Ernst Lubitsch Retrospective at San Sebastián

by Andre Soares

 

Ernst LubitschOne of the highlights of this year’s San Sebastián International Film Festival is a mouth-wateringly thorough Ernst Lubitsch Retrospective.

Besides the obligatory titles, such as the witty 1939 comedy of bright lights and Communism, Ninotchka, and the delightful 1934 version of The Merry Widow, the retrospective is also showcasing a large number of Lubitsch rarities (including a few fragments of mostly lost films), ranging from his earliest work in Germany — among them several Pola Negri vehicles and the gender-bending 1918 comedy Ich möchte kein Mann sein / I Don’t Want to Be a Man, starring the German Mary Pickford, Ossi Oswalda — to some of his little seen Hollywood films, such as the 1931 psychological drama Broken Lullaby / The Man I Killed, with Phillips Holmes and Nancy Carroll, and the 1930 Jeanette MacDonald-Jack Buchanan musical Monte Carlo.

Pickford herself can be seen in Rosita a 1923 costume comedy that, despite claims to the contrary, was quite popular in its day. (Pickford hated working with Lubitsch, and never forgave him.)

The retrospective is also screening a trailer of The Patriot, a 1928 silent drama starring Emil Jannings, Florence Vidor, and Lewis Stone. (The Patriot was considered completely lost until fairly recently. One reel or so was reportedly found in Portugal.)

The San Sebastián festival runs until Sept. 30.

List of Ernst Lubitsch films (including fragments and trailers) screened at San Sebastián:

Als ich tot war / Wo ist mein Schatz (1916) directed b y Ernst Lubitsch, starring Ernst Lubitsch, Louise Schenrich, Lanchen Voss, Julius Falkenstein
• Als ich tot war / Wo ist mein Schatz
Germany • 1916

Angel (1937) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, Melvyn Douglas, Edward Everett Horton
• Angel
USA • 1937

Anna Boleyn (1920) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Emil Jannings, Hedwig Pauli, Hilde Müller, Ludwig Hartau, Henny Porten
• Anna Boleyn
Germany • 1920

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Gary Cooper, Claudette Colbert, David Niven
• Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife
USA • 1938

Broken Lullaby / The Man I Killed (1932) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Carroll, Philips Holmes, Louise Carter, Lucien Littlefield
• Broken Lullaby / The Man I Killed
USA • 1932

Carmen / Gypsy Blood (1918) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pola Negri, Harry Liedtke, Leopold von Ledebour, Grete Diercks, Wilhelm Diegelmann
• Carmen
Germany • 1918

Cluny Brown (1946) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Charles Boyer, Jennifer Jones
• Cluny Brown
USA • 1946

Das Weib des Pharao (1922) directedby Ernst Lubitsch, starring Emil Jannings, Paul Biensfeldt, Friedrich Kühne, Albert Bassermann, Harry Liedtke
• Das Weib des Pharao
Germany • 1922

• Das fidele Gefängnis / Ein fideles Gefängnis
Germany • 1917

Der Blusenkonig (1917) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Ernst Lubitsch, Käthe Dorsch, Guido Herzfeld
• Der Blusenkönig
Germany • 1917

Design for Living (1933) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Fredric March
• Design for Living
USA • 1933

Desire (1936) directed by Frank Borzage, starring Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich
• Desire
Frank Borzage, (Ernst Lubitsch producer) • USA • 1936

Die Augen der Mumie Ma / The Eyes of the Mummy (1918) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pola Negri, Emil Jannings, Harry Liedtke, Max Laurence
• Die Augen der Mumie Mâ
Germany • 1918

Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (1919) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Victor Janson, Ossi Oswalda, Harry Liedtke, Julius Falkenstein, Max Kronert
• Die Austernprinzessin
Germany • 1919

Die Bergkatze / The Wildcat (1921) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pola Negri, Victor Jansen, Marga Köhler, Edith Meller, Paul Heidemann
• Die Bergkatze
Germany • 1921

Die Flamme / Montmartre (1923) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pola Negri, Hilde Wörner, Alfred Abel, Hermann Thimig, Frida Richard
• Die Flamme
USA • 1923

Die Puppe (1919) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Ossi Oswalda, Hermann Thimig, Victor Janson
• Die Puppe
Germany • 1919

Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin (2006) directed by Robert Fischer
• Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin
Robert Fischer • Germany • 2006

Eternal Love (1929) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring John Barrymore, Camilla Horn, Victor Varconi
• Eternal Love
USA • 1929

Forbidden Paradise (1924) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pola Negri, Rod La Rocque, Pauline Starke, Adolphe Menjou
• Forbidden Paradise
USA • 1924

Heaven Can Wait (1943) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Don Ameche, Gene Tierney, Laird Cregar, Charles Coburn
• Heaven Can Wait
USA • 1943

Ich möchte kein Mann sein / I don't Want to Be a Man (1918) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Ferry Sikla, Ossi Oswalda, Margarete Kupfer, Kurt Götz
• Ich möchte kein Mann sein
Germany • 1918

If I had a Million (1932) directed by Ernst Lubitsch (The Clerk), Norman Taurog, Stephen Roberts, Norman McLeod, James Cruze, William A. Seiter, H. Bruce Humberstone, starring Charles Laughton, May Robson, Alison Skipworth, Gary Cooper, George Raft
• If I Had a Million
Ernst Lubitsch (The Clerk), Norman Taurog, Stephen Roberts, Norman McLeod, James Cruze, William A. Seiter, H. Bruce Humberstone • USA • 1932

Kohlhiesels Töchter / Kohlhiesel's Daughters (1920) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Henny Porten, Emil Jannings, Gustav von Wangenheim, Jacob Tiedtke
• Kohlhiesels Töchter
Germany • 1920

