Pretty Good

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.This early film by Joseph Von Sternberg is fascinating for several reasons, most of which unfortunately are not to do with its dramatic quality.It's a time-capsule of a very specific point in the twentieth century and speaks with the voice of a whole class who felt a little uneasy at recent events, namely, the long reverberations of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the political repercussions throughout Europe. It's worth keeping in mind that many of the major figures in the early American film industry were themselves children of mother Russia and many actors and technical crew washed up in Hollywood after making themselves scarce in their home countries currently undergoing revolutionary upheaval. This was so well-known to the public that the film itself could depict a commander of Russian military forces reduced to the status of a movie extra without stretching credulity.The scenes of revolution in Russia are fascinating to watch as a right wing answer to the avant garde depictions of the same events, most famously in Eisenstein's 'October'. Compared to the kinetic rhythm of that film and others like his 'Battleship Potemkin', the scenes of crowd violence in 'The Last Command' are pretty tame and melodramatic. In fact the revolting masses scowl and screech like apes in heat. In several scenes they literally drool with blood-lust. The worst impersonations of what people think of as 'silent movie acting' are confirmed, complete with eye-rolling and tearing of hair.That old joke about 'the masses are revolting' seems to be the guiding principle here. Even the Hollywood extras on the movie studio lot are animals, pushing and shoving, mocking and jeering the sad tragic figure of Emil Jannings, the humiliated former 'imperial highness'. The film itself assumes the moral superiority of he ruling classes at every turn, whether they be Czarist military authorities or studio executives. Even the preening, cynical Jannings in the flashback scenes of pre-revolutionary Russia is affirmed to be at heart a patriot, one who 'loves Russia', in the words of the former revolutionary heroine, whose personality transitions are so abrupt it seems she is suffering from some advanced psychiatric condition.One thing that seems completely contemporary about the film, though. The camera almost caresses Jannings at every opportunity and he is in virtually every scene. It was obviously a calculated star vehicle for him, a vanity project, just as much as any recent Adam Sandler movie. I was not the least surprised that Jannings won the very first acting Oscar for his performance in this film, not because of its quality - he was better in Murnau's 'Last Laugh' to name just one previous role - but because it was in every sense a flagship picture, furnished with all the resources of the major studio that financed it. The very same thing happens today.

It's 1928 Hollywood. Director Leo Andreyev (William Powell) picks the picture of an elderly Sergius Alexander (Emil Jannings) from a stack of nobodies to be an extra. He casts him as the Russian general facing a revolt in his own ranks. In 1917, Grand Duke Sergius Alexander is the Czar's cousin and commander of all his armies. In one incident, he viciously whips revolutionary Leo Andreyev in the face and puts him in prison. He keeps Leo's fellow revolutionary Natalie Dabrova (Evelyn Brent) at his headquarters. She is conflicted and falls in love with Sergius. When revolutionaries take over his train, she helps him escape and dies in the process.There is some great acting from the three leads. Emil Jannings does a great job and wins the acting Oscar for his work in this film and 'The Way of All Flesh'. I'm not totally convinced by the love story between the revolutionary and the general but the movie is still compelling to watch.

Monday February 6, 7pm The Paramount, Seattle "From now on you are my prisoner of war -" "- and my prisoner of love."As the Russian revolution runs wild, a General in the Czar's army, Sergius Alexander (Emil Jannings) escapes execution with the help of a beautiful spy. Years later, a former revolutionist turned Hollywood movie director (William Powell) recognizes a head shot of the general, now a decrepit old man working as an extra, and plans his revenge.Directed by Josef von Sternberg, The Last Command (1928) was the highlight of Jannings' brief Hollywood career. Combined with his performance in The Way of All Flesh (1927), The Last Command received the first Academy Award for best actor in a leading role. Screenwriter Lajos Biró was nominated for best original story. Evelyn Brent, previously featured in von Sternberg's Underworld (1927), stars as the lovely femme fatale Natalie in a complex, pivotal role.Inspired by the life of General Theodore Lodijensky, The Last Command features one extraordinary, unexpected shocker and a table-turning, earth-shaking finale.

I had little experience of silent films except few and far between until I saw The Last Command. With the great Josef von Sternberg directing and Oscar winning performance by Emil Jannings, I knew I could expect something memorable and I was richly rewarded in experience when I viewed it. Now I have no qualms about silent films and have become something of a fan of them. Three other silent films of equal caliber came to my mind when I watched this film; The Passion of Joan of Arc,Nanook of the North and Battleship Potemkin I noted that to bring the full effect of a movie's message and produce entertainment as well, it is a much harder task for the performers than with sound and dialog. In this film, Jannings outdid himself and absolutely deserved the Oscar, the first for a foreign actor in Oscar history. His haughty bearing as the imperial Russian general and appropriate facial expressions were totally convincing and he appeared taller and grander than himself in real life. Then again, as the devastated,humiliated extra in the Hollywood Bread line he was just as superb. he was able to project that false dignity even as he was dressed up in the uniform of his former rank in the Russian army for the part he was asked to play. The last few minutes of this movie brought to memory his depiction of Emmanuel Rath in the other great movie he made with Marlene Dietrich, Blue Angel, but in Last Command he was even more admirable. One gets deeply into the atmosphere of the scenes, the story and the music when one watches this film. For that, the credit goes to Sternberg as much or more than to the principal actors. The music score was also so very beautiful and made for a great total effect.Performances by Evelyn Brent and William Powell were also superb. Brent did a great job both as the delicate beauty as well as the vicious turn coat in her role.