Final Thoughts on Lubitsch

Well I hope you enjoyed my focus on Ernst Lubitsch this month. In many ways I would describe him as being the perfect director. He is definitely one of my favorites, I consider all the movies I've seen by him to be brilliant. Much like Hitchcock, we will never see his like again, no matter how many imitators there are. I suppose the thing that surprises me the most is how often Lubitsch is overlooked these days in favor of more well known directors. It's almost hard to believe that at his peak, everyone wanted to work with Lubitsch, and he was a household name. My Lubitsch education will continue as I still have to see his silent films along with other greats well known movies such as "Cluny Brown", and "Heaven Can Wait". I can only assume that what I expect from those films is perfection.

Happy New Year everyone and stay tuned for more announcements from "Jeremy and the Movies" in 2009!

Movie Survey I stole from House of Mirth who stole it from Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule

1) What was the last movie you saw theatrically? On DVD or Blu-ray?The Last film I saw theatrically was "Seven Pounds", and the last movie I saw on DVD was Mizoguchi's "Sisters of the Gion

2) Holiday movies— Do you like them naughty or nice?I like both, but at Christmas it's always the nice ones like "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Shop Around the Corner. My brother on the other hand adores "Die Hard"

3) Ida Lupino or Mercedes McCambridge?Ida Lupino since she was also a director

4) Favorite actor/character from Twin Peaks. It has to be Agent Dale Cooper, and even though she's dead in it most of the time I love the mystery that surrounds Laura Palmer.

5) It’s been said that, rather than remaking beloved, respected films, Hollywood should concentrate more on righting the wrongs of the past and tinker more with films that didn’t work so well the first time. Pretending for a moment that movies are made in an economic vacuum, name a good candidate for a remake based on this criterion. This is a hard question since especially since I like so many classics, even the imperfect ones. Recently I just watched "The Return of Doctor X" with Humphrey Bogart playing a mad scientist. I found myself enjoying the campiness of it, and I liked the concept of having the two heroes being a news reporter and a scientist. The concept had promise and perhaps it could've been something more if it was done right.

6) Favorite Spike Lee joint."Do the Right Thing" is one of my favorites of all time, but I also appreciate "Malcolm X"

7) Lawrence Tierney or Scott Brady?Lawrence Tierney not only for the movies he was in, but also because he was on "Seinfeld" and "The Simpsons"

8)Are most movies too long?Yes especially now. More often than ever, I find myself looking at my watch even when I think a film is good, thinking it should've ended by now.

9) Favorite performance by an actor portraying a real-life politician. I enjoyed both Henry Fonda and Raymond Massey as Abraham Lincoln

10) Create the main event card for the ultimate giant movie monster smackdown. King Kong (1933) vs. King Kong (2005).

Jean Peters or Sheree North?I can't say I'm familiar with either of their work.

12) Why would you ever want or need to see a movie more than once?One instance for me might be because I didn't feel like I saw the whole movie the first time, such as "No Country for Old Men" which I saw in the theatre three times. Another reason might be I just love it so much I want to revisit just to be a part of that world again. This reason usually applies for almost any Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie

13) Favorite road movie."It Happened One Night"

14) Favorite Budd Boetticher picture.I swear I'll get around to him soon.

15) Who is the one person, living or dead, famous or unknown, who most informed or encouraged your appreciation of movies?I always wonder this. I can't remember just why I came to love films. It was probably my love of Jimmy Stewart who brought me to directors of Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Billy Wilder, Anthony Mann, and Ernst Lubitsch. Spielberg films influenced me as a child and reading more about his influences got me interested about the French New Wave, and Kurosawa. Reading film critics like Roger Ebert and Leonard Maltin also had a strong influence on me. It was my father however who introduced me to Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen movies, and my mother who introduced me to Audrey Hepburn. All these things combined made me love movies.

16) Favorite opening credit sequence. I love anything by Saul Bass, but "Vertigo" would have to be my absolute favorite. I also love Rosie Perez' shadow boxing at the beginning of "Do the Right Thing"

17) Kenneth Tobey or John Agar?Once again I'm not familiar enough with their work.

