10 Movie Directors That Lied To Get What They Wanted

Whilst his greatest impact on cinema is 1922’s Nosferatu, F.W. Murnau should also be known for being a rare example of a director that was bold enough to take shots at film's financers.

In 1924, UFA released Murnau’s The Last Laugh: a dark, sardonic silent film that tells the tale of a hotel doorman that loses his job and is demoted to washroom attendant.

In Murnau’s original cut, the film ends with Emil Jannings’ main character dying in the washroom but UFA were unhappy with such a bleak conclusion and demanded that Murnau change the final notes of the picture. He agreed, but didn’t inform the studio that he had no intention of sacrificing his vision to do so.

The film’s only title card reads: “Here our story should really end, for in actual life, the forlorn old man would have little to look forward to but death. The author took pity on him, however, and provided quite an improbable epilogue."

Murnau shot a final few scenes where the protagonist inherits a large sum of money and treats all his friends to wine and caviar. This out of nowhere ending could’ve ruined his reputation but it’s the sarcastic title-card that interrupts the film that breaks the fourth wall, tells the audience where the director’s intentions lie and absolves him of the nonsense that follows.