For a silent film almost 100 years old, I would expect some effort necessary in order to appreciate the goings on. Not here, this is so bright and clear both in visuals and in narrative content. Immediately attractive from the start, this tale is told with astonishing clarity, never mind that it switches from the Russian revolution to a Hollywood film studio. Yes, film within a film on top of historic drama and romantic thriller. Emil Jannings gives his expected solid performance and it has to be said whether in his guise as the privileged Russian or the humble film extra is most convincing. William Powell also gives a convincing performance as the film director but it is the irrepressible Evelyn Brent who catches the eye. Flirtatious and conniving, seductive and loving or revolutionary activist, she is radiant and helps enormously with the changing story and she seems as comfortable with her string of pearls laid back in the general's luxury rooms as she does later struggling upon the piles of coal in the steam engine. But, I guess, really it is all praise to Josef von Sternberg who manages, in what must have been extremely difficult circumstances, to bring off such diverse an heavy populated scenes so convincingly. Most impressive.
Review of The Last Command
