That's what I've seen, might be an unconventional ranking. Which are the best ones I haven't watched? Thanks in advance.
Lubitsch Films Seem To Always Be Excellent
General DiscussionGlad you like them, which 5 have you seen?
They should last you a while, he made a lot of films (even though quite a few are lost, many remain).
The Doll (my favourite film of the 1910s)
Trouble in Paradise (top 5 films of the 30s)
The Shop Around the Corner (top 3 classic films)
To Be or Not to Be (maybe top 20 classic films?)
Heaven Can Wait (...good but not as good as the others!)
I can understand not liking Heaven Can Wait as much, it feels a little different. I'd recommend watching more of his pre-code films (hope you don't mind musicals).
Yeah The Doll is great. Ossi Oswalda genuinely looks like she’s having a ton of fun.
Shop Around the Corner is one I really want to watch. I’ve seen the remake You’ve Got Mail about a million times.lol
I just need to rent it. I’ve been trying to decide whether to rent Holiday or Shop Around the Corner first.
The Shop Around the Corner is better than Holiday and MUCH better than You've Got Mail.
Thanks! Good to know.
If you like the delightful Ossi Oswalda in The Doll and I Don't Want to Be a Man, you should also see The Oyster Princess, my favorite of her collaborations with Lubitsch. Something of a proto-Preston Sturges screwball, although I can't be sure that Sturges ever saw it.
I also want to put in a word for Cluny Brown, in which Jennifer Jones finds more pure joy in being a plumber than you probably thought possible.
I also think Cluny Brown is Lubitsch at his best — it was his final film. One of my favorite performances from Jones, and Charles Boyer is deft as always — he should have done a dozen movies with Lubitsch.
Cluny Brown is enjoyable without context, but an understanding of British politeness and inter-war politics gives the wry humor delightful zest.
OMG yes to Cluny Brown@
Thanks, I'll probably watch that or The Smiling Lieutenant next.
From what I've read, it seems that only Lubitsch's serious films were familiar to American audiences when he emigrated, I don't believe his comedies ever got an American release (unless it happened later). So not sure he could have seen it.
It's a great point. My only reason for thinking Sturges may have seen early Lubitsch stuff was he spent a lot of his early life in Europe and traveled there frequently for business and holidays as a young adult (although mostly in France).
I didn't know about Sturges' early life, maybe then.
I'll probably watch that or The Smiling Lieutenant next.
I'm not a fan. Chevalier is kind of creepy.
Nuts to the squirrels! ...........
or is it..........
Squirrels to the nuts?
The Oyster Princess is one of the quirkiest and funniest movies ever! Being silent, only for a special audience.
Billy Wilder revered Lubitsch and frequently referenced him. He helped write the screenplay of Ninotchka years before he became a writer/director. The "Lubitsch touch" was a term minted in the 1920s, and while hotly debated as to what that actually was, it encompassed a unique approach to a scene, an ability to bring out a detail that would have eluded others, and making the audience privy to it, as if they were co-conspirators.
What I love about him, among other things, was his ability to get usually heavy drama-laden actresses to give lighter than air performances that they rarely ever gave for anyone else, including Kay Francis, Jeannette MacDonald, Miriam Hopkins, Greta Garbo, Margaret Sullivan, Carole Lombard, Gene Tierney and Jennifer Jones.
Wilder had a poster in his office that said "What would Lubitsch do?"
One of my favorite directors. Trouble in Paradise is just fantastic; it feels almost like a minimalist masterpiece in terms of its presentation and storytelling.
To Be Or Not To Be Is a flat-out riot, Heaven Can Wait is excellent from top to bottom, and The Shop Around the Corner is a holiday mainstay for me. I don't like Design for Living or Ninotchka quite as much but they're both great films.
Someday I'm going to write an essay about Lubitsch's use of the word "Phooey!" in his films.
Lubitsch is my favorite director, I love him with all my heart. My top 3 would be To Be or Not To Be (the greatest ever film of art triumphing over evil), Design for Living and Ninotchka. But Trouble in Paradise has probably some of the most smartly-, twistily-principled storytelling on film right through to its jubilant epilogue.
I would also recommend The Smiling Lieutenant and his silent masterpieces The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, Lady Windermere’s Fan and So This Is Paris.
The Student Prince really is a silent masterpiece, Ramon Novarro really surprised me in that
Ninotchka is a perfect romantic comedy. And a lighthearted FU to anyone ignorant enough to defend the Soviet Union.
I have seen 7 of them. My favorite is Ninotchka.
I just watched I don't want to be a man short film and my God it was good it was really horrendous what the actress who did that short film and her husband went through by the Nazis and how they treated men and women and children was just beyond sickening.
I fell hard for The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg and Maurice Chevalier in One Hour with You
Ninotchka is wonderful.
Broken Lullaby is great — much better than To Be or not to Be.
Thanks, I should watch it soon then.