18) Jean-Luc Godard once suggested that the more popular the movie, the less likely it was that it was a good movie. Is he right or just cranky? Cite the best evidence one way or the other. It's a bit unfair for Godard to say that, although I can certainly understand why he would say it. Spielberg films are probably the best example that a popular film can be good, although I did hear a quote saying Godard wasn't the biggest fan of Spielberg. Many of Spielberg's blockbusters such as "Jaws", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", and "E.T." are all popular and even though some might not agree they're good, they do exemplified the work of an auteur. However an individual like Spielberg doesn't come around too often, and I would say many of the popular movies now do tend to be too formulaic.

19) Favorite Jonathan Demme movie.While I love "The Silence of the Lambs", Demme's other work seems to be overshadowed too much. So I'm going to say "Rachel Getting Married". I'm just dying to see "Stop Making Sense" though.

20) Tatum O’Neal or Linda Blair?Tough choice, Tatum O'Neal because she worked with Walter Matthau and Madeline Kahn

21) Favorite use of irony in a movie. Because I'm revisiting Lubitsch films this month, I'll go with the first scene between Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall in "Trouble in Paradise"

22) Favorite Claude Chabrol film.I'm embarrassed to say I have not seen one of his films. Please don't hate me.

23) The best movie of the year to which very little attention seems to have been paid."My Winnipeg"

24) Dennis Christopher or Robby Benson? Although I'm familiar with a little of their work I cannot say I'm familiar enough to truly give a good opinion.

25) Favorite movie about journalism.Good question. "All the Presidents Men" has always remained a favorite of mine. But I'll go with "His Girl Friday" because I love it sooooo much.

26) What’s the DVD commentary you’d most like to hear? Who would be on the audio track?If the Marx Brothers were alive I would love to hear audio commentary from them. I enjoy Roger Ebert's audio commentary and wish he could do more. I would also like to hear Steven Spielberg do commentary since he never does them. But "The Marx Brothers" would be there just for entertainment value, plus just to see if Harpo would say anything.

27) Favorite movie directed by Clint Eastwood. Unforgiven

28) Paul Dooley or Kurtwood Smith?Kurtwood Smith

29) Your clairvoyant moment: Make a prediction about the Oscar season.No offense to Hugh Jackman, but it won't be as funny.

30) Your hope for the movies in 2009.I would agree with House of Mirth and spread the movies out more so we don't get a bunch all at once at the end of the year. I would also hope that an arthouse movie theatre will open in Red Deer, otherwise I will have to move. Finger crossed.

31) What’s your top 10 of 2008? (If you have a blog and have your list posted, please feel free to leave a link to the post.)Also a work in progress since I won't see many 2008 films until after the new year. So here are a few titles (alphabetically) that I would consider.

Burn After Reading
The Dark Knight
The Fall
The Flight of the Red Balloon
Happy Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
My Winnipeg
Rachel Getting Married
Wall-E

BONUS QUESTION
32) What was your favorite movie-related Christmas gift that you received this year? My new "Casablanca" box set (It's like the fifth copy of the movie I've owned but I do not care) plus the criterion collection copy of "The Fallen Idol" which I have never seen.

The Shop Around the Corner: Merry Christmas!!!

Alfred Kralik: There might be a lot we don't know about each other. You know, people seldom go to the trouble of scratching the surface of things to find the inner truth.

Klara Novak (Miss Novak): Well I really wouldn't care to scratch your surface, Mr. Kralik, because I know exactly what I'd find. Instead of a heart, a hand-bag. Instead of a soul, a suitcase. And instead of an intellect, a cigarette lighter... which doesn't work.

The first Ernst Lubitsch film I ever saw was "The Shop Around the Corner", I saw it before I even knew who Lubitsch was. If I can't decide what my favorite Lubitsch film is, the closest I could say is "The Shop Around the Corner" is the film I can relate to the most. Lubitsch himself called it one of his top three favorites, the others being "Trouble in Paradise" and "Ninotcka". This film, Lubitsch called was his best example of human comedy, which is probably why so many people regard it as one of his best.

The film is an unassuming look into the lives of working class people who are employed in a little Budapest shop known as Matuschek and Co. Jimmy Stewart is Alfred Kralik the head salesman at the store. Alfred has just begun a correspondence between a mysterious girl. The correspondence is innocent enough as the two discuss by mail "cultural subjects" such as art or literature.

