Asphalt

Asphalt is a German silent drama set in Berlin, where a well-dressed woman named Else Kramer steals a precious stone from a jewellery shop. Caught in the act by the young policeman Albert Holk, she uses her charm to talk her way out of an arrest. Her influence over him grows until the conscientious officer finds himself torn between his duty and his feelings for her, and the arrival of a former lover of hers pushes the situation toward desperation.

Joe May directed the film, working from a screenplay he wrote with Hans Székely and Rolf E. Vanloo, with Erich Pommer and Max Pfeiffer producing for UFA. Betty Amann takes the lead as Else, the role for which she is best known, opposite Gustav Fröhlich as Albert Holk. Albert Steinrück, Else Heller, Hans Adalbert Schlettow and Hans Albers appear in supporting parts. May's career as a director is represented here by a 1929 release followed much later by The Invisible Man Returns in 1940.

Released in March 1929, the film runs 93 minutes. On TMDB it holds a rating of 7.3 out of 10 from 52 votes, a modest number of votes but a sign of continued attention.