The Drag Net, also known as The Dragnet, is a 1928 American silent crime drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures based on the story "Nightstick" by Oliver H.P. Garrett. It was directed by Josef von Sternberg from an original screen story and starring George Bancroft and Evelyn Brent.Sarris, 1966. p. 19
Plot Film historian John Baxter provides a synopsis of it, a film "no longer known to exist in any archive":Sarris, 1966. p. 19
Cast George Bancroft as "Two-Gun" Nolan Evelyn Brent as "The Magpie" William Powell as "Dapper" Frank Trent Fred Kohler as 'Gabby' Steve Francis McDonald as "Sniper" Dawson Leslie Fenton as "Shakespeare"
Reception On June 4, 1928, The New York Times panned the film: "Notwithstanding George Bancroft's derisive laugh, Evelyn Brent's striking plumed headgear and Josef von Sternberg's generous display of slaughter, The Drag Net is an emphatically mediocre effort."Baxter, 1971. pp. 53-54
Critic John Baxter lists The Drag Net among a number of [Sternberg's] films which "failed commercially."Baxter, 1971. p. 53
Critical response Critic Andrew Sarris concedes that "the plot does sound extremely contrived" but cautions that "plots...are no clue to the merits of Sternberg's films, and until his long-missing film materializes, we must suspend judgment on a work that bridges The Last Command and The Docks of New York."Sarris, 1966, p. 19
John Baxter considers The Drag Net to be "in most respects a sequel [to Sternberg's film] Underworld, [and] is perhaps not too great a loss, though it is unwise to write off any Sternberg film."Baxter, 1971. p. 53
Preservation The Drag Net is now considered a lost film.Progressive Silent Film List: The Drag Net at silentera.comThe American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30 by The American Film Institute c.1971The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The Dragnet (Wayback Machine)
References
Sources Baxter, John. 1971. The Cinema of Josef von Sternberg. The International Film Guide Series. A.S Barners & Company, New York. Sarris, Andrew. 1966. The Films of Josef von Sternberg. Museum of Modern Art/Doubleday. New York, New York. Sarris, Andrew. 1998. "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet." The American Talking Film History & Memory, 1927–1949. Oxford University Press.
External links
lobby card The Drag Net