One day a girl comes into the shop, her name is Klara (Margaret Sullivan), she's looking for a job, and after impressing the boss Mr. Matuschek (Frank Morgan) by selling an annoying cigar box that plays Ochi Tchornya each time you open it to a customer, she's hired.

Months go by and it is apparent that Alfred and Klara don't like eachother, to make matters worse, Alfred is accused by Mr. Matuschek that he is having an affair with the bosses wife, which is false. Alfred is dismissed by Mr. Matuschek on the same night he's supposed to meet his mystery girl, and when he is coerced to keep the date by his friend, the girl turns out to be none other than Klara!

On the outside, "The Shop Around the Corner" might not look like much, it's perhaps Lubitsch's least ambitious film, most of the scenes take place in interiors, and the comedy is more observational than slapstick. It's a film that just sort of sneaks up and before you know it, it's over and then you realize just how perfect and simple it all was.

When I first watched the film many years ago, I fell in love with it, yet I couldn't understand why. "The Shop Around the Corner" seemed like such a small movie compared to other classics, but I suppose it hit me that I was short changing it. The film isn't as grand as other films, but it lives by its charm and its humanity, which makes it just as important. As I watch it now, the dialogue and the characters make the film seem more modern and fresh compared to the other films of its era. I can be so entranced in a scene such as when Alfred is outside the shop with Klara and he's bickering about a green blouse she wore to work one day that he disliked, and at the end of that scene we find out she's going to be wearing that very same blouse to her date with the man who will turn out to be Alfred.

I would describe the humour as gentle, Lubitsch doesn't strive for any high comedy or satire like he did in "To Be or Not to Be". Instead he seems to be more concerned with what the characters would do in a particular situation, which is probably why this film balances between comedy and drama.

The script, written by Samson Ralphaelson is in my opinion one of the greatest scripts written and should have won an Oscar. Ralphaelson once said that if he and Lubitsch were stuck on writing a scene, they would usually write the dialogue very naturally and dull as if it were a real conversation you'd hear on the street. Although I'm not positive they used this technique on this movie, the dialogue does have a sense of realism to it, as most of the conversations deal with everyday things such as having enough money to get married, or having to call the doctor to cancel an appointment.

Lubitsch seemed to want to make a film about people that are easy to relate to. Most of his films before dealt with royalty or higher society, these were working people who struggled in their life, knowing it might be a death sentence if they ever lost their job. By doing that this film seems to carry more weight. The concept of this film has been remade countless times, most recently as "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. That film did have some charm, but there was a cynicism to it that I didn't appreciate. Lubitsch handled his characters and situations delicately, and his characters always grow. When Alfred does realize that Klara is the girl he's been writing to, he must find out if she is in fact the person he's in love with in his letters, and soon a real affection begins towards her.

I think why the romance works so well is because Alfred and Klara are both likable people, and Lubitsch goes out of his way to make them interesting. He doesn't let the fact that these people are working class stop him from making them literate and at times poetic when they speak. Klara carries a copy of Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" in order for her mystery man to recognize her when he sees her. It's little touches like these that raise this film out of the ordinary.

"The Shop Around the Corner" is my favorite romantic comedy, it still charms and surprises me whenever I watch it. Romantic comedy today has become a dying art form, they've become too generic and formulaic for us to care about the people involved. Their one purpose is to fill theatre seats come Valentine's Day. Lubitsch's film doesn't cheapen the idea of falling in love, he makes it something real and tangible.

Perhaps my favorite Lubitsch touch in this film might not be defined as any touch at all. Lubitsch decided to place this film at Christmas, which fits in so perfectly. Christmas is a romantic time of the year, and a time when most people worry about money and shopping. The characters in the film share the same worries and hopes during the holiday season, but Lubitsch doesn't sentimentalize the fact, it's just there. The film works as sort of a relief in the holidays where we could hope to stop and maybe find love like Alfred and Klara. I would recommend "The Shop Around the Corner" to anyone who may feel stressed out in the holidays, and with today's economy, this film becomes even more timely.

From everyone here at "Jeremy and the Movies" (That being me Jeremy) Merry Christmas!

