Ernst Lubitsch on DVD

[Drucker]

Yes, agreed about the Doll and Oyster Princess being absolute delights.

I'm skipping Man I Killed. Maybe I'll regret it later, but I'm already planning on catching Angel, Marriage Circle, Merry Widow, One Hour With You, That Uncertain Feeling and now I suppose possibly Lady Windermere's Fan. Trying to whittle down what I can't get easily on home video with this series.

[hearthesilence]

No worries, I know The Man I Killed/Broken Lullaby screened in recent years at MoMA (for their series on films on World War I) and at Anthology Film Archives (a series on outlier films from various major directors' filmographies), all in 35mm, so you'll get another chance.

Coincidentally, I just found out it was more or less remade by François Ozon in a film released this year.

[Michael Kerpan]

Is there some rights problem that has prevented the delightful (and very funny) So This Is Paris from ever showibng up on DVD?

[hearthesilence]

David Bordwell mentioned this in a blog post:

So This Is Paris is less famous than Lubitsch’s earlier American comedies primarily because it has never appeared on DVD. Marilyn Ferdinand, in a blog entry that gives a detailed description of the film, writes that Warner Bros. claims not to own the rights to the film anymore and therefore has made no effort to bring it out on home video. On the other hand, a four-minute excerpt of the dance montage sequence was included in the Unseen Cinema set (disc 3, number 18), and the credit there is “Courtesy: Warner Bros., Turner Entertainment Company.” Whatever the rights situation is, a home-video version of this film is in order. A beautiful 35mm print is owned by the Library of Congress, so there is hope.

[htdm]

I agree--what a delightful film!

FWIW, for a brief period in 2003, Grapevine offered So This Is Paris? on DVD-R. When I called to place an order, the person on the phone declined telling me that they had just been served with a Cease and Desist order from Paramount and were no longer able to sell copies.

[hearthesilence]

One may appreciate the brilliant first 20 minutes more if they know a bit about Rudolph Valentino and the impact he had on the culture. The part where...

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the "sheik" looks like he's examining his genitals, maybe even masturbating

...still comes off as surprisingly risqué.

[javi82]

David Bordwell mentioned this in a blog post:

So This Is Paris is less famous than Lubitsch’s earlier American comedies primarily because it has never appeared on DVD... A beautiful 35mm print is owned by the Library of Congress, so there is hope.

I saw the LOC print at my local museum several months ago. It was brilliant. The film itself definitely has the Lubitsch touch, but it doesn't scale the heights of his best work. Still, I would be all over a decent home video release.

[Michael Kerpan]

"Best" or not -- So This Is Paris (and Marriage Circle) are both near the very top of my Lubitsch list.

I would say that LOTS of STIP is on the risque side...

[Drucker]

Saw Angel last night. A fun movie that clearly showcases two things Lubitsch does extraordinarily well. The first is that he takes his time outlining the central plot of a film. We really have no idea where the film is going until we're into the second reel. I often go to films after work, and so sometimes I'm restless/tired/hungry. With his films however, I'm transfixed, and totally glued to the screen, eager to see what happens next. His ability to put surprising plot points (Angel's desertion of Halton) and film them in unique ways is so simple, but works so well. That moment called into my mind another point, which I really noticed during Cluny Brown and the last scene of Ninotchka. Lubitsch's films are tremendously musical even though there are not a large amount of musical cues. Moments like the one I just mentioned fall completely silently, and make the viewer feel that all the air has been sucked out of the room. I keep thinking music stopped playing, but there hadn't necessarily been music in the previous scene, but the way his films move and progress is so musical that the silent moments feel accented.

Not a laugh out loud film, but certainly top rate and on par with most of his classics I've seen from the 1930s. Certainly calls to mind the maturity of The Shop Around The Corner.

[Drucker]

That Uncertain Feeling is an absolute gem. The film is incredibly well-focused, and unlike Cluny Brown or some of his other films, the plot kicks in pretty immediately, with a wife bored from an inattentive husband, and her falling for someone else. Melvyn Douglass is spectacular as usual, but really puts in an amazing performance here. His tone shifts from aloof to arrogant to deranged and carefree, and he pulls it off marvelously. One moment he's weeping as he's unable to part in his marriage, and the next he's pulling off hijinx in order to win her back. There are lots of touches of real black comedy here, including an absolute gasp-worthy moment

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when Douglas does a sarcastic Heil Hitler, which comes out of nowhere, but I found it even more shocking and showstopping than the famous line about Shakesepeare and Warsaw (I think?) in To Be Or Not To Be.

Superb film, which is probably the driest comedy I've ever seen from Lubitsch.

I also caught Trouble In Paradise the other day. I've nothing exceptional to add that I'm sure isn't obvious to its films admirers. For whatever reason, the first time I saw the film on DVD it did nothing for me (which was unusual for a Lubitsch film). In a theater it all came alive, however. Lubitsch's jokes are never obvious or expected, but they are exactly what they should be (the pickpocketing of the main couple for example). Probably not my favorite of his films, but clearly in the running for one of his best.

[hearthesilence]

I wasn't sure if Cluny Brown was an exception, but it's the first Lubitsch film I've seen where there was barely a plot, much less a plot that could drive the film, it just sort of meanders. It may explain why it hasn't gotten much exposure, but it's also what makes it a pretty charming film.

[Drucker]

Cluny is definitely meandering. There are a few brilliant gags, maybe three or four truly laugh out loud moments in the movie, but otherwise it's just cute and nothing more.

[Matt]

David Bordwell mentioned this in a blog post:

So This Is Paris is less famous than Lubitsch’s earlier American comedies primarily because it has never appeared on DVD... A beautiful 35mm print is owned by the Library of Congress, so there is hope.

I saw the LOC print at my local museum several months ago. It was brilliant.

Said print is showing in Minneapolis (well, Columbia Heights, really) this Sunday at 7:30 PM.

[rockysds]

Blu-rays of One Hour With You, Bluebeard's Eighth Wife, Design for Living and If I Had a Million coming from Elysees in