The Last Command
1928 · US
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
Sternberg, 1928: Emil Jannings as a White Russian general who ends up an extra in a Hollywood war picture directed by the revolutionary who once broke him. Evelyn Brent is the woman. Paramount. Jannings won the first Best Actor Oscar. The film is about humiliation as a craft — a man who commanded an army now taking orders about how to fall. Sternberg's lighting turns a studio backlot into a second exile. Released the year sound arrived; Jannings's face did not need it.
Drama · History · War · Romance
Watch nowWatch The Last Command
1928 · Source: Internet Archive
Public domain presentation
Cast & Crew
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Public Domain Source
Internet Archive
From the Reading Room
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Movies Silently Review ★★
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The Last Command
Article
The Last Command (1928) | The Criterion Collection — The Criterion Collection
Criterion essay on Sternberg's film about illusion and Hollywood.
Article
The Last Command: Illusions and Delusions | Current | The Criterion Collection — The Criterion Collection
Analysis of the film's themes of acting and theatrical identity.
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Cast
Principal players
Emil Jannings
Gen. Dolgorucki / Grand Duke Sergius Alexander
Evelyn Brent
Natalie Dabrova
William Powell
Lev Andreyev
J
Jack Raymond
Assistant director
Nicholas Soussanin
The adjutant
Michael Visaroff
Serge (the valet)
Fritz Feld
A revolutionist
Harry Cording
Revolutionist (uncredited)
Shep Houghton
Russian Youth (uncredited)
A
Alexander Ikonnikov
Drillmaster (uncredited)
N
Nicholas Kobliansky
Drillmaster (uncredited)
Guy Oliver
Wardrobe Attendant (uncredited)
S
Sam Savitsky
A Private (uncredited)
Harry Semels
A Soldier (uncredited)
R
Robert Wilber
Undetermined Secondary Role (uncredited)
Crew
Josef von Sternberg
writer
Bert Glennon
cinematographer
Lajos Biró
writer
John F. Goodrich
writer
Herman J. Mankiewicz
writer
Ernst Lubitsch
writer