"Trouble in Paradise": Invisible Style

While I’m more than half way into my month long tribute of Ernst Lubitsch, I’m still wonderously curious about his style. Perhaps it’s because his style is invisible, you can’t pinpoint it which is ironic since Lubitsch was all about style. I recently viewed what many people consider his masterpiece and the film he considered his most stylish “Trouble in Paradise” to further investigate his craft. I found that while watching it something happened and I wasn’t looking at the movie through a critical lens and I was watching it as a simple spectator feeling the kind of emotions I do when I watch a really wonderful film.

We begin in Venice where a thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) falls in love with a pickpocket named Lily (Miriam Hopkins). When the two first meet, they are each playing the part of high society while trying to steal from the other, when they are found out, they realize it’s true love.

The two form a partnership, and we are taken to their most recent target Mariette Colet (Kay Francis) who owns a very priceless diamond purse. Gaston steals the purse and when Mme. Colet offers a reward for its return, he has the audacity, and confidence to return it to her. Gaston soon charms himself into Mme. Colet’s life and becomes her personal secretary, but it’s all in his greater scheme to steal her fortune. The problem arises when Gaston falls for Mme. Colet hard, and leaves a jealous Lily to wonder if he could be unfaithful to her.

When I watch “Trouble in Paradise” I forget about what makes it great. No I take that back, I don’t forget, the greatness is all in its charm, its sophistication, and its unpredictability that is all there on the screen. In his introduction to the film Peter Bogdanovich talks about how sophistication was a big part of movies being made back then, and it’s difficult to understand how Hollywood (and I would add society in general) would go the different direction.

When you look at the characters of Gaston, Lily, and Mariette they lead lives that others could only dream of and Lubitsch romanticised it, they did live in a certain paradise, and like the title suggests the biggest problem in their world is a romantic triangle. This goes back to Lubitsch usually using a superficial situation in order to further examine his characters. His films were always about character which made them break out of the confines of a convoluted situation. Had Gaston, Lily and Mariette been just charicatures, the film wouldn’t achieve anything special, but since Lubitsch looked at them as human beings, there was much more at stake. Much like he did with Claudette Colbert in “The Smiling Lieutenant”, Kay Francis’ Mariette isn’t just the other woman, she’s got style and it’s no wonder Gaston falls for her, and in this case you might think that Mariette just might be a better match than Lily.

The finale where the three subjects are finally put in a room together never falls into melodrama, which is what you would expect, but is done with more wit and sophistication. The three characters are treated maturely and Lubitsch is too smart to treat them any less.

Lubitsch was well known for working with his scriptwriters from the very beginning of the film, and in “Trouble in Paradise” he had perhaps his best collaborator during the sound period, Samson Raphalson. The two worked on a number of films where Lubitsch would think of a scenario while Raphalson would write the dialogue. Perhaps what keeps their films fresh and relevant today is they would always find ways in doing scenes differently, in other words they would work on improving a clichéd idea. Take the famous opening shot in “Trouble in Paradise” where we see a man with a garbage can, we follow him as the camera pans over to a gondola. The man dumps the trash on the gondola as he floats away on it singing a love song, and we soon find ourselves in Venice. The film could’ve just opened on a wide shot of Venice, but Lubitsch is making a comment on the theme of the film and its characters, they themselves belong in the lower garbage heap class, but as we see in the film are free to live in the more romantic world.

But I suppose what fascinates me most about “Trouble in Paradise” is how you come to like these people and how unlike other romantic comedies of its kind, there is heartache at the end as Gaston can’t be with both women. Lubitsch knows how to handle the sadness of the situation, but he doesn’t leave the viewer in despair as the final shot is shown.

Here I am left at the end of the review with so much more to talk about. I shall just mention other joys of this film that I love to experience such as the site of seeing comedic actors Edward Everett Horton and Charlie Ruggles share the screen together as unlucky suitors of Kay Francis. I love listening to the two men’s distinct voices as they bicker and try to one-up eachother for the affections of Mariette.

I also wanted to discuss how Lubitsch cleverly incorporates the troubled times as he distinguishes the different class systems. The film was made at the height of the great depression and even though the film rarely leaves its high society, Lubitsch does make room for some social commentary. But perhaps instead of going into that, I’ll just take a cue from Lubitsch and stick to the main themes.

