The Last Command (1928)

Winner of 1 Academy Award:

Best Actor

Emil Jannings

Nominated for 1 Academy Award:

Best Writing (Original Story)

Lajos Biró

It won 1 Oscar out of a total of 2 nominations in 1927-28.


The Last Command follows the former Commanding General of the Russian army who has now found himself working as a Hollywood movie extra.  After being hired-on by one of his former adversaries who is now a director, he regales his fellow actors with the story of how he survived the collapse of Imperial Russia while pursuing a love affair with a Communist revolutionary that he had taken as a prisoner-of-war.  Now cast in the role of the General that he had once been, he is granted the opportunity to give his last command.

Believe it or not, this is loosely based on a true story.

In the first year of the Academy Awards, the winners had been announced a full three months before the actual ceremony took place.  The story goes:  Emil Jannings, who had been named Best Actor for his work in this particular film and The Way of All Flesh (1927), was planning to depart for his home in Germany and had requested that he receive his award before he left.  The Academy obliged, and because of this, Emil Jannings became the first person to ever receive an Academy Award.  This would also make him the first no-show winner, as well.

There is a lot of debate surrounding this film in terms of how many, and which, nominations it received.  A number of sources claim that this film had actually been nominated for Best Production during the first year.  Academy records, however, show that this is not the case.  Because the Academy has been, more or less, reliable for revealing nominations that it has withdrawn in the past, it is hard to imagine why records would not disclose this as having previously being nominated - even if it was retroactively withdrawn.

Still, it is interesting to note that there is a lot of confusion as to whether or not this was a "Best Picture" nominee.  Some claim that it originally was and had its nomination revoked much later, while others (including the Academy) claim it was never a nominee.


Editorial:

At first, the plot of the film seems rather silly, with the film-making portion merely acting as a framing device for the story of how Imperial Russia collapsed.  But upon learning that this is based on an actual story of a Russian general that wound up in Hollywood working as an extra, it quickly becomes fascinating.

There are several moments of unintentional comedy throughout the film.  So, if that kind of thing floats your boat, you are in for a treat.  It was also amusing to observe that virtually every single male in this film has a mustache.

Score  |  03/10  |  This motion picture may be worth trying.