We have found in our explorations of the cinema policies that whenever the billboards outside advertise the name of Emil Jannings, there is a good show within. This phenomenon of the silver screen, this certainty of a good picture, is assured by no other name that we know of except Jannings, and he has fulfilled his promises as usual in "The Last Command" appearing at the Metropolitan this week.

In "The Last Command" Emil Jannings plays the role of the Grand Duke Sergius Alexandria, own cousin to the Czar, and commander of the Russian Army. The action of the play takes place near the Russian battle lines in 1917, when the revolution was in process of engulfing the power of the Czar. Jannings plays a heroic figure without any glozing or sentimentality. The Grand Duke, according to our lights, is not an admirable fellow in his daily life. Strike him ever so lightly and you find the Tartar said to lurk in all Russians. He is possessed with high spirits without the restraint which our civilization acquires before a high spirit may be appreciated. His all-absorbing passion for Russia, however, his desire for her good over that of any party, his blind devotion to what he believes to be right--these are the characteristics which make him a splendid figure. These too are the characteristics which win the devotion of Natascha, the most dangerous revolutionist in Russia, capably played by Evelyn Brent. Around the love of these two the story is woven.