“Trouble in Paradise” has been called the first great romantic comedy of the sound period. Not too soon after this film, we would see Hawks’ “Twentieth Century”, and Capra’s “It Happened One Night”. Screwball comedy would become the norm as broader performances and outlandish situations would eclipse the more subtle and nuanced Lubitsch comedy. Lubitsch would go on to more success in the sound period, but it’s “Trouble in Paradise” that other films of its kind are measured by.

Worst Films of 2008

Those of you who are familiar with my blog know I don't reveal my top ten movies of the year until later into 2009, the reason being is over here in Red Deer Alberta I have to wait till the New Year to see all the films that are currently in limited release. Sometimes I have to wait till they appear on DVD. However as a little taste for you people who are just addicted to lists, I decided to reveal my worst films of 2008. Take my advice avoid these films like the plague.

1. Passchendaele: Canada's most expensive film ever made is as shallow as epic war films can get. Writer, director, co-producer, and star Paul Gross must take the bulk of the blame here as he fills his movie with wooden dialogue and a cliche love story that glosses over the more important aspects of the film. This could've been a benchmark in helping Canadian cinema grow, but it instead shows off our insecurities more.

2. Body of Lies: Ridley Scott's often confusing and ultimately boring Middle Eastern espionage thriller. The film tries to go for big ideas and be more important than it actually is. Instead it says as much about middle eastern conflict as a James Bond film, only without the fun. This may be Scott's worst film since "Legend".

3. High School Musical 3: I feel bad picking on this movie since it wasn't really for my audience. But I just feel sorry for the audience it is for. Children deserve better than this, which gives the most generic songs and choreography I've seen in a long time. The whole film is full of no imagination at all. If they want this series of films to continue, may I suggest John Waters to come in and do something with it. Take the kids to see "Wall-E" or if they must have their musical make them watch "Mary Poppins" again and again till they understand what imagination means.

First Thoughts on "To Be or Not To Be"

Ernst Lubitsch has perhaps made his greatest balancing act with "To Be or Not To Be" the wartime satire involving a theatre troop from Warsaw who must "act" their way out of the country and into England. Watching it for the first time just now, I don't think there is a doubt in my mind at how brilliant the film works as a satire, but also a human comedy.

Made at the height of the second world war, this film is probably Lubitsch at his most enraged. The film starts off in a sort of prelude where the Polish district of Warsaw is amazed to see none other than Adolf Hitler standing in the street. The narrator tells us how this event came to be, and we are soon taken into an office of a high ranking German official (Jack Benny). But it is soon revealed to us that the office is in fact a set for a play about to be produced and the German official is actually Warsaw's greatest actor Joseph Tura. When the director of the show insists the man playing Hitler doesn't look the part, the actor tries to prove it by standing on the streets of Warsaw convinced no one will know the difference. Very soon a young girl approaches the Hitler actor on the street and isn't fooled for a minute, she then asks for the actor's autograph. It's a very clever and satirical opening for the film.

While rehearsing for this new play, Tura also is playing "Hamlet" along with his wife Maria (Carole Lumbard). Lubitsch sets up his usual romantic triangle with Maria having secret rendezvous with a young English pilot (Robert Stack). The signal for them to meet is when her husband begins his "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy, knowing he'll be on stage for awhile. However when Joseph begins the monologue, he notices the pilot exit the performance which he takes as him being walked out on. Lubitsch creates a perfect scenario and a terrific satire on the life of actors. However, it seems as if this love triangle will have to be put aside in favor of a more serious subject matter.

War has now struck Warsaw, and the once rich and famous Polish actors are put into small shacks and apartments, Lubitsch does not shy away from the actual living conditions of Warsaw at that time. Joseph, his wife, and the pilot must work together to stop the plot of a German spy to come into fruition all the while trying to escape to England.

