Friday, September 16, 2022, 7:30 p.m., Dryden Theatre
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The Last Laugh (1924)
(Der letzte Mann, F. W. Murnau, Germany 1924, 90 min., 35mm)
The enduring masterpiece from director Murnau (Nosferatu, Sunrise) is an artful fusion of evocative German Expressionism and gritty social realism. Emil Jannings stars as the stolid doorman of a posh Berlin hotel whose pride crumbles when he’s shunted into semi-retirement as a washroom attendant. Murnau tells the tragic story entirely without intertitles by using intricate tracking shots, grotesque lens distortions, and dynamic shot angles.
Live piano accompaniment by Dr. Philip C. Carli.