I agree that Cluny Brown is the best one you've missed. My ranking would go something like...
Design For Living (peak proto-screwball)
To Be or Not To Be (pure brilliance)
The Shop Around the Corner (moving and profound, like The Apartment before The Apartment)
Ninotchka (sometimes feels a little too "woman must smile," but the political themes and Garbo's performance are brilliant)
Trouble In Paradise (wasn't what I expected, but really great)
Cluny Brown (very fun and joyful)
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (some things haven't aged well but I've got a soft spot for screwballs)
Heaven Can Wait (beautifully shot with brilliant scenes, though not my favorite)
Angel (Dietrich!)
That Uncertain Feeling (not too memorable, but I had a decent time)
The Smiling Lieutenant (I don't like Chevalier, but I did enjoy the scene near the end between Hopkins and Colbert)
The Merry Widow (I don't like Chevalier, and there is no Hopkins or Colbert)
My next ones I want to see are The Doll (I haven't seen any of his silent films!) and Broken Lullaby.
Lubitsch is my current favorite director:
For wacky berlin silents, you’re missing the Oyster Princess and the Wildcat. For the latter, think bizarro German expressionism where it’s inverted for candyland comedy.
For Hollywood silents, there’s Rosita, Forbidden Paradise, So This is Paris, and the Student Prince in Old Heidelberg. Unfortunately, Forbidden Paradise only exists on the web in unwatchable dogshit condition. The MoMA has restored it, so hopefully a blu-ray surfaces in a couple years.
For musicals, you have to see the Smiling Lieutenant and One Hour with You. Each are way better than the Love Parade.
After you watch those musicals, check out Love Me Tonight. It’s Lubitsch adjacent, but not Lubitsch directed. You get to see Mamoulian‘s take on a Lubitschy musical.
There’s also the last musical of his, The Merry Widow.
As for the rest, I’m personally not a big fan of his non-comedies.
Thanks, that's a lot of suggestions. I have definitely overlooked his Hollywood silents. I've seen Love Me Tonight - yes very Lubitsch like, that's another favourite of mine (if on this list it might even make second).
Lol I didn’t mean to go overboard. You’ve seen quite a bit of his good stuff (and enjoy them), so I figured you wouldn’t be against these. Lubitsch was supposed to originally direct Love Me Tonight, but he had to be brought in to direct One Hour With You after Cukor was having issues with the cast.
There’s also this podcast I’ve been listening to, “How Would Lubitsch Do It?”, where they go over each surviving film in his filmography. Probably why some random trivia is fresh in my head.
Hope it didn't sound like I was complaining. All your suggestions look interesting. I'll look into that podcast.
No not at all
Ninotchka kills me. The number of times Melvyn Douglas says “ohhhh, Ninotchka” must be 100+ times.
People don’t like Angel with Marlene D, Melvyn Douglas and Herbert Marshall but I adore it. It’s a different kind of Lubitsch but watching this film feels like intruding to other people’s lives and dialogues. So subtle, so beautiful.
Yes love them!
You forgot The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg.
Not all are as good as his best, in fact the Chevalier ones are very cringy. Maurice has certainly never been accused of under acting. And Garbo simply does Garbo.
Garbo is terrific in Ninotchka.
I've always been underwhelmed by Lubitsch's films even though they seem to be well regarded in film circles. Maybe I just don't share his sense of humor, I don't know.
I thought Broken Lullaby was excellent, though.
That's probably to do with the sense of humour yes. What kinds of comedy do you like?
Well, two nights ago I watched Two Rode Together with Jimmy Stewart and Richard Widmark. It's a horror film, but I find it really funny. I've watched it eight or nine times and I still find it funny.
Horror?
Captive children and mothers and wives who've been raped. Families searching 7-10 years for them unable to let go.
Still not sure I would have defined the film as such. Some dark themes maybe, but it still has a sense of humour.
I'm not really concerned with putting movies and books into neat categories or pigeonholes.
Ford at his best mixes comedy and horror and tender moments. He's like Mozart.
For what it’s worth Ford had a tremendous amount of respect for Lubitsch.
“None of us thought we were making anything but entertainment for the moment. Only Ernst Lubitsch knew we were making art.”
Heaven Can Wait was remade with Warren Beatty in 1978. To Be or Not to Be was remade by Mel Brooks in 1983. Great movie. And I think Shop Around the Corner was remade into You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks in the ‘90s.
The Warren Beatty movie shares the title but is a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Ah, yes, you are correct.
Didn't realize he made Lady Windemere's Fan. Lubitsch and Oscar Wilde may just be too much for me@
Seen 5 of these, and loved 4 of them. And the one I didn't love was still pretty damn good.
Trouble in Paradise and the Shop Around the Corner are two of my all-timers. Lubitsch is my awesome and I'm purposefully holding back on the ones I haven't seen so that I'll have more to watch in the future.