10 Famous Lost Films You Wish You Could Watch
4. The Way Of All Flesh (1927)
Most people won't have a clue who Emil Jannings is these days; the best most can come up with would probably be the quick little appearance during a brief scene in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. But rewind the clocks back to the silent film era in the 1920's and Jannings was one of the biggest movie stars in the world and was the first recipient of the Best Actor Oscar for the 1927 film, The Way Of All Flesh.
The film depicts Emil Jannings as a successful bank clerk with a good job and a happy family. However, during a business trip, he is robbed and what follows is a sad story of mistaken identities and the crumbling of someone's perfect life.
Despite being an important film, only a few fragments of the film's ending survive. This means that Emil Jannings has the honour of not only being the first person to win the Best Actor Oscar but also the dubious recognition of giving the only Academy-winning performance in a film that doesn't have a complete copy preserved.
Don't feel too bad for Jannings though: despite having a Best Actor Oscar in his cupboard and a successful acting career, he torpedoed everything when he decided it was a good idea to star in some Nazi propaganda films.