Overview
In the gritty underbelly of New York, love and desperation collide on the docks.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- atmospheric
- sincere
- classic cinema night
- silent film program
What critics said
Critics broadly regard it as an emotionally affecting and visually accomplished late silent classic, praising Josef von Sternberg's direction and Harold Rosson's cinematography while finding its simplicity a minor limitation.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Bill and Mae form an impulsive bond amid dockside labor, prostitution, saloon culture, and social precarity.
The coal barge, docks, saloon, smoke, water, and sculptural lighting provide the film's defining visual and emotional texture.
Bill's rescue of Mae quickly develops into an impromptu marriage proposal before practical obstacles intervene.
The film follows stokers, sailors, saloon regulars, and a vulnerable woman within New York's harbor underworld.
Films like The Docks of New York, and why
7th Heaven
shared silent-era romance, working-class characters, and emotionally direct melodrama
Underworld
shared Josef von Sternberg visual stylization, morally precarious characters, and doomed romantic atmosphere
City Lights
shared intimate silent-film melodrama, social marginality, and expressive visual storytelling
Movie Details
- Director
- Josef von Sternberg
- Release Date
- 1928-09-16
- Runtime
- 76 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (122)
Cast
- George Bancroft
- Betty Compson
- Olga Baclanova
- Clyde Cook
- Mitchell Lewis
- Guy Oliver
- May Foster
- Lillian Worth
- Gustav von Seyffertitz
- Richard Alexander
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Artiflix
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Docks of New York about?
- A hard-bitten dockworker rescues a vulnerable woman from the harbor and finds himself pulled into an impulsive, perilous romance.
- What is The Docks of New York like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Docks of New York as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Docks of New York violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Docks of New York as mild.
- What did critics think of The Docks of New York?
- Critics broadly regard it as an emotionally affecting and visually accomplished late silent classic, praising Josef von Sternberg's direction and Harold Rosson's cinematography while finding its simplicity a minor limitation.
- Which films are like The Docks of New York?
- Films with a similar feel include 7th Heaven, Underworld, and City Lights.
- How long is The Docks of New York?
- The Docks of New York runs 76 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Docks of New York?
- In United States, The Docks of New York streams on Artiflix.
