In the last few months Kino International — one of the essential DVD distributors — has released numerous quality DVDs of movies that until fairly recently were just about impossible to find.
Among the rarities I've had the pleasure of getting my hands on is "Lubitsch in Berlin," which includes two Ernst Lubitsch comedies of the late 1910s: Ich möchte kein Mann sein / I Don't Want to Be a Man and Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess, both co-written by Lubitsch and frequent collaborator Hanns Kräly, and both starring Ossi Oswalda, known as the "German Mary Pickford."
In the gender-bending Ich möchte kein Mann sein / I Don't Want to Be a Man (1918), Ossi Oswalda is delightful as a young woman (named Ossi) who decides that life as a girl is much too boring — so she starts dressing up as a man in order to enjoy the freedoms of male life. Being a man, however, turns out to be quite complicated, too. And being a man in love (or in lust) with another "man" is no simple matter, either, as Curt Goetz (who also wrote plays and screenplays, and later directed a handful of films) discovers after falling for Ossi in male drag.
In Die Austernprinzessin (1919), an American oyster tycoon sets out to find an European prince to marry his daughter, but things don't go according to plan. Victor Janson plays the vulgar oyster king from America, while Ossi Oswalda is his marriable daughter. Curt Bois, who would go on to make more than 100 films in the next seven decades, appears in a bit part as an orchestra conductor. The picture's highlight is a much talked-about foxtrot sequence.
Although not quite as sophisticated as Lubitsch's later work, both films clearly show the nascent Lubitsch Touch. Indeed, they are a must for Lubitsch fans — and for anyone interested in film history.
Note: Die Austernprinzessin is accompanied by Aljoscha Zimmermann's score; Ich möchte kein Mann sein by Neil Brand's.
The Joan Crawford Collection DVD Set
The Bette Davis Collection DVD Set
The Greta Garbo Signature Collection DVD Set
BEN-HUR Collector's Edition DVD
Carole Lombard, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Cecil B. DeMille DVD Sets
The Doris Day Collection DVD Set
Errol Flynn Signature Collection
Janus Films' "The Essential Art House" DVD Collection
I have to admit, I didn't find the Lubitsch "touch" much visible in these films. The comedy was too broad and the characters in many cases too cartoonish for my tastes, although the films are interesting to see a famous director in his early career.
"I Don't Want To Be A Man" was probably my favorite of the collection. Well paced, and nicely handled comedy with some very interesting touches. And Ossi Osswalda was delightful. Although any similarities between her and Mary Pickford are lost on me. But, that one for me-with it's more subtle handling and suggestiveness-was probably closest to what we appreciate about the Lubitsch of the 20's, 30's and 40's in Hollywood.
The films on the set aren't in any way "bad" films from my point of view and offer an interesting perspective. But folks used to Lubitsch's later American films might find these disappointing or unusual. But all are definitely worth seeing.