Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Way of All Flesh

Play trailer Poster for The Way of All Flesh 1927 1h 30m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 42 Reviews 50% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Devoted family man and bank worker August Schilling (Emil Jannings) leaves Milwaukee for the first time to deliver bonds to a bank in Chicago. On the train, August falls prey to the seductive advances of Mayme (Phyllis Haver), the girlfriend of gang leader The Tough (Fred Kohler). When The Tough's gang attacks him, August resists, hurling the leader into an oncoming train. A shell-shocked August then assumes The Tough's identity and sets off on a far more difficult journey than he'd planned.
The Way of All Flesh

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A weakness for melodrama dampens its impact, but Emil Jannings' outstanding performance makes The Way of All Flesh worth following.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More
Ella H. McCormick Detroit Free Press 07/14/2021
Great care has been shown in the backgrounds for this photodrama and meticulous attention to detail has been exercised. Go to Full Review
Wilella Waldorf New York Post 07/14/2021
Are the early and middle portions of the picture good enough to outweigh the atrocious third section in which every known tear-inducer but the homely onion is tossed at the audience? Thinking it over calmly, we are inclined to answer in the affirmative. Go to Full Review
Edmund Wilson The New Republic 07/14/2021
The producers have been so much afraid of launching the European Jannings without sufficient ballast of American hokum... that they have wasted much first-rate ability on what is essentially a maudlin film. Go to Full Review
Carl Sandburg Chicago Daily News 12/14/2021
Jannings is incomparably the greatest of all screen actors, unless it be that the aforesaid Charles Spencer Chaplin can tie him. Go to Full Review
Robert E. Sherwood LIFE 10/05/2021
Mr. Jannings is as good as he was in The Last Laugh and Variety, if not better; the picture itself, while not quite up to the high level of these two outstanding instances, is creditable and admirable. Go to Full Review
Mila Landis Sacramento Bee 05/21/2021
Even the artificialities of Hollywood have not yet touched the fine acting of Jannings, as is proved by his excellent character work in The Way of All Flesh. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
12/11/2021 This is a lost film as only two fragments survive both from the ending, including the only color footage of Clara Bow. It is the only Academy Award winning performance (Jannings) with no known complete copy of the film. It is one of Victor Flemings' many lost silent films of the 1920s. It was remade in 1940. See more @Cameron11 08/31/2021 From the two fragments I have seen that show the ending, The Way of All Flesh looks like a really intriguing film. It makes me wonder what happened to Jannings' character in this film to separate himself from his family and most notably his successful son. From these two reels, it gives you a glimpse to Jannings' performance that led him to win the first Best Actor Oscar. I might watch the 1940 remake to have a better understanding of the story. Hopefully, the film will be found in the future although it seems unlikely. It's also funny that the film is "Certified Fresh" with a critics consensus even though the film is lost. See more 08/13/2021 I have one question to the rotten tomatoes staff. Where Film? See more Steve D 07/23/2020 I didn't find the story at all engaging, the fragments available unimpressive. See more Ametrine A 08/14/2019 Only about three minutes of this film still exist, which can easily be found on Youtube. Even with just those three minutes, Jannings' performance shines through. It's a shame film preservation came too late for great performances like I'm sure this one was. See more 12/28/2017 Jannings' the only Academy Award-winning performance with no known complete copy of the film preserved. And just watching the only two parts that existed know you can see how great is his performance in this picture. See more Read all reviews
The Way of All Flesh

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
Seventh Heaven 100% 85% Seventh Heaven Watchlist It 88% 81% It Watchlist Coquette 44% 26% Coquette Watchlist The Crowd 96% 90% The Crowd Watchlist Sadie Thompson 83% 75% Sadie Thompson Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Devoted family man and bank worker August Schilling (Emil Jannings) leaves Milwaukee for the first time to deliver bonds to a bank in Chicago. On the train, August falls prey to the seductive advances of Mayme (Phyllis Haver), the girlfriend of gang leader The Tough (Fred Kohler). When The Tough's gang attacks him, August resists, hurling the leader into an oncoming train. A shell-shocked August then assumes The Tough's identity and sets off on a far more difficult journey than he'd planned.
Director
Victor Fleming
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation
Genre
Drama
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 25, 1927, Original
Runtime
1h 30m