Editing The Docks of New York (section)

== Production ==
[[File:Docks of New York (film) 1928. Josef von Sternberg, dir L- R, Betty Compson, Olga Baclanova.jpg|thumb|left|Lou (Olga Baclanova) bestows the wedding ring from her failed marriage on the newlywed Mae (Betty Compson).]]

[[File:Docks of New York (film) Josef von Sternberg, director (Betty Compson and George Bancroft).jpg|right|thumb|Mae (Betty Compson) and Bill (George Bancroft). The couple discuss marriage in the rowdy saloon.]]
On May 5, 1928, [[Paramount Pictures]] announced their next picture would be ''The Docks of New York''; with [[Josef von Sternberg]] enlisted to direct and George Bancroft to star with an adapted script of [[John Monk Saunders|Monk Saunders]]'s ''The Dock Walloper'' provided by Jules Furthman. Before production von Sternberg and Furthman went to New York to conduct research for the film.

A highly collaborative work, ''The Docks of New York'' benefited from the screenwriting of [[Jules Furthman]], such that “the director’s vision...cannot be easily distinguished from Furthman’s scenarios."<ref>Silver, 2010</ref> Scripting for Sternberg's most celebrated movies, among them ''[[Morocco (film)|Morocco]]'' (1930), ''[[Shanghai Express (film)|Shanghai Express]]'' (1932) and ''[[Blonde Venus]]'' (1932) was provided by Furthmann.<ref>Silver, 2012<br>Muller, 2012</ref> Sternberg also benefited from the cinematography of [[Harold Rosson]], who was inspired by the director's “fresh, innovative ideas.”  Art director [[Hans Dreier]], formerly of Germany's [[UFA GmbH|UFA]], created the evocative set for the ''Sandbar'' saloon with its subjective ''demimonde'' atmosphere of Sternberg's New York waterfront. Dreier would subsequently oversee studio production design for decades as head of Paramount's art department.<ref name="Muller">Muller, 2012.</ref>

Production began on the film on June 25, with principal photography beginning on July 10, 1928. The production was shot entirely at Paramount Studios where they created sets to resemble the New York City waterfront.

The [[Motion Picture Association|Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America]], formed by the film industry in 1922, regulated the content of films through a list of subjects that were to be avoided. While Betty Compson portrayed a prostitute in ''The Docks of New York'', this was acceptable as prostitution was not explicitly barred so long as it was not forced (i.e., [[white slavery]]) and aspects of her work was not directly shown in the film.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Campbell |first=Russell |title=Prostitution and Film Censorship in the USA |journal=Screening the Past |issue=2 | page=C/6 |date=1997 |url=https://www.academia.edu/9206052 |url-access=registration |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref> The wedding ceremony held in the bar makes later activities in the film ambiguous.