I wasn't sure what to expect from "To Be or Not To Be", but after now having just finished it for the first time, I was very impressed with how it handled the dark subject matter. Lubitsch puts in so many thoughtful touches of wit it makes this hard pill easier to swallow. Lubitsch is known for his many fine moments in films, and this one has so many wonderful ones. The one that sticks out the most for me is the scene in which Joseph is portraying a Nazi spy who has just been murdered in order to fool the other German officials. He is then put alone in a room with the dead body of the same Nazi spy with the Germans right in the other room. It's a moment of great comedy and high suspense, and Joseph's solution to the problem fits so perfectly well with the situation.

One thing I love about Lubitsch films is he never makes them into a one man show, and in this film he gives as much spotlight to the supporting cast as he does to the stars. Perhaps the most poignant moment of the film comes when one Polish actor who has always dreamed of playing Shylock gets to recite the famous "If you prick us do we not bleed...." monologue in front of actual Germans who are guarding Hitler. It's a brilliant scene as it brings home the message of the entire movie while not doing it sentimentally and instead keeping it with the situation and the character.

Jack Benny never had a better film role than this, the role of Joseph perfectly suited his on-screen persona but I never felt he was playing Jack Benny, he was playing a character. When the film was first released, it was overshadowed by the sudden tragic death of its star Carole Lumbard. Lumbard is one of my absolute favorite actresses who always felt at home playing high screwball comedy in films like "My Man Godfrey". In "To Be or Not To Be" she has perhaps never been so elegant and glamorous, she underplays her character so well, I will no doubt probably find hidden riches in her performance the more times I watch it.

This film was probably the most controversial film in Lubitsch's career, it was in fact the only time he was accused of bad taste. While many peers and critics agreed with the tone of the film there was one line that to this day remains controversial.

There is a scene where Jack Benny in disguise tells a German official "Perhaps you have heard of Warsaw's greatest actor Joseph Tura". The German official replies "Oh yes I saw him perform Shakespeare before the war. He did to Shakespeare what we're doing to Poland".

The line was deemed in bad taste, but Lubitsch even wrote defending it, saying it was him satirizing both actors and Nazism and shouldn't be deemed tasteless. In context, I should say that Lubitsch was right.

I loved my first viewing of "To Be or Not To Be", much like his earlier film "Ninotchka" it was a chance for Lubitsch to satirize a certain ideal, but this was something he himself took more personal., Never in a film of his have I seen so much anger and contempt with a society. But the bravery of the film comes by not losing its humanity and even in the face of evil, Lubitsch showed the best weapon was to laugh at it.

Pushing Daisies is....pushing daisies

While I mostly reserve this movie blog for movies, I also reserve the right to occasionally switch it up a bit, case in point: television. I don't watch much television at all, which I am told by many friends that it is a sin since most shows today seem to be better than anything you see in the theatre. While that may be true, I usually choose to spend my time on other pursuits such as reading a book, or writing, or watching a classic film.

However there was one show I did very much enjoy if i felt the urge to turn on the television. "I loved "Pushing Daisies", it was a romantic fantasy of a man named Ned who could bring dead things to life with the touch of his finger. Though the show dealt with a morbid theme of death all the time, it kept a whimsical personality full of warm humour and wonderful characters.

However it has now come to my understanding that "Pushing Daisies" will now be cancelled after only half a season. While the makers of the show hope to wrap up all the loose ends by the final episode, I am still bummed. Maybe this is why I don't watch television, because the last time I enjoyed watching a TV show it was "Arrested Development" which also suffered a premature demise.

I will get over the cancellation of "Pushing Daisies" in time, and I have family and friends to console me in this time of tragedy, I only wish that Ned could touch his own show and bring it back to life. All this while "Two and a Half Men" lives on!!! Blasphemy!!!

What do I have in common with these people?

It's our birthday today!!!

A Wink and a Smile: A look at "The Smiling Lieutenant"

From what I understand during the first rocky "sound" years of cinema, many filmmakers and industry people alike were cynical about the new invention. Cinema was largely considered a silent art form for a long time, and the fact that actors could now speak dialogue seemed to have taken some of that magic away. However sound never stopped Ernst Lubitsch from being innovative. Lubitsch entered his "sound" years with a new genre: The musical! Although music had been a part of talking pictures before, most famously with Al Jolsen and "The Jazz Singer", Lubitsch made use of it as another way to move a picture forward. In a Lubitsch musical, the songs were as important to the plot as the actual dialogue, we were made more aware of situations and character motivations. Perhaps more importantly it was another way for Lubitsch to drop in an extra double entendree or innuendo in a lyric.

