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.