The Last laugh ; Der letzte Mann (Motion picture : 1924). 16 mm

The crowning achievement of the German expressionist movement and one of the most notable artworks to arise from the Weimar Republic is Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's The Last Laugh. Emil Jannings stars in the bleak fable of an aging doorman whose happiness crumbles when he is relieved of the duties and uniform which had for years been the foundation of his pride. Through Jannings' colossal performance, The Last Laugh becomes more than the plight of a single doorman but a dramatization of the frustration of the working class. The young film critic Marcel Carne described the film's cinematography in 1929 in the following terms: "The camera on a trolley glides, rises, zooms, or weaves where the story takes it. It is no longer fixed but takes part in the action and becomes a character in the drama." ; UFA; director, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung; producer, Erich Pommer; screenplay, Karl Mayer. ; Running time of the original silent release was 86 minutes at 20 frames per second, Cf. George Sadoul's Dictionary of Films. ; Harvard Film Archive 16 mm projection print in good condition, some scratches, HFA item no. 10621, from the UFSC collection. ; Originally produced as a motion picture in Germany in 1924 under the title Der letzte Mann. ; Emil Jannings, Maly Delschaft, Max Hiller, Emilie Kurz, Hans Unterkirchen, Georg John. ; Producer, Erich Pommer ; director, F.W. Murnau ; screenplay, Karl Mayer ; photography, Karl Freund.