While I love all of Lubitschs' musicals I must admit I do have a favorite, in fact I would rank it as one of my absolute favorite Lubitsch films of all time: "The Smiling Lieutenant". This film is a nice hidden jewel in the Lubitsch lexicon, but I think of it more as his hidden masterpiece.

The film begins with a Lubitsch trademark motif: a door. We see a surly looking fellow walk up a flight of stairs to the door, we find out it's a tailor inquiring about a bill. He knocks on the door but no one answers, he knocks again, and no one answers, he exits. We then see a beautiful lady walk up the stairs, she gives a special "it's me" knock and then the door opens. We then see a dimmed light which is then brightened, and we finally see the man behind the door. It is Maurice Chevalier who portrays the title character from Vienna who's name is Lt. Nikolaus von Preyn, although his friends call him "Niki".

Near the beginning Niki falls for a lovely violinist Franzi (Claudette Colbert) and for the moment they enjoy a wonderful love affair, but soon it is threatened by a Princess (Miriam Hopkins) from a small and insecure little country known as Flausenshaum. One day when standing at attention for the Princess and her father the king, he smiles at Franzi who is on the other side of the street. The Princess mistakes it as a gesture towards her and sees it as an insult at first. To save face and his own neck, Niki explains that he was smiling at the Princess because he thought she was beautiful. The Princess is now smitten and to smooth things over with Vienna and Flausenshaum, both countries agree that marriage between the two is the best course of action.

Niki must now marry the Princess and move to Flausenshaum where he is miserable, but he soon finds Franzi who has followed him, and their affair begins again, meanwhile the poor homely Princess is left wondering how to win Niki's affection.

I suppose the reason why I love "The Smiling Lieutenant" is I am completely surprised as to where it goes. What separates a Lubitsch love triangle with a regular love triangle is we feel sympathy with all three people involved. I couldn't help but think that if this was done by a less skilled director, he might've gone off and made the Miriam Hopkins character too stupid and annoying, which would make her a villain. Lubitsch treats her as a sympathetic character who's desperate in love but naive in the ways of making love.

By making all characters sympathetic, it gives room for pathos that is commonly unseen in a musical comedy. The ending is rather bittersweet as the two woman meet, however Lubitsch doesn't wallow in misery for too long and makes this scene all the more lovable.

SPOILER ALERT (Although I hate saying that but please don't read further if you haven't seen the film)

I must stop a minute and point out my favorite moment from this film and one I often think of with fondness. It is the final moment when Franzi exits the film, she has left the Princess who she has made over as a desirable woman for Niki, but rather than just have her exit, Lubitsch lets her leave with class. The camera follows her out of the palace and with her back to the screen she is aloud a brief wave of goodbye. This moment isn't spoken of very much in all the great ones Lubitsch has left us, but as I saw this I wondered what other director would let "The Other Woman" leave with such dignity and style? To me nothing exemplifies a "Lubitsch Touch" better than that gesture.

The final part of this film becomes ingenious as it is done with only music, action, and very little dialogue, we are left with a delightful film done with perfection by a master of the craft. "The Smiling Lieutenant" is rarely considered to be a major Lubitsch film, it is often thought of as a younger sibling to his masterpiece "Trouble in Paradise" which dealt with a similar love triangle. However I would say "The Smiling Lieutenant" stands as one of Lubitschs' best, or perhaps it just goes to show he was the kind of director who never had a best film, each one had its own unique brand of perfection.

Thoughts on Lubitsch

"I still remember the day of the funeral. After the ceremony, William Wyler and I walked silently to our car. Finally I said, just to say something to break the silence, "No more Lubitsch." To which Wyler replied, "Worse than that-no more Lubitsch films."
How right we were. For twenty years since then we all tried to find the secret of the "Lubitsch touch". Nothing doing. Oh, if we were lucky, we sometimes managed a few feet of film here and there in our work that momentarily sparkled like Lubitsch. Like Lubitsch, not real Lubitsch.
His are is lost. That most elegant of screen magicians took his secret with him."

