The Last Command (1928)

Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Starring Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent, William Powell, Jack Raymond, Nicholas Soussanin, Fritz Field, Michael Visaroff.

A more realistic brand of melodrama as silent films transitioned to talkies, starring Jannings as a member of the Russian noble class deposed by Bolsheviks during the Revolution. Most of his story is told in flashback from modern-day Hollywood as movie director Powell casts the now-penniless Russian commander as an extra for his next movie. Jannings’ potent performance (the first Academy Award winner for Best Actor, bestowed here in conjunction with his work in the now-lost The Way of All Flesh) and the intriguing observations and ironies found when juxtaposing the Revolution-era plot with the Hollywood material make it one of von Sternberg’s best. Also features one of Powell’s best serious performances and a sultry, enigmatic turn from Brent as the Bolshevik woman Jannings is drawn to. Von Sternberg shares story credit with Lajos Biró; titles penned by Herman J. Mankiewicz, and Ernst Lubitsch made uncredited contributions to the script as well.

79/100