The Last Command

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Matthew B The Last Command is notable for the presence of two people who were big in cinema in their time, but who are somewhat neglected today. The first of these is its director, Josef von Sternberg. Sternberg was a successful and renowned director then, and one of his films, Shanghai Express, was the top-grossing movie of 1932. Nowadays the titles of Sternberg's films are known mainly to aficionados of classic movies. I suspect that part of the problem is that Sternberg's best movies were made at the advent of the talking picture when camera work was still static. Had he made his movies a few years earlier or a few years later, they might have been even better than they were. The other figure whose star has fallen since then is the lead actor in The Last Command, Emil Jannings. This Swiss-born actor was greatly-admired in the silent era, and he worked with Sternberg and F W Murnau on a number of occasions. He was successful in both German and American films, and he was the first actor to win an Oscar, jointly for his role in The Way of All Flesh (sadly this movie is now lost) and The Last Command. There is a certain aptness about the characteristic Jannings performance. In this film, The Blue Angel and The Last Laugh, he plays a domineering figure who suffers a fall from grace that results in his destruction or near-destruction. Jannings too went through a similar decline. The gifted but child-like and attention-seeking actor thrived in the 1920s. Jannings' physical manner of acting was brilliantly suited to the silent era, but perhaps a little too histrionic for the talkies. He also made the decision to remain in Germany during the Nazi period, and appeared in several movies designed to promote Nazism, thereby losing his credibility with a wider audience. Films like The Last Command are the best place to see the talents of Sternberg and Jannings. Without the limitations of early sound movies to hold them back, these two men were able to fully utilise the skills that they had picked up from appearing in silent movies for many years. The story of The Last Command had its origins in a real-life figure. The famous film director Ernst Lubitsch met a General in the Imperial Russian Army called Theodore A. Lodigensky while he was in Russia. After the Revolution, Lubitsch encountered the General again in Hollywood. By this time, the former General was reduced to playing bit-part roles in movies for a fee of $7.50 a day. In a curious irony, the role that Lodigensky was playing required him to once more don his military uniform. The power of such a story is understandable, and a good director hardly needs to work strenuously to make audiences feel the pathos of such a situation. – a proud military leader brought down to a level where even a few dollars a day in insignificant acting roles is gratefully accepted. What Sternberg brings to the story is a cynical take on his own industry, an analysis of the Russian Revolution, and a personal study of the fall of a powerful man. I am not sure if The Last Command should be seen as an anti-war movie, but there are grounds for reading it that way. The elite are pursuing a war to save their own skin. This war is fought foolishly, with men removed from the fight or deployed on the battlefield for no better purpose than to make a display. While Sergius regards the war as necessary to stave off revolution, it is more true to say that the Russian Revolution might not have happened if the ruling classes had not shown themselves to be inept and weak through their conduct in war. While the aristocracy and the Czar are seen to be arrogant and out-of-touch, the film does not come down on the side of the revolutionaries either. We would perhaps not expect anything else from a movie made in America at a time when Communists were seen as a threat. The Red Scare was not as strong in the 1920s, but it was still there. Nonetheless, Sternberg's portrayal of the revolutionaries is probably no worse than Shakespeare's treatment of Jack Cade's rebels in Henry VI Part 2 or Charles Dickens' portrayal of the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities. Such an approach may seem to be conservative, but the fear of mob rule is probably a justifiable one. The fate of Russia is conveyed by the fate of the train that is transporting Sergius and the other officers. The train is brought to a halt by the Bolsheviks, and the officers fall into the hands of the enemy. Here we see the ugly side of the Revolution. Crowds of ruffianly individuals emerge, waving flags and fists, their mouths open as they shout and scream. Sergius is beaten, trampled on and spat on, while his fellow-officers are hanged or shot. There is a wider theme here, which is the corrupting influence of power. When Sergius has a position of authority, he is arrogant and mistreats Andreyev: when Andreyev has the upper hand, he is vindictive and enjoys his ability to influence Sergius's fate. When the mob takes power, they are cruel and brutal. It seems that power brings out the worst in everyone. The final act of the movie is a fitting tribute to the power and magic of cinema to seek to persuade us to ignore the artifice behind the camera, and to briefly convince ourselves that what we are seeing something true. I wrote a longer appreciation of The Last Command on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2019/03/20/the-last-command-1928/ Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/28/23 Full Review Louisa E Quite powerful for a silent film. Emil is a good actor although slightly hammy. Good parallel between Hollywood and Russia. 8/10. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/08/23 Full Review Audience Member Despite its commercial failure the movie garnered a nomination for Best Original story and Emil Jennings won the first ever Oscar for best performance. It was a fascinating story laced with keen perceptions of life and work in Hollywood. The themes reflect Sternberg's obsession as a film poet, exhibiting a continuous stream of emotional autobiography and strikingly defines the importance for Sternberg of intertwined themes of desire, power, and instability of identity. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review steve d One of the best of its kind Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Great silent film, fascinating story, well-acted by all. Wonder why no contemporary director has remade it. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member It may be American but Sternberg's German roots shine through. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Last Command

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