The Last Laugh (Murnau, 1924): BFI Southbank, NFT2, 3.10pm
Chicago Reader review:
The 1924 film in which F.W. Murnau freed his camera from its stationary
tripod and took it on a flight of imagination and expression that
changed the way movies were made. Cameras had tracked and panned before,
but never to such a deliberate and spectacular degree. Emil Jannings is
the hotel doorman whose life is ruined when he is shunted to
semiretirement as a lavatory attendant and his beautiful uniform is
taken away from him. The film was a great international success and
secured a Hollywood contract for its German director—although a
president of Universal, according to legend, complained that the story
made no sense because everyone knew that washroom attendants made more
money than doormen.
Dave Kehr
Here (and above) is an extract.
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