Last Laugh, The (1924) d. Murnau, F. W. (Germany)
F. W. Murnau’s extraordinary silent film manages to tell its entire narrative – with one equally extraordinary exception – from a purely cinematic standpoint, without the use of intertitles. A heartbreaking melodrama about a posh hotel’s aging doorman (Emil Jannings) whose position means everything. When he is removed from his post and sent to work as a washroom attendant, his shame and devastation is profoundly felt by the viewer, touching us in a way that words could only hint at.
