The only Oscar-winning performance from a film that is now almost entirely lost

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1929, Emil Jannings became the first actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor. He secured the honor for his work in two films, including the 1927 drama The Way of All Flesh. Today, the film is considered lost, with only two small fragments known to survive.

Directed by Victor Fleming, The Way of All Flesh tells the story of August Schiller, a Milwaukee bank clerk whose life unravels after he is seduced by a woman on a train. Tasked with transporting $1,000 in securities to Chicago, Schiller is robbed, framed for a crime, and eventually presumed dead after a crook is killed in his place. The narrative jumps twenty years forward, depicting a destitute, aged Schiller watching his family from afar, unable to reclaim the life he lost.

The film holds a unique place in cinematic history, not only for its status as a lost work but for the circumstances of its lead actor's recognition. Emil Jannings won the inaugural Best Actor Oscar for his roles in this film and The Last Command. It remains the only time in Academy Award history that multiple performances were considered for a single acting win. Because no complete copy of the film exists, Jannings holds the distinction of being the only Oscar winner whose award-winning performance cannot be viewed in its entirety.

The production was also marked by controversy. In her 1999 autobiography, screenwriter Frederica Maas alleged that the film's premise was stolen from her and her husband, Ernest Maas. According to Frederica, the couple had pitched a script titled Beefsteak Joe to Jannings, believing he would assist them. Instead, they claimed the story—based on the life of Ernest's father—was produced without credit or payment. While the film was later remade in 1940, the original 1927 version remains a haunting, fragmented relic of the silent era, unrelated to the famous Samuel Butler novel of the same name.

The film's disappearance is part of a broader loss of Victor Fleming’s silent-era output. While the two surviving fragments are from the film's conclusion, they provide only a glimpse into a production that once captivated audiences and defined the early prestige of the Academy Awards. The story of its creation, from the initial script pitch to the eventual award, highlights the precarious nature of film preservation and the often-contentious history behind Hollywood's most celebrated achievements.

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