�y��vlog

Josef von Sternberg’s classic tells of a middle-aged professor whose obsession with a young cabaret singer leads to his downfall.

The group pitches Paramount producer David O. Selznick and “Joe” von Sternberg — the director for whom Hecht wrote the pioneering gangster story “Underworld.”

The best way to approach any von Sternberg film is to look, first, to the surfaces — ornate, seamy or otherwise.

All three of these are now on Blu-ray, in Criterion’s “3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg” set.

Another key image in the exhibit is a poster for The Scarlet Empress from 1934 starring Marlene Dietrich, directed by Josef von Sternberg.