The Last Laugh | |
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Directed by | F. W. Murnau |
Screenplay by | Carl Mayer |
Produced by | Erich Pommer |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Karl Freund |
Music by | Giuseppe Becce |
Production company | |
Distributed by | UFA Universal Pictures (USA) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | Germany |
The Last Laugh (German: Der letzte Mann, transl. The Last Man) is a 1924 German silent film directed by German director F. W. Murnau from a screenplay written by Carl Mayer. The film stars Emil Jannings and Maly Delschaft.
Stephen Brockmann summarized the film's plot as, "a nameless hotel doorman loses his job".[1] It is a cinematic example of the Kammerspielfilm or "chamber-drama" genre, which follows the style of short, sparse plays of lower middle-class life that emphasized the psychology of the characters rather than the sets and action. The genre tried to avoid the intertitles (title cards) of spoken dialogue or description that characterize most silent films, in the belief that the visuals themselves should carry most of the meaning.
The film was voted number 11 on the prestigious Brussels 12 list at the 1958 World Expo. In 1955, the film was remade starring Hans Albers.