Asphalt

Joe May's lush late-silent melodrama stars Betty Amann in her most celebrated role as a glamorous jewel thief who seduces an upright young traffic cop (Gustav Fröhlich of Metropolis fame) and pulls him into her criminal orbit. The familiar story of good cop meets bad girl is elevated by May's gorgeous visual style — rain-slicked Berlin streets glistening under lamplight, Art Deco interiors dripping with Weimar decadence, and a camera that prowls through nightclubs and back alleys with restless energy. Shot at the very end of the silent era, Asphalt represents German studio filmmaking at its most polished and seductive, a film that looks forward to Hollywood noir while savoring every last frame of silent cinema's visual eloquence.