An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel, is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society.

What does a man become when his entire world is stripped from him? This is the question posed by German master director F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu) as we watch a loyal doorman at a high-class hotel get dismissed by management due to his age and demoted to a lowly washroom attendant. With the loss of his position and the outward trappings of success, his world begins to disintegrate, his social standing destroyed, his mind crushed.

Murnau used his mastery of German Expressionism to fuse visionary romanticism with sociological objectivity that tied in with what was occurring in the post WWI Germany.

Legendary cinematographer Karl Freund’s (Metropolis) inventive “unchained” camera work gliding through the spectacular sets of the hotel’s lobby, nighttime streets, looming skyscrapers and grim tenements conveys an emotional power equalled only by star Emil Jannings. Looking at The Last Laugh with 21st century eyes, one can’t help but have the uncomfortable thought that perhaps the trappings of our worth-our titles, positions, income, and clothes are but a similar shell. -TORONTO SILENT FILM