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The Last Laugh

Hans Unterkirchen (Actor), Emmy Wyde (Actor), F. W. Murnau (Director), Rated:
NR
Format: Blu-ray
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 125 ratings
IMDb8.0/10.0
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Genre Drama, Classics/Silent Films
Format NTSC, Subtitled
Contributor Hans Unterkirchen, Emelie Kurtz, F. W. Murnau, Hermann Vallentin, Emil Jannings, Heather Shaw, Erich Pommer, Emmy Wyde, Olaf Storm, Kurt Hiller, Emmy Wyda, Georg John, Carl Mayer, Max Hiller, Maly Delschaft, Alfonso Cuarón, F.W. Murnau See more
Language German
Runtime 1 hour and 30 minutes
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Product Description

One of the crowning achievements of the German expressionist movement, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's The Last Laugh (Der letzte Mann) stars Emil Jannings stars as an aging doorman whose happiness crumbles when he is relieved of the duties and uniform which had for years been the foundation of his happiness and pride. Through Jannings's colossal performance, The Last Laugh becomes more than the plight of a single doorman, but a mournful dramatization of the frustration and anguish of the universal working class. Featuring a new musical score by the Berklee College of Music, as well as the original score by Giuseppe Becca, this is the definitive edition of the landmark classic, mastered from a 2K restoration by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.

Special Features: 2K Restoration by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung | New musical score (2017) by the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra | Original 1924 score by Giuseppe Becce, orchestrated by Detlev Glanert (2003) | Audio commentary by film historian Noah Isenberg | The Last Laugh: The Making of, a 40-minute documentary | Bonus DVD featuring the unrestored export version with music by Timothy Brock, performed by the Olympia Chamber Orchestra

Product details

  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 3.1 ounces
  • Item model number ‏ : ‎ 0738329215453
  • Director ‏ : ‎ F. W. Murnau, F.W. Murnau
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Subtitled
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 30 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ November 14, 2017
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Hans Unterkirchen, Emmy Wyde, Emelie Kurtz, Kurt Hiller, Emil Jannings
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Producers ‏ : ‎ Alfonso Cuarón, Erich Pommer, Heather Shaw
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Kino Classics
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B075P5XHQB
  • Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 125 ratings

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
125 global ratings
No Need for Subtitles
5 Stars
No Need for Subtitles
FW Murnau was one of the greatest silent film directors, right up there with Fritz Lange; and Emil Jennings one of the best actors. This film about an elderly man who loses his indentity is so brilliantly crafted that it requires absolutely no subtitles. You understand what the person is saying in any lanquage and even though the actors are mute. I've not experienced that before in a silent picture.It's true that there are certain similarities between THE BLUE ANGEL where Jennings' Professor goes way overboard in a late life crush on an amoral tart (Marlene Deitrich in a career-making role) & Jennings' Hotel Doorman in THE LAST LAUGH. The main difference is that the Professor chose his way to ruin, the Doorman has it forced upon him by his employer.This is a story that is as relvant today as it was in post-World War I Germany when the film was made. It reminded me very much the 1950's Italian film, UMBERTO, D. Both films address the theme of how indifferently (at best) society tends to treat the elderly. For the Doorman, his entire life is defined by his job. His emotional disintegration is almost too painful to watch.Some viewers may object to the Epilogue tacked on to the conclusion. I was a little puzzeled by it myself at first, but soon realized that it was a perfect ending for this intense character study of a somewhat foolish, harmless old man who didn't deserve all the cruelty heaped upon him--but who does get THE LAST LAUGH in the end.I give this film the highest recommendation to purchase or to rent.
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Top reviews from the United States

Dirk Drudgler
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Innovative Film - Remarkable, Unusual Story Structure
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2015
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In "The Last Laugh," director F.W. Murnau, cinematographer Karl Freund and actor Emil Jannings combined to make a stunning film which pushed film technique and composition to new heights. Many cite this film as an example of German Expressionism, but there is absolutely no support for that designation.

The film excels in its realism. The few expressionistic elements are occasional moments of drunken revelry which are purely subjective to the characters in the film. It is these moments, along with the famous "happy ending" which make the film such a wonderful example of story construction and audience manipulation in that they exist inside the context of a hyper-realistic world not a strangely expressionistic one.

The story is of an old man, a proud doorman of a luxury hotel. His identity is completely wrapped up in his work. When his duties are taken away from him because of age and frailty, he is sent to become the attendant of the basement men's room. There he begins a rapid decent into degradation and shame.

Murnau's use of light and shadow serves to isolate the old man who progressively, physically breaks down into complete decay. The exaggerated acting conventions of silent cinema carried out masterfully by Emil Jannings, create a heart-breaking cinematic experience.

