A retrospective by Hyan Thiboutot
"I let the audience use their imaginations. Can I help it if they misconstrue my suggestions?"
German-born Jewish film director Ernst Lubitsch (January 28, 1892 – November 30, 1947), was the most widely imitated comic filmmaker of the sound era. He perfected an urbane, graceful directorial style, so original and distinctive that it was coined the "Lubitsch Touch" by Hollywood. His movies were based on his sarcastic sense of humour and his scornful view of life – witty and sophisticated, with a fine, malicious sexuality. Bringing warmth and humanity to even the thinnest of screenplays, Ernst Lubitsch set the standard for the romantic comedy. He largely defined the genre and helped revolutionize the musical and various recording techniques.
Born in Berlin January 28, 1892, Lubitsch turned his back on his father's tailoring business to enter the theater, and by 1911, emerged as a stage performer with Max Reinhardt's celebrated Deutsches Theater. His first film work came in 1912 as an actor. Then Lubitsch, only still in his late teens, turned to directing and made his mark with Die Augen der Mumie Ma (The Eyes of the Mummy), a tragic drama starring Pola Negri, while turning out whimsical entertainments like Die Austerprinzessin (The Oyster Princess), Rausch (Intoxication), and Die Puppe (The Puppet) (all 1919). After scoring a major hit with Die Austernprinzessin, his future behind the camera was sealed.
Lubitsch alternated between escapist comedies and grand-scale historical dramas, enjoying international success with both. His reputation as a master of world cinema reached a new peak after the release of his spectacles Madame Du Barry (Passion, 1919) and Anna Boleyn (Deception, 1920). Directing a film version of Reinhardt's famed pantomime Sumurun (aka One Arabian Night 1920), in which Lubitsch made his final acting appearance, he came to the attention of silent star Mary Pickford.
"In Hollywood, we acquire the finest novels in order to smell the leather bindings."
After directing over 40 films in his native land, Lubitsch left Germany for Hollywood in 1922. Lubitsch was contracted by Adolph Zukor to come to Hollywood and shoot the 1923 Mary Pickford vehicle Rosita. Lubitsch decided to remain in the U.S. where he established his reputation for sophisticated comedy, delighting audiences in such films as The Marriage Circle (1924), Lady Windermere's Fan (1925), and So This Is Paris (1926).
For MGM, Lubitsch made The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), an outstanding film but a costly failure. Like many of his subsequent films, it won critical praise, but never won a broad constituency among American moviegoers. Within the ranks of filmmakers, Lubitsch was revered for his mastery of the medium and his ability to coax effervescent performances out of his cast (often by acting out the parts for them, scene by scene), and for his ability to convey a sexual sparkle even in the face of Hollywood's moral watchdogs. The Patriot earned Lubitsch his first Academy Award nomination.
"I've been to Paris, France and I've been to Paris, Paramount. Paris Paramount is better."
In 1927, sound arrived in Hollywood. In this time of uncertainty, Lubitsch signed with Paramount Pictures. While directors and producers were coming to grips with the vagaries of sound, Lubitsch thrived. Now he had a new weapon in his arsenal – dialogue. He created witty and sarcastic dialogue in malicious and bizarre comedic situations. With his first talkie, The Love Parade (1929) starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, Lubitsch hit his stride as a maker of worldly musical comedies (and got himself another Oscar nomination).
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) was hailed by critics as a masterpiece of the newly emerging musical genre, and they also recognised MGM's The Merry Widow (1934), Paramount's Trouble in Paradise (1932), One Hour with You (1932) and Design for Living (1933) as classics. Making just one anti-war picture, Broken Lullaby (aka The Man I Killed, 1932), Lubitsch mostly specialised in sophisticated comedy.
In 1935, Lubitsch was appointed the studio's production manager, supervising the production of other films while producing his own films. But he gave up the job in 1936 and returned to directing with Angel (1937), starring Marlene Dietrich.
