Based on Theodore Dreiser’s novel of the same name, An American Tragedy is a pre-code drama from director Josef Von Sternberg (Shanghai Express, The Blue Angel). The film follows young bellhop Clyde Griffiths (Phillips Holmes) who is implicated in a serious crime, leading him to run into a wealthy uncle who sets him up with a factory job. While working here, Clyde meets Roberta (Sylvia Sidney) and falls in and out of love with her. But when an affair with a high society woman gets in the way, Clyde needs a way out of his relationship with Roberta.

When the film started and moved through the first act, I thought Sternberg was on course to produce something as strong as The Blue Angel. There’s some really creative editing and camera work in this opening half an hour which establishes how Clyde’s life is full of this sense of drifting boredom- this is shattered by the crescendo of the drunk driving accident at the end of this opening sequence. The driving scene itself is shot perfectly, with lurching camera motions capturing the lack of control and severity of the accident. However, for some unknown reason, that momentum just isn’t carried over into the rest of the film. Leaving us with large chunks of this movie going completely forgotten due to nothing being done to make the narrative flow or character development of the script really come to visual life.

Sternberg seems to struggle with this script that lacks the inherent eroticism which is present in a lot of these pre-code dramas, which is ironic since both Shanghai Express and The Blue Angel embody the textbook example of how to inject a powerful erotic sensibility into a film. But with An American Tragedy everything is just so dry and present almost without fanfare at any point. There aren’t many shots in the later film which stand out as being particularly visually enthralling or vivid, nor is there any scene which particularly stands out. Not even the tragedy of An American Tragedy is all that interesting. A scene which I think epitomises this issue best is the near forty-minute-long courthouse sequence which forms the final act of the movie. What should be a powerful game of mental cat and mouse slowly turns into a flatly directed but lively performed trial scene which keeps repeating itself in a way which doesn’t feel like two warring lawyers battling over the accused, but rather just a few people shouting at each with an aimless sense of eventually reaching a verdict. There are some attempts to present the audience with a sense that Clyde is in a purely morally grey area, but the dialogue doesn’t strictly focus on this and instead stumbles into predictability.

Holmes’ performance as Clyde is a real strength of the film, allowing him to portray this tragic figure’s spiral downwards with high energy and strong emotional expression which does sell some of the slightly dry and pedestrian dialogue and direction. Sidney is similarly quite a memorable performance as Roberta, doing a good job at playing this woman who just wants to impress the man she loves but has to compete with this affair. There’s a good sense of horror in her performance during her final scene with Holmes, showing that there is this sense of having been lied to for so long but now its too late to do anything about it. I really wished that some of the other performances stood out as much as these two, the prosecuting lawyer during the trial sequence comes close as he has such a charismatic energy to him as a performer.

Powerhouse's new release of the movie comes with a strong suite of special features and bonus materials. There is a new commentary track from film historian Josh Nelson which adds a good sense of the significance of Sternberg’s work and how this one compares to the rest of his filmography and the world of pre-code cinema in general. This new Blu-ray comes with a pair of rare archive material from interviewer George Pratt. Firstly is a half an hour-long conversation with Sternberg recorded in 1958 where he discusses his career as a filmmaker and some of his inspirations. The second comprises of a ninety minute conversation with the film’s cinematographer Lee Garmes, who talks us through an oral history of his illustrious career and collaborations with filmmakers like Howard Hawkes and Nicholas Ray. Tony Rayns brings a new documentary and appreciation of An American Tragedy, perhaps the most detailed feature in terms of how deep it goes into An American Tragedy. Finally, there is a new video essay called Nature vs Nurture from film historian Tag Gallagher, exploring the character of Clyde and his morals and ethics during the film. Also included is an extensive gallery of promotional and production images.

I struggle to find myself getting too enthused by An American Tragedy, because most of it is just fine. The pacing is too stop-start to feel either too slow or too fast, but the script and direction isn’t interesting enough to make those slow bits stand out or those more well-paced moments stay in the mind. The performances feel almost wasted at points because there doesn’t seem to be anything for the actors to do at multiple points during the film. While those special features help sweeten the deal somewhat, the actual film itself just isn’t interesting enough to really get worked up about. If you are a real enthusiast for pre-code dramas then I feel like this release is marketed specifically for you.