The juxtaposition of the tragic ending of the story and the comedic epilogue was unprecedented in cinema. The contrast created between the two different parts of the story is almost surreal and certainly jarring. Murnau clearly understands the power he has over an audience as a filmmaker, and he uses that power in a god-like way, to twist their reactions and their emotions.

The viewer is left to wonder whether the film ends in a cold, cynical dream much like Winston Smith slips into before his ultimate and most horrible torture in Orwell's "1984," or is it a pleasant Disney-esque deus-ex-machina happy ending? This innovative style of story telling has been copied by several modern filmmakers. Quentin Tarantino's film, " Inglourious Basterds " immediately comes to mind.

This film is only 90 minutes long and contains many great and innovative techniques, brilliant storytelling and wonderful acting. It is worth a look for those things alone. Highly recommended
6 people found this helpful
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D. Hutchins
5.0 out of 5 stars A True Classic
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2004
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Sometime in the early '70s, I watched a weekly UHF series, which showcased cinematic masterpieces. It was hosted by Charles Champlain. After he introduced the particular film for that week, he proceeded to play the film itself. Afterward, there was some discussipon about the film that was just shown.
Some were titles I was familiar with; others were unknown to me. But every one of them were cinematic works of art. I remember seeing "The Cabinet Of Doctor Caliagri", Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin" and "Ivan The Terrible, Part I", Cocteau's "Beauty And The Beast", as well as Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai". I remember the level of film-making quality, and thinking I never saw anything prior to what I saw in these films, to compare to what these films offered. They were not just thought-provoking, but they, very often, had a human or a dramatic, aspect to them which most commercial films never captured. I was enjoying the beginning of an education in the history of cinema.
Another treat in that film series was Murnau's "The Last Laugh". It wasn't just the story of a working man, and what happened to him when the source of his pride and satisfation was gone, which gripped me. It was also about how the film depicted the "neighbors" and "friends", who took delight in the doorman'ss humiliation, and how other employees, except for one, were more concerned about their own loyalty to the hotel, rather than expressing personal sympathy. It's a very human story, told in a very simple, but occasionally expressionistic, way.
Other reviewers have remarked about the fluid camera work, and the fact of Murnau's using just one title card. I agree that both of those elements contribute to making "The Last Laugh" a memorable film. I'd also add that Emil Jannings should get credit for his stunning, tragic performance. Don't miss this film!
5 people found this helpful
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Brad Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars Life and Tragedy
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2003
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1924's "The Last Laugh" is a short, simple, direct tale of an elderly hotel doorman. Becoming complacent, he is smugly replaced by a younger man, and assigned to work in the washroom. Shocked and ashamed, he steals his old uniform to hide his fate from family and friends. A whirlwind of symbolism, the opening scene dances down a moving, mechanical elevator. Director F.W. Murnau tosses in multiple-image montages(all composed in the camera), hallucinatory lighting effects, scenes filmed through glass, and what is probably the first portable, hand-held camera shots. "The Last Laugh" was written by Carl Mayer. Paul Rotha's "Film Till Now" relates that Mayer "was a careful, patient worker. He would take days over a few shots. He would rather return the money than be forced to finish a script the wrong way. Film mattered most. His little money he gave away to make others happy". "The Last Laugh" was an unequaled example of universal co-operation: Director F.W. Murnau, cameraman Karl Freund(who filmed "Dracula" 7 years later), Carl Mayer, and the great German actor Emil Jannings. "The Last Laugh" DVD contains the unusual "happy", alternate ending, chapter stops, and several photo stills. After "Faust" in 1926, Murnau was whisked away to America, where he bought extravagant autos and a racing yacht. Talking movies emerged in 1927, but Murnau's final effort, "Tabu", contained no dialogue. F.W. Murnau's sound-film talents will never be known. A car crash took his life near Santa Barbara in 1931. Greatness suddenly became memory. But oh, what a memory.
13 people found this helpful
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William Buckley Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2023
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If you love cinema you need to watch this movie at some point in your life. The camera work, framing, direction, and lighting are revolutionary. The special effects are also groundbreaking.

This is an incredible piece of art that we are lucky to still have.
2 people found this helpful
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Daniel Martínez
5.0 out of 5 stars Recomendable
Reviewed in Mexico on June 7, 2019
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Bien empacando y llego en tiempo y forma
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Trevor Willsmer
5.0 out of 5 stars "Take away a man's uniform - what is left?"
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2009
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Appearances can be deceptive. If you were to judge by appearances, this would seem to be one of Emil Jannings' ever-popular exercises in onscreen humiliation (The Blue Angel, The Last Command) - and no one did humiliation like Jannings, the man with the most expressive back and shoulders in cinema. A huge worldwide star in the silent era and the first Best Actor Oscar winner, his career and reputation subsequently marred by the Nazi films he made during the war, the film has survived its star's disgrace to become one of the enduring greats. Its story may be simple, but the execution is absolutely extraordinary, the film still seeming extraordinarily fresh and modern even today - a film with an energy and a beating heart that makes for an invigorating piece of pure cinema.

