Twenty years ago, Milwaukee bank clerk Emil Jannings (as August Schiller) is blissfully happy with dear wife Belle Bennett and their six children. Dedicated to both work and family, Mr. Jannings carefully watches his bank's securities, and teaches son Philippe De Lacy (as August Jr.) to play the violin. When a crisis occurs, Jannings is the problem-solver. An amazingly punctual and structured man, Jannings is reluctant when asked to transport $1,000 to Chicago for his bank, but goes. On the train, Jannings is sitting across from bleached blonde Phyllis Haver (as Mayme) when the conductor arrives to check passengers' tickets. When Jennings produces his ticket, Ms. Haver catches a glimpse of the bank's $1,000 securities, and is enthralled. She succeeds in seducing Jennings, assisted by champagne. He wakes up in a strange bedroom, minus both blonde and bucks. Jennings tracks Haver to a saloon and accidentally kills her tough boyfriend Fred Kohler in a struggle...
Wracked with guilt over his actions, Jannings decides to go along with the story, after the criminal's body is mistaken for his own, to spare his family embarrassment and scandal. Twenty years pass...
Presently, Jannings is still estranged from his family. He heavily carries the weight of shame as he works picking up trash in a park. Wandering tramp-like, he sees grown-up son Donald Keith (as August Jr.) has becomes a successful concert violinist. Jannings manages to attend Mr. Keith's performance. Taught by Jannings, young Keith handles the violin expertly, shedding a tear when playing one of his father's favorites. Keith does not know his father is alive, watching in the audience. Jennings shadows his family when they place flowers on the grave of the eldest sibling, who died serving in World War I. During a Christmas snowstorm, Jannings encounters son Keith, who pities the old tramp with a silver dollar. Keith enters his warm family home as father Jannings walks off into the cold evening, alone...
Unfortunately, "The Way of All Flesh" is a LOST film
but portions of the film have turned up. Two surviving excerpts are from the last act, when Jannings is a haggard old tramp. The first part is from a documentary; mainly, it includes Jannings discovering son Keith. The second part is, fortunately, the film's emotional closing sequence, when Jannings and Keith meet. With the documentary's narration included, the available footage forms its own "short" story and is a good sample of the film's worth. It is available on "Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films" (2011) released by "Flicker Alley" and has been shown on "Turner Classic Movies" (TCM). In fact, the stellar Jannings performance is the highlight of "Fragments"...
Jannings' performance was one of the two for which he won the first "Academy Award" as "Best Actor". The award was for his roles in both "The Way of All Flesh" and "The Last Command" (1928). Due to the former's foray into over-sentimentality, the award was seen by critics as something better remembered as for the latter film. Comparing "Best Picture" standings, "Film Daily" placed "Way of All Flesh" at #4 and "Last Command" at #3 for their years. "The New York Times" had the latter at #5 while the former in the earlier year's top ten (exact position not given). Some of Oscar's early awards are puzzling, but awarding Jannings' still obviously superb characterizations is easy to applaud.
********* The Way of All Flesh (6/25/27) Victor Fleming ~ Emil Jannings, Belle Bennett, Donald Keith, Phyllis Haver
