The Last Laugh 1924

Film Review and Rating / Synopsis

• The Last Laugh (1924) - Plot Summary - German silent film, directed by F.W. Murnau. Starring Emil Jannings as a declining doorman at a fancy, bustling hotel - - in his brass buttoned uniform and cap, his lavish mustache well attended, he struts as proud as a peacock home from work each day. But seen as aging and frail after being observed exhausted after carrying a heavy trunk, he is reassigned - as lowly attendant in the men's washroom! Alone in the quiet, lower level washroom while all above is well-heeled clientele in lively hotel atmosphere, our man takes this demotion very, very hard. He even steals his old uniform and goes home wearing it, not wanting his family - in the midst of his daughter's wedding - to know the truth. When the wife brings food for him as a surprise the next day, she screams in horror (an interesting shot!) and soon his whole neighborhood of gossips has found out the truth. Devastating. POSSIBLE SPOILER SPOILER: A happy ending gives a much needed anecdote to all this depression, I must say.

  Review - The photographic style of this film is very interesting to look at - it is filmed without any intertitles, with the exception of a couple of letters and writing on a cake, so the story is almost completely told visually. There are interesting shots of the rainy streets seen through the large hotel revolving door, and a few imagination/dream sequences. The film is somewhat depressing, I must say, as our lead man is mainly seen looking deeply saddened and sort of on his last legs. The version I saw was on Kino DVD, the German restored version with a very nice sounding orchestral score and fab looking black and white print. Rating - * 10/10 stars *
  
  Director: F.W. Murnau
  Film Genre: Melodrama
  Film Runtime: 90 minutes
  German Original Title: Der letzte Mann

Links / Resources

• IMDb film listing for The Last Laugh (1924), cast and crew, trivia

RATINGS KEY:

10 = Absolutely Fabulous/Superb
9 = Really Good/Excellent
8 = Good
7 = Fairly Good/Decent
6 = So-so, some flaws
5 = Mediocre
4 = Not that good, many flaws
3 = Poor
2 = Very Poor/Stinker
1 = One of the worst BOMBS ever filmed