Ernst Lubitsch

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Ernst Lubitsch (January 28, 1892 – November 30, 1947), was a German-born Jewish film director. His movies were witty and sophisticated, with a fine and malicious sexuality. In all of them there is the famous "Lubitsch Touch." There are many definitions of what the Lubitsch Touch actually is, but most of these focus on his unique, unconventional and somewhat ephemeral filmaking.

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[edit] Life and work

Born in Berlin, Lubitsch had turned his back on his father's tailoring business to enter the theater, and by 1911 he was a member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater. His first film work came in 1912 as an actor. Gradually, he abandoned acting to concentrate on directing and in 1918 he made his mark as a serious director with Die Augen der Mumie Ma (The Eyes of the Mummy), a tragic drama starring Pola Negri. Lubitsch subsequently alternated between escapist comedies and grand-scale historical dramas; he enjoyed great international success with both. His reputation as a grand master of world cinema reached a new peak after the release of his spectacles Madame Du Barry (Passion, 1919) and Anna Boleyn (Deception, 1920).

Lubitsch left Germany for Hollywood in 1922, invited by Mary Pickford. Lubitsch directed Pickford in the film, Rosita, but this was the only film that they made together. Lubitsch established his reputation for sophisticated comedy with such stylish films as The Marriage Circle (1924), Lady Windermere's Fan (1925), and So This Is Paris (1926). In 1928, when sound arrived in Hollywood, Lubitsch joined Paramount Pictures.

After sound came to films, Lubitsch started to direct musicals. 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 Love Parade (1929), Monte Carlo (1930), and The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) were hailed by critics as masterpieces of the newly emerging musical genre.

His next film was a romantic comedy, written with Samson Raphaelson, Trouble in Paradise (1932). Trouble in Paradise was popular both with critics and with audiences, but was made before the enforcement of the production code. After 1935, Trouble in Paradise was withdrawn from circulation and was not seen again until 1968. The film was never available on videocassette and only became available on DVD in 2003.

His films of the sound era films featured witty and sometimes sarcastic dialogue, sometimes with bizarre comedic situations. But whether with music, as in MGM's opulent The Merry Widow (1934), or without, as in Paramount's One Hour with You (1932) and Design for Living (1933), Lubitsch continued to specialize in sophisticated comedy. He made only one other dramatic film, an antiwar picture, titled Broken Lullaby (aka The Man I Killed, 1932).

In 1935 he was appointed that studio's production manager and subsequently produced his own films and supervised the production of films of other directors.

In 1939, Lubitsch moved to MGM, and directed Greta Garbo in Ninotchka, Written by Billy Wilder, a satirical comedy in which the famously sullen actress' laughing scene was heavily promoted by studio publicists with the tagline "Garbo Laughs!"

Then he directed the delightful The Shop Around the Corner (1940), also written with Raphaelson, with James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan as a pair of bickering coworkers in Budapest, each unaware that the other is their secret romantic correspondent.

Lubitsch went independent to direct That Uncertain Feeling (1941, a remake of his 1925 film Kiss Me Again), and the dark anti-Nazi farce To Be or Not to Be (1942), Carole Lombard's last picture.

Lubitsch spent the balance of his career at 20th Century Fox, but a heart condition curtailed his activity. The last picture made by the director with his distinctive "touch" was Heaven Can Wait (1943), an elegant and ironic comedy and another Raphaelson collaboration. The plot is about Henry Van Cleve (played by Don Ameche) who presents himself at the gates of Hell only to find he is closely vetted on his qualifications for entry; surprised there is any question on his suitability, he recounts his lively life and the women he has known from his mother onwards, but mainly concentrating on his happy but sometimes difficult twenty-five years of marriage to Martha (played by Gene Tierney).

In March of 1947 Ernst Lubitsch 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 Lubitsch's funeral, fellow star director Billy Wilder said sadly, "No more Lubitsch," and William Wyler responded, "Worse than that. No more Lubitsch pictures."

[edit] Selected Filmography

Silent Films:

Sound Films:

[edit] Further reading

  • Eyman, Scott. Ernst Lubitsch: Laughter in Paradise. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. Biography.
  • Weinberg, Herman G. The Lubitsch Touch : a Critical Study. New York : Dutton, [c1968]. -Out of Print-

[edit] External links

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