The Way of All Flesh (1927)

After a robbery, a happy bank clerk loses own identity and has been presumed dead.

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Perley Poore Sheehan (story), Lajos Biró (adaptation)

Stars:

Emil Jannings, Belle Bennett, Phyllis Haver

Won 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview:
Emil Jannings	...	August Schilling
Belle Bennett	...	Mrs. Schilling
Phyllis Haver	...	The Temptress
Donald Keith	...	August Jr.
Fred Kohler	...	The Tough
Philippe De Lacy	...	August - as a Child
Mickey McBan	...	Evald
Betsy Ann Hisle	...	Charlotte
Carmencita Johnson	...	Elizabeth
Gordon Thorpe	...	Karl
Jackie Combs	...	Heinrich
Dean Harrell	...	Evald
Anne Sheridan
Nancy Drexel

Storyline

The story takes place in Milwaukee during the early 1900s with a bank clerk named August Schiller who is happy with both his job and his family. He is tasked with transporting $1,000 in securities to Chicago. On the train he meets a blond seductress who convinces him to buy her a bottle of champagne, and takes him to a saloon. The next morning he awakes alone in a dilapidated bedroom and without the securities. He finds the woman and pleads with her to return the stolen securities. When he also threatens her he is knocked unconscious by the saloon owner and dragged to a nearby railroad track. As the crooks strips him of his ID and papers, Schiller recovers and struggles with the saloon owner, ultimately throwing him into the path of an oncoming train, killing him. Schiller flees and, as he is about to take his own life, sees in a newspaper that he is supposedly dead. The saloon owner's mangled body had been identified as Schiller's. Twenty years pass. Schiller is now aged and unkempt,...

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Plot Keywords:

children | lost film | 

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Taglines:

"The Way of all Flesh" is grippingly human. It portrays the struggle of soul against flesh. Without a doubt, one of 1928's Finest. (Print ad- Newcastle Morning Herald and Miner's Advocate, ((Newcastle, NSW)) 1 August 1928)

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Emil Jannings's Best Actor Oscar for his performance in this film (and The Last Command (1928)) was this film's only Oscar nomination.

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Connections

Referenced in The Jack Benny Hour (1959)

User Reviews

Lost Film - Except for 8-1/2 Minute Fragment

Supposedly all that is left of this film is an eight-and-a-half minute fragment. I have never seen this short fragment, but wish that this entire film still existed. I do not know why this film is lost. It may have disintegrated in storage or been nearly completely destroyed in a fire or something, I just do not know. I believe that Emil Jannings won the Best Actor Award at the first Academy Awards in 1927. If you want to check out and early Emil Jannings film, The Lost Command still exists in its entirety and is definitely worth a look. New Yorker magazine has referred to Emil Jannings career as one that must be studied for any serious historian of early Hollywood films.

Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

1 October 1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Weg allen Fleisches

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$859,900

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1