, I do not know, but I'm glad they did because this silent film is quite a treasure to stumble upon, even though it's the very short hour long version. I found it to be a beautiful and compelling silent film with an interesting story and characters as they struggle with life in post-World War I Vienna. While I wish a longer version was more widely available, it should say something about a film's quality when even in its shortest form, it's still a damn good film. If you enjoy a good silent film, you should pick up Joyless Street because it is a lost treasure waiting to be rediscovered. See more 10/26/2011 sometimes the drama is overloaded, but overall a good film See more 10/26/2011 I saw a re-cut that follows Greta's character and it is quite much different that original uncut version. Anyway it wasn't bad. Not that much of realism to say the truth: probably this version only, cause it captures all the mannerism of Greta Garbo and there is a lot of symbolism in it. I quite enjoyed it. See more 12/19/2010 Garbo's luminosity is apparent, but the film is relentlessly grim. See more 11/07/2010 Ive it exist a Film that bring the 20's on a Point than it is this one Boundless Wealth Hedonism meets Poverty and Starvation a Few Group of Indivuals get rich of the Suffers of the Main Population and Greta Garbo is dazzling See more Read all reviews
Joyless Street

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Cast & Crew

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Georg Wilhelm Pabst

Director

Asta Nielsen

Actor

Greta Garbo

Greta Rumfort (uncredited)

Werner Krauss

Actor

Valeska Gert

Mrs. Greifer (uncredited)

Jaro Fürth

Actor

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Joyless Street

Joyless Street (1925) Joyless Street (1925) Joyless Street (1925) Joyless Street (1925) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In the aftermath of World War I, Vienna is undergoing a drastic deterioration in its social conditions due to an economic crisis, and the residents living in one slum struggle to survive amid greed and exploitation. Lila Leid (Tamara Geva) is murdered, and hapless Egon (Henry Stuart) is arrested for the crime. Meanwhile, former bureaucrat Rumfort (Jaro Fürth) is ruined financially, so he and his daughter, Greta (Greta Garbo), are forced to live off the money Greta earns working at a brothel.
Director
Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Screenwriter
Hugo Bettauer, F.H. Lyon
Distributor
Kino Video, Video Yesteryear
Production Co
Sofar-Film
Genre
Drama
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 5, 1927, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 8, 2017
Runtime
2h 19m
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