Adapted from Nikolai Gogol's The Coat and a Broadway adaptation by Charles W. Goddard (the film's title actually translates from German as The Last Man, as in The Bible's `the last shall be first'), it taps into both the Germans' love of uniforms and the universal tendency to judge others by their appearance. Jannings plays the much-respected chief porter of the prestigious Hotel Atlantic. He may live in a neighbourhood not many steps above a slum, but as long as he has his grandiose military-style porter's uniform, he has the respect of everyone in his neighbourhood. It is the uniform, not money, that is the source of his power and authority, but when he is demoted after a humiliatingly pathetic display of physical strength shows his age, he is stripped of the overcoat like a disgraced officer being cashiered before the entire regiment and sent to work as a lavatory attendant instead, the lowliest position in the entire hotel. At first he attempts to hide his dishonour, but once his secret is out his neighbours' attitudes change almost immediately from love and admiration to contempt as he becomes a joke in their eyes. The only compassion he receives is from the night watchman in a moving drunken scene that you suspect everyone but Jannings wanted for the finale.

Yet far from this being a case of just deserts, Jannings' protagonist is a decent man for all his surface pomposity. All he has is the respect his position bestows on him, and once that is gone it is genuinely tragic to see this huge man shrink into himself. It's that human aspect that ultimately is the film's greatest achievement: it's as emotional and moving as it is technically innovative. And the film is incredibly innovative.

An attempt to make a silent film with no captions, the film tells its story with images and body language, with only a shot of a letter and a very reluctant onscreen excuse for the unbelievable epilogue imposed on him by his star breaking the flow of images (Murnau passed on the opportunity to direct The Blue Angel, fearing that Jannings would once again demand a happy ending: Jannings even suggested his Last Laugh co-star Molly Delschart for the Dietrich role!). Boasting the top talent in German cinema of the day (a screenplay by The Cabinet of Dr Caligari's Carl Mayer, produced by Eric Pohmer, magnificent production design by future cult director Edgar G. Ulmer), a huge 1.6m DM budget that allowed magnificent sets of the grand hotel and the beautifully rendered slum, and a lavish 180-day shooting schedule that allowed director F.W. Murnau a level of perfectionism rare even now let alone in 1924, the film is the best and most groundbreaking example of what became known as the `unchained camera' technique. And the camerawork is very much a star of the film. Few directors, sound or silent, understood the language of the camera as well as Murnau: Scorsese's been openly stealing from him for decades. You could even make a case that all modern cinema flows from this source, with many of the techniques we take for granted today being tried out here. The camera is rarely still in many of the major sequences, the hotel lobby filled with crane and dolly shots (the later reputedly invented for the film), Karl Freund's striking camerawork at times even assuming the perspective and failing eyesight of its tragic hero.

Thankfully the film has received some of the attention it deserves, with a fine transfer keeping the excellent 1924 score by Giuseppe Becce, the DVD also includes an excellent documentary detailing the differences between the different versions (three were shot, one for Germany, the others for export overseas, with many subsequent re-edits happening to both), how the forced perspective sets were designed via production sketches and blueprints and even breakdowns on individual shots. The DVD even tells you what film stock and cameras were used! Very highly recommended.
6 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A must have film from a master film maker.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 28, 2015
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Quite simply one of the best films ever made. Not a big or showy film like Nosferatu but quet and thoughtful. It quietly sucks you in and grips you. Utterly delightful, never boring and truly amazing. If you've not seen a serious silent film then start here. I found the extras which describe the way this was filmed to be a big surprise too. It's aastonishing how they put this film together. You'll love the film but do remember to watch the extras! Oh and the quality of the restoration is excellent. its got high a bitrate, the score is excellent, the picture and contrast are lovely too. Highly recommended but be sure to buy this version. Other may not be so good.
One person found this helpful
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classic player
5.0 out of 5 stars A true silent classic
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2012
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This edition offers a very good quality print of a very good quality silent film.The performances are superb and I can highly recommend this 80th anniversary edition.The film has the ability to delve deep into the nature of humanity and relationships.
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catbook
1.0 out of 5 stars Beware of the missing information about this DVD!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 28, 2017
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I was looking forward to seeing this - but as the dvd's subtitles are Korean I am clearly going to have to wait until I find another version to watch.
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