The Last Performance

Often termed a horror film (due to it's background of stage magic) this is really a tale of thwarted love. Conrad Veidt excels as the kindly Erik the Great who finds his soon to be bride has fallen in love with one of his assistants. The discovery scene is a superb piece of acting from Veidt, as he shifts from shock to heartbreak, struggling to be magnanimous, and then gradually to cold calculation with the subtlest changes of expression.

These moments and a dynamic trial scene elevate what is otherwise an okay backstage melodrama into a truly compelling tale of jealousy and redemption. Palo Fejos, director of the wonderful "Lonesome", injects some stylish visuals.

The version I've seen is a truncated and mute print of 48 minutes, so I may have missed some of the film's finer points.