Lady Windermere's Fan (1925) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring May McAvoy, Ronald Colman, Bert Lytell, Irene Rich
• Lady Windermere’s Fan
USA • 1925

Madame Dubarry / Passion (1919) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pola Negri, Emil Jannings, Reinhold Schünzel, Harry Liedtke
• Madame Dubarry
Germany • 1919

Meyer aus Berlin / Meyer from Berlin (1919) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Ernst Lubitsch, Ethel Orff, Heinz Landsmann, Trude Kroll
• Meyer aus Berlin
Germany • 1919

Monte Carlo (1930) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Jeanette MacDonald, Jack Buchanan
• Monte Carlo
USA • 1930

Ninotchka (1939) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire
• Ninotchka
USA • 1939

One Hour with You (1932) directed by George Cukor and Ernst Lubitsch, starring Jeanette MacDonald, Maurice Chevalier, Genevieve Tobin, Charles Ruggles, Roland Young
• One Hour with You
Ernst Lubitsch, George Cukor • USA • 1932

Paramount on Parade (1930) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, Dorothy Arzner, Otto Brower, Edmund Goulding, Victor Heerman, Edwin H. Knopf, Rowland V. Lee, Lothar Mendes, Victor Schertzinger, Edward Sutherland, Frank Tuttle, starring Maurice Chevalier, Evelyn Brent, Gary Cooper, Clara Bow, Ruth Chatterton, Fredric March, Jack Oakie, Richard Arlen, Nancy Carroll, Clive Brook, William Powell, Warner Oland
• Paramount on Parade
Ernst Lubitsch (Origin of the Apache, A Park in Paris, The Rainbow Revels), Dorothy Arzner, Otto Brower, Edmund Goulding, Victor Heerman, Edwin H. Knopf, Rowland V. Lee, Lothar Mendes, Victor Schertzinger, Edward Sutherland, Frank Tuttle • USA • 1930

Romeo und Julia im Schnee / Romeo and Juliet in the Snow (1920) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Jacob Tiedtke, Marga Köhler, Lotte Neumann
• Romeo und Julia im Schnee
Germany • 1920

Rosita (1923) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Mary Pickford, George Walsh, Irene Rich
• Rosita
USA • 1923

Schuhpalast Pinkus / The Shoe Palace (1916) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Guido Herzfeld, Else Kenter, Ernst Lubitsch, Hanns Kräly, Ossi Oswalda
• Schuhpalast Pinkus
Germany • 1916

So This Is Paris (1926) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Patsy Ruth Miller, Monte Blue, André Beranger, Lilyan Tashman
• So This Is Paris
USA • 1926

Sumurun (1920) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pola Negri, Jenny Hasselquist, Aud Egede Nissen, Margarete Kupfer, Paul Wegener, Ernst Lubitsch
• Sumurun
Germany • 1920

That Uncertain Feeling (1941) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas, Burgess Meredith
• That Uncertain Feeling
USA • 1941

The Love Parade (1929) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Lillian Roth, Lupino Lane
• The Love Parade
USA • 1929

The Marriage Circle (1924) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Florence Vidor, Monte Blue, Marie Prevost, Creighton Hale, Adolphe Menjou
• The Marriage Circle
USA • 1924

The Merry Widow (1934) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Una Merkel
• The Merry Widow
USA • 1934

The Patriot (1928) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Emil Jannings, Florence Vidor, Lewis Stone
• The Patriot (trailer)
USA • 1928

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Margaret Sullvan, James Stewart
• The Shop Around the Corner
USA • 1940

The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, Miriam Hopkins
• The Smiling Lieutenant
USA • 1931

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Ramon Novarro, Norma Shearer, Jean Hersholt, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Philipe de Lacy
• The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
USA • 1927

Three Women (1934) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Pauline Frederick, May McAvoy, Marie Prevost, Lew Cody, Willard Louis
• Three Women
USA • 1924

To Be or Not to Be (1`942) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Carole Lombard, Jack Benny
• To Be or Not To Be
USA • 1942

Trouble in Paradise (1932) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Herbert Marshall, Kay Francis, Miriam Hopkins
• Trouble in Paradise
USA • 1932

Wenn vier dasselbe tun / When We Do the Same Thing (1917) directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Emil Jannings, Ossi Oswalda, Margarete Kupfer, Fritz Schulz, Victor Janson
• Wenn vier dasselbe tun
Germany • 1917

More Foreign-Language Submissions for the 2006 Oscars

Julie Andrews To Receive SAG Life Achievement Award

Pre-Code Film Series: JEWEL ROBBERY (1932)

Review: AURORA BOREALIS (2006)

Norma Shearer’s LADY OF THE NIGHT on Turner Classic Movies

 

 

by Andre Soares | September 26, 2006 | Filed Under American Cinema / Hollywood, Classics, Directors, European Cinema, Film, Film Festivals, German Cinema, Pre-Code Hollywood, Silent Films 

Comments

3 Responses to “Ernst Lubitsch Retrospective at San Sebastián”

  1. James on October 7th, 2006 7:05 pm

    What a terrific lineup of films. I hope all who attended enjoyed the retrospective. Anyone reading this site who attended care to comment? I don’t have a Lubitsch filmography in front of me, but is this all of Lubitsch’s existing films that screened during this series?

  2. Andre Soares on October 10th, 2006 2:57 pm

    But it’s a pretty thorough retrospective, no?
    I believe that only a few of his earliest films are missing from the above line-up.

  3. James on October 13th, 2006 9:21 am

    It’s a very thorough and exhaustive retrospective. That’s why I was curious as to whether it was representative of all of Lubitsch’s existing films.

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