Thunderbolt (1929) review

The authorities have a hard time apprehending notorious criminal Jim Lang (George Bancroft) - also known as "Thunderbolt" - so they grab his love interest "Ritzy" (Fay Wray) and interrogate her, but she wants to go clean and run off with her Momma's Boy boyfriend Moran (Richard Arlen); later on, both men just so happen to get tossed in the same prison (Moran for a crime he didn't commit), and there's understandably a lot of tension between the two of them.  For being an early talkie it's astoundingly well-composed from a visual point of view (which is to be expected considering the director) and literate (Herman Mankiewicz co-wrote the script with Jules Furthman), and deftly weaves in various elements: it's a noir, something of a musical (notes waft in from a piano or quartet ... or part of an orchestra) ... and, when it comes down to it, kind of a buddy movie.  Bancroft's larger-than-life gangster speaks slowly and deliberately - and meets his end with a lunatic's confidence - but for all his conniving and possessiveness, he can't be totally evil: at least his dog loves him, and animals understand things humans cannot.  For Von Sternberg, it's one of his greatest achievements, which is no small compliment.