(By Billy Wilder which can by found on the final page of "The Lubitsch Touch" by Herman g. Weinberg.)

I first heard the name Ernst Lubitsch many years ago and like many a director I was introduced to his work through my love of Jimmy Stewart ("The Shop Around the Corner"). Perhaps a year or two after watching my first Lubitsch film, I was made aware of the mystery that was "The Lubitsch Touch". To this day I am still wondering what this mythical "touch" was. Even after recently finishing the book entitled "The Lubitsch Touch" I still don't fully comprehend what it was. The phrase itself was coined by a film critic who used it when describing a recent film by Lubitsch.

I suppose there isn't really one definition for what "The Lubitsch Touch" was but it is safe to say that whatever it was, it will never be duplicated by anyone. For many the phrase might mean sophistication or wit, which is something Lubitsch brought to the best of his films like "Trouble in Paradise" which told the story of a romantic triangle between a gentleman thief, his fellow girlfriend thief, and the woman they intend to steal from, only instead he falls for her.

Lubitsch was a man of class and style, and of subtlety. Even though he made many risque films involving double entendres and innuendo, he was hardly ever scolded by censors, perhaps because his films were never too obvious, he knew his public had imagination. Mary Pickford who he directed in the film "Rosita" called him a "director of doors". But in a Lubitsch film, a door became a symbol of what was going on behind them.

Lubitsch was one of the main pioneers of cinema getting his start in European silent films where his contemporaries were Von Sternberg, Murnau, and Lang. Like them, the call of Hollywood beckoned and he soon became an early favorite with all industry people. Everyone wanted to work with Lubitsch, even Preston Sturges made fun of this in a line from "Sullivan Travels" where Veronica Lake's struggling actress asks Joel McCrea's director "Can you introduce me to Lubitsch?"

Unlike many directors, the advent of sound did not hinder Lubitsch's signature. Even though he was a director who didn't need dialogue, his films were perhaps responsible for some of the wittiest lines in cinematic history. Lubitsch himself was a writer who collaborated greatly on the scenarios of his films, to make sure they were always interesting.

I have not seen as many Lubitsch films as I've wanted to, I suppose the biggest void of his work comes from his silent era, but the films of his I have viewed always remain favorites of mine. I have my favorite "Lubitsch touches" which I will share with you throughout this holiday month, and I know I will grow in my appreciation for this remarkable man. Lubitsch comes across to me as a demanding but gentle director, he never seemed to be one who dictated to his cast and crew or threw heavy tantrums on the set like so many of his contemporaries. I have never seen a picture of him where he wasn't smiling, nor one where he wasn't without his trademark cigar.

Often in times of worry, or harshness, I turn to comedy as a healer. Anyone like The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Buster Keaton, and Charlie Chaplin (who Lubitsch admired greatly) could always help see me through the tough times with their gentle humour. Lubitsch can be seen among the greats of comedy, even though his films could be considered frivolous, they were full of something more human.

(For those of you like me who are interested in knowing more about "The Lubitsch Touch", I highly recommend the book of the same name which I couldn't put down. It is full of critical analysis of his films, but perhaps the part I found even more interesting were the numerous tributes written about him from his peers. The tributes take up almost half of the book, and you could get the sense at just how well respected this man was among his fellow artists.

December's Director Spotlight: Lubitsch

This Christmas month, I thought I would lighten things up a bit with my director's spotlight. That's why I decided to concentrate on that great man with the cigar Ernst Lubitsch. Lubitsch is known to have created the sophisticated comedy. I've never had a full grasp on the who "Lubitsch Touch" thing so I hope after this month I'll have a clearer understanding as to what that is exactly. Lubitsch has always been a favorite of mine and much like I did with Truffaut, I only hope to understand his technique and more of his films better after his month. So I hope you join me it's gonna be fun!

Final Thoughts on Kurosawa

Well I hope you enjoyed my month long focus on Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa has always been a favorite of mine and I was glad I got the chance to dive into his body of work one more time. His films have always affected me on a very deep level only the best directors can do. He's the kind of filmmaker who's technique I can appreciate but also his outlook on life I can always relate to a Kurosawa film. Stay tuned tomorrow's announcement on who December's Director will be.