chuck-reilly Review of The Way of All Flesh

The Way of All Flesh (1940)

"The Way of All Flesh" is a Four-Hankie extravaganza

[8/10 · 30 September 2008]

The 1940 movie "The Way of All Flesh" is a remake of a popular Emil Jannings vehicle from thirteen years earlier. This time Akim Tamiroff plays the lead role of the hapless and doomed Paul Kriza. Kriza is a much-beloved family man who works for a bank and is sent on a simple assignment to deliver some important and valuable securities. Along the way, Kriza ends up meeting some very bad people who know a sucker when they see one. Kriza is soon drunk in a bar and getting seduced by a floozy named Mary Brown (Murial Angelus). He wakes up the next day with the worst hangover of his life and without the securities. But that's only the beginning of his troubles. Later he's robbed again and accidentally pushes the thief in front of an oncoming train. What's a fellow to do? Instead of going home and admitting to his family and boss that he had a rough time in the big city, Kriza decides to exchange places with the dead man by placing his personal effects on the mangled corpse. In doing so, he inadvertently makes it appear that he died a hero's death trying to protect his company's assets. Now the only thing he can do is start a new life without his loving wife (Gladys George) and his wonderful and well-behaved children.

"The Way of All Flesh" is a tear-jerker of the highest caliber and audiences of its day needed all the extra handkerchiefs they could muster. Akim Tamiroff is perfect for the role as he sinks his character into one depressing situation after the other. It's a wonder that the guy doesn't just commit suicide, but then the movie would end prematurely. Director Louis King ratchets up the bathos and pity and the ending is one of the saddest you'll ever see in any movie in any era of film history. If you're looking for a good "cry", this is it.