"There are a thousand ways to point a camera, but really only one."
After the disappointing Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938, written by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett), Lubitsch moved to MGM, and directed Greta Garbo in Ninotchka, (1939, a Wilder-Brackett and Walter Reisch script) a satirical and scintillating comedy, that has come to be known (as it was advertised then) as the film that made Garbo laugh for the first time onscreen.
Then he directed the The Shop Around the Corner (1940), (recently reprised by Nora Ephron in You Got Mail (1998)) with James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan as a pair of secret admirers. He went independent to direct That Uncertain Feeling (1941, a remake of his 1925 film Kiss Me Again), and the cynical anti-Nazi comedy To Be or Not to Be (1942), Carole Lombard's last picture.
Lubitsch spent the rest of his career at 20th Century Fox. The last picture he directed was Heaven Can Wait (1943). Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) presents himself at the gates of Hell only to find he is vetted on his qualifications for entry. Surprised there is any question of his suitability, Van Cleve recounts his lively life but concentrating on his happy but sometimes difficult twenty-five years of marriage to Martha (Gene Tierney).
In March of 1947, he was awarded a special Academy Award for his "25-year contribution to motion pictures". He died later that year in Hollywood of a heart attack, his sixth. His last film, That Lady in Ermine, with Betty Grable, was completed by Otto Preminger and released posthumously in 1948.
At the director's funeral, the great Billy Wilder said, "No more Lubitsch." William Wyler replied, "Worse than that. No more Lubitsch pictures".
FACTOIDS
1929, discovered actress/operatic singer, Jeanette MacDonald while in New York
Brought together one of Hollywood's greatest screen pairings – Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald.
Ernst was known for always playing practical jokes on his film sets.
He directed a “mummy” movie. It wasn't one of the post-Boris Karloff films, but the silent German production Die Augen der Mumie Ma (1918).
Retrospective at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. [1984]
Was voted the 16th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
He had a daughter, Nicola, with wife Sanya Bezencenet.
The term "MOS" is used, on a slate, when a scene is filmed without sync sound (or any sound). This directive is widely thought to be a homage to Lubitsch who would say, in his thick Berlin accent, that he wished to shoot some footage "mitout sound." "Mit" means "with" in German – ergo, without sound. Mitout sound – M-O-S.
Directed 3 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Lewis Stone, Maurice Chevalier and Greta Garbo.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
Silent Films:
The Marriage Circle (1924)
Lady Windermere's Fan (1929)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) - starring Ramón Novarro and Norma Shearer
Eternal Love (1929)
Sound Films:
The Love Parade (1930) - musical
Monte Carlo (1930) - musical
The Smiling Lieutenant (1932) - musical
One Hour with You (1932) - musical
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Design for Living (1933)
The Merry Widow (1934) - musical
Desire (1936) - Producer only
Angel (1937)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
Ninotchka (1939) - starring Greta Garbo
The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Heaven Can Wait (1943)
A Royal Scandal (1945)
Cluny Brown (1946)
That Lady in Ermine (1948)
TIMELINE
1892: Ernst Lubitsch is born on January 29 in Berlin, Germany
1911: Joins Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater as an actor
1914: Began his directing career, directed & acted in short films in Germany
1916: Directed his first feature film in Germany
1922: Moved to U.S., under contract to Mary Pickford
1923: Directed first American film Rosita, starring Pickford
1926: Signed contract with Paramount
1929: Directed first sound film, The Love Parade
1933: Became an American citizen
1935-1936: Served as production chief at Paramount Studios
1937: Returned to directing; directed first film in three years, Angel
1939-1940: Directed two films for MGM
1943: Signed contract with 20th Century Fox Studios
1946: Completed last film, Cluny Brown
1947: Was given a special Academy Award in March, for his "distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture." Ernst Lubitsch died in Hollywood on November 30th, while working on That Lady in Ermin.
1987: On Paramount studios 75th anniversary, they named their Directors Building after Ernst Lubitsch
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