6 Best Emil Jannings Movies

By Vlad Zakh · May 14, 2026

Emil Jannings brought a towering, tragic presence to German and Hollywood film and became the first actor ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. The Last Command relives a Russian general’s downfall as a Hollywood extra, The Blue Angel destroys a professor over a cabaret singer, The Last Laugh breaks a proud doorman’s dignity, and Faust sells an alchemist’s soul to the devil. The Loves of Pharaoh and Madame DuBarry round out the list.

The Blue Angel (1930)

TMDB ★ 7.5

Emil Jannings plays a respected professor whose infatuation with a cabaret singer leads to his complete moral collapse.

Directed by Josef von Sternberg · 1h 48m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Kino Film Collection, Artiflix · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Last Command (1928)

TMDB ★ 7.4

Emil Jannings plays a former Russian imperial general, reduced to a Hollywood extra, who relives his tragic past.

Directed by Josef von Sternberg · 1h 28m

Where to watch

Stream: Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Faust (1926)

TMDB ★ 8.0

Camilla Horn features in Murnau's silent classic about an ageing alchemist who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for youth, love and power.

Directed by F. W. Murnau · 1h 56m · Rated NR

Where to watch

Stream: Kino Film Collection · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Last Laugh (1924)

TMDB ★ 8.0

Emil Jannings stars in this Murnau classic about a proud old hotel doorman whose demotion to washroom attendant destroys his sense of dignity and self-worth.

Directed by F. W. Murnau · 1h 30m

Where to watch

Stream: Kino Film Collection

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Loves of Pharaoh (1922)

TMDB ★ 6.2

Emil Jannings appears in this Lubitsch silent about an Egyptian pharaoh whose obsessive love for a Greek slave girl triggers a devastating war.

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch · 1h 40m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Madame DuBarry (1919)

TMDB ★ 6.8

Emil Jannings features in this Lubitsch silent about a seductive commoner who rises to become the mistress of King Louis XV amid the turmoil of pre-revolutionary France.

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch · 1h 54m

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

6 Best Emil Jannings Movies

The Blue Angel (1930)

The Last Command (1928)

Faust (1926)

The Last Laugh (1924)

The Loves of Pharaoh (1922)

Madame DuBarry (1919)

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