The Last Laugh

1924 silent German drama

Rating: 17/20

Plot: An aging man immensely proud of his job as a ritzy hotel doorman, along with the accompanying big-buttoned uniform that he gets to wear, shows up to work one day to find out that he has been demoted because of a misunderstanding on the previous night. Because of his many years of service, the hotel gives him a job in the washroom. Stripped of his uniform, he can't face being also stripped of his dignity and steals the uniform back to hide the loss of his job and status from his wife and his neighbors.

This is a much, much better film if stopped before the epilogue. I happened to love the downer that was the real ending even though there is a really nice one-shot sequence where the camera moves from patron to patron to waiter to patron to waiter in a crowded fancy restaurant that is really cool. Really, everything up to that point in this Murnau film is about perfect. The acting, especially from the lead, is spectacular for 1920's drama, so good that not a single title card is even needed to tell the story. Of course, it's not just the acting that tells the admittedly simple story here. The camera actually does most of the work, and it's amazing to see a 1924 film in which the camera does this much work. The fluidity (especially), the creative angles, the effects, the zoomings in and out. Impressive and undoubtedly influential stuff. Seriously, find me a camera that moves this much in the first half of the 20's. The set is also worth mentioning, a beautifully realistic construction of a city with towering and leaning buildings. Also impressive is the use of lighting and shadow in the movie. Along with the setting changes--the literal placement of our protagonist--the lighting mirrors the temperament of the unfortunate ex-doorman. My favorite scene--when the wife discovers her husband's secret and runs away screeching. It probably wasn't meant to be funny, but I couldn't help myself and may have chuckled.