Joe May’s ASPHALT has been impossible to see in America until Kino released it as part of their ongoing series of German silent cinema. Their edition is a Region 1 copy of this Eureka release which came out in 2005. Joe May (pronounced MY) was once a very important man in the German cinema of the 1920’s. He had his own production company which made THE INDIAN TOMB a film which helped to launch the careers of Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou who quickly eclipsed him with such films as DR MABUSE, DIE NIBELUNGEN, and METROPOLIS. Forced to flee Germany when Hitler came to power (like Lang but not von Harbou) he never attained a career in Hollywood the way Lang did although his 1940 film of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES with Vincent Price is quite good. Which brings us back to ASPHALT.
Although extremely well made entirely in a studio and full of first rate black and white photography and crisp editing, the story of a lady thief and the policeman who becomes involved with her is ultimately disappointing as there is really nothing that exciting here especially if you compare it with G.W. Pabst’s PANDORA’S BOX which was made at the same time. Lead actress Betty Amann does a good job but she’s no Louise Brooks and her part calls for charisma. It’s nice to see Gustav Frohlich in something other than METROPOLIS and he acquits himself well in a more restrained performance. I’m glad to have finally seen ASPHALT after having read about it but it won’t be a film that I’ll be revisiting often like PANDORA’S BOX or DIARY OF A LOST GIRL which are better examples of what was being done on the dramatic front in Germany at the time. It’s probably no accident that Joe May was not able to make a name for himself in America where there was so much more competition.
The Capsule Critic 