en
The Last Laugh
F.W. Murnau’s German silent classic depicts the tale of the elderly but proud doorman of a posh Berlin hotel. Demoted to polishing tiles beneath a sink as a lavatory attendant, all seems lost—but appearances can be deceiving. The experienced doorman of the Atlantic Hotel owes his self-esteem and recognition to his splendid uniform: outside the revolving door of the hotel he is a proud servant, at home in the backyard milieu a highly admired man. When the manager demotes the ageing porter to toilet man, his world falls apart. To keep up appearances, he steals the uniform. But he can't keep his social decline a secret from his family and neighbors for long. Thanks to the visionary use of the "unchained camera" and the brilliant acting, this milestone of German silent cinema gets by almost entirely without intertitles. Leading actor Emil Jannings emancipated himself from his eternal costume roles with this social drama and, like director F. W. Murnau and cinematographer Karl Freund, achieved international recognition.
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F.W. Murnau’s German silent classic depicts the tale of the elderly but proud doorman of a posh Berlin hotel. Demoted to polishing tiles beneath a sink as a lavatory attendant, all seems lost—but appearances can be deceiving.
The experienced doorman of the Atlantic Hotel owes his self-esteem and recognition to his splendid uniform: outside the revolving door of the hotel he is a proud servant, at home in the backyard milieu a highly admired man. When the manager demotes the ageing porter to toilet man, his world falls apart. To keep up appearances, he steals the uniform. But he can't keep his social decline a secret from his family and neighbors for long. Thanks to the visionary use of the "unchained camera" and the brilliant acting, this milestone of German silent cinema gets by almost entirely without intertitles. Leading actor Emil Jannings emancipated himself from his eternal costume roles with this social drama and, like director F. W. Murnau and cinematographer Karl Freund, achieved international recognition.