An Introduction to Film

198 CHAPTER 5 MISE-EN-SCÈNE

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Camera use in The Last LaughF. W. Murnau’s The Last
Laugh(1924) is one of the most poignant, yet ultimately
happy, movies ever made. Emil Jannings plays an aging,
weary hotel doorman who is demoted to the job of men’s
washroom porter; in the process, he is stripped of his
magnificent uniform coat and given a simple white jacket to
wear. Because the character has no name, we can assume
that he is “everyman.” With great sensitivity to this man’s
predicament, Murnau pays careful attention to camera point
of view as he photographs the character’s descent from a job
of great dignity to one of humiliation. The drama begins
when the hotel manager notices that the doorman is so
weary that he has to sit down and rest. [1] From the
manager’s point of view, the camera looks through the glass
revolving doors and sees the resplendent doorman formally
greeting a guest; however, the manager has previously
decided that the doorman is too old and tired to continue
bearing these responsibilities. [2] Later, in the manager’s

office, from the manager’s point of view, we see an assistant

remove the doorman’s symbolic coat——a shameful moment in

which the old man’s pride is stripped away from him, like the

skin being flayed from an animal. [3] Still later, because the

doorman does not want to be seen by anyone now, Murnau

uses an objective camera to show us his descent to the

basement to begin his new position; notice that, in contrast

to image [1], the former doorman cowers in fear of being

seen. [4] Once he is in the new job, because he is tired and

weary here (just as he was when the manager decided to

demote him), the former doorman dozes while holding a

towel for a hotel guest, from whose point of view (through a

mirror) this shot is photographed. Thus, with the exception of

image [3], we see only what the characters see. The movie’s

title refers to the fact that, at the last moment, the doorman

(through a plot twist you’ll have to see to appreciate)

becomes a rich man, returns to the hotel to dine, and has the

last laugh.