 Director F.W. Murnau (qv) and screenwriter Carl Mayer (qv)  originally wanted the film to end with the death of the doorman at  the bathroom. Executives at UFA pressed them to conjure up a happy  ending before the films premiere in order to maximize its economic  potential. Murnau and Mayer, obviously annoyed by this, created a  cynical epilogue, showing the doorman having inherited from an  eccentric hotel guest, who bequeathed his entire estate to the last  person seen before he died. The executives also pressed the artits  to change the films title from "The Last Man" to "The Last  Laughter".