German American actor, screenwriter, producer and film director
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2 episodes with lubitsch
4 episodes with lubitsch
4 episodes with lubitsch
durée : 00:58:09 - Toute une vie - par : Christine Lecerf - Né à Berlin dans une famille de tailleurs juifs, Ernst Lubitsch, au grand désespoir de son père, ne deviendra jamais commerçant. Mais de ces années passées au milieu des tissus, Lubitsch fera un chef d'oeuvre, The Shop Around The Corner, qui le consacrera maître de la "comédie sophistiquée". - réalisation : Lionel Quantin - invités : N.T. Binh Journaliste, critique, enseignant de cinéma (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne); Manfred Flügge Essayiste, auteur de 'Je me souviens de Berlin' (Grüntal).; Katalyn Por Historienne du cinéma.; Pierre Le Gall Cinéphile, amateur de Lubitsch; Patrick Gree Cinéphile, amateur de Lubitsch.; Christian Viviani Coordinateur et rédacteur de la revue Positif, professeur à l'université de Caen-Basse Normandie; Marc Cerisuelo Professeur en Histoire et esthétique du cinéma à l'université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée
Ernst Lubitsch es conocido, sobre todo, por sus comedias americanas. Por una fórmula alquímica que combina el tono picante con la elegancia verbal y visual para sugerir sin mostrar: el famoso "toque Lubitsch". Pero no olvidemos que esta expresión, que aún perdura, era un eslogan publicitario de la Paramount. Se trataba de fijar al cineasta como creador inconfundible de unas comedias sexuales que barrían en taquilla, especialmente en la era pre-Code. De ellas es un excelente ejemplo «Una mujer para dos» (Design for Living, 1933), cuyo éxito, sumado a su arrollador personaje femenino y su tratamiento desenfadado de un ménage à trois, inspiró la creación de la Liga de la Decencia, el Código Hays y la consiguiente censura que marcó el rumbo moral del cine clásico americano durante décadas. Ahora bien, ¿hay Lubitsch más allá del recurrente "toque"? En su etapa estadounidense, el director austriaco se salió poco de la senda de la comedia romántica. Pero contamos con una valiosa excepción: en 1932, acometió la producción y dirección de «Remordimiento» (Broken Lullaby) como un proyecto personal y libre, adaptando una obra de teatro de Maurice Rostand sobre un excombatiente francés que busca la redención por haber matado a un soldado alemán durante la Gran Guerra. En ella, Lubitsch despliega toda su elegancia e inventiva visual al servicio de un contundente drama posbélico. Podríamos hablar, entonces, de más de un "toque Lubitsch". Y a eso nos dedicamos en este episodio, que cuenta con la participación de José Luis Forte, Lourdes Esqueda y Miguel Muñoz Garnica.
durée : 00:15:24 - Journal de la création du dimanche 16 février 2025 - par : Laurent Vilarem - Le ciné-concert connaît un grand succès. En témoigne cette semaine une soirée Lubitsch par l'Ensemble intercontemporain et un prochain concert de Joe Hisaishi. A l'affiche également, un concert fiction de Mathieu Lamboley et la résidence lyonnaise du compositeur et organiste Grégoire Rolland. - réalisé par : Céline Parfenoff
1942 was a bad year for humans but a good year for Hollywood! This episode, we discuss John Ford's striking documentation of WWII, Orson Welles' follow-up to Citizen Kane, the origins of the jump scare, witchy comedy, the meaning of life through the lens of talking animals, Lubitsch spy/showbiz satire, and a little movie called Casablanca.You can watch along with our video version of the episode here on Youtube!You can check out our social media crap here: http://linktr.ee/1w1yAnd you can watch and form your own opinions from our 1942 Films Discussed playlist right here!See you next year!
Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. America and all ships at sea, and welcome to Episode 57 of Vintage Sand, our first of 2025. In this episode and the next one we return, for the penultimate time, to the source of some of our most popular episodes: Danny Peary's hard-to-find 1993 classic "Alternative Oscars". In the past, we have used Peary's model to approach every full decade in which the Academy has handed out Oscars except two: the 2010's, and the topic for this two-part episode, Alternate Oscars: The 1940's Edition. It's interesting that the 40's are considered to be the peak of Hollywood's Golden Age, yet many films that were beloved and honored back then have not well withstood the passage of time. The early part of the decade's most important development was the rise of the writer/director in Hollywood. Preston Sturges was the first, with his incredible run of films from 1940-1945, and he was followed quickly by the Billy Wilder/Charles Brackett team and, of course, that clever young fellow from the Mercury Theater. The 40's also marked the arrival of Hitchcock to these shores, and the rise to prominence of new directorial voices like Huston, Preminger, Zinnemann and Nicholas Ray. There were also many high points in the decade for well-established directors like Ford, Capra, Hawks, Lubitsch and Wyler. We have the incredible run of films between 1942 and 1946 made by Val Lewton's brilliant B-movie unit at RKO, and, of course, the birth of film noir, overseen predominantly by expats like Wilder, Lang, Preminger, Ulmer, Lewis and Siodmak. The latter half of the decade, which we will cover in Episode 58 in February, saw two major developments. The end of the war saw the return to strength of many European film industries as well as studio filmmaking in Japan. In France, in the wake of 1945's miraculous "Les Enfants du Paradis", directors as different as Cocteau, Clouzot and Bresson began or restarted their careers. This explosion of creativity was matched in the UK, with the arrival of Lean, Reed, and especially with the flowering of the Powell-Pressburger Archers team. Clearly, though, the most important such event was the rise of what today is called Italian Neo-Realism, as directors like Rossellini, De Sica, and to a lesser extent Visconti, created a brand new way to tell stories on film that is still influencing directors today. The second big change of the late 40's was really two changes in one: the landmark Paramount court case in 1948 that ended the vertical monopoly the studios had long held as owners of theater chains as well, and the mass arrival of television. Between 1948 and 1952, Hollywood lost nearly half of its audience, bringing down the curtain on that so-called “Golden Age” of Hollywood. In terms of the Oscars, the Academy made solid choices for Best Picture--they certainly picked better films than they did in the 1930's! These included enduring works like "The Best Years of Our Lives", "All the King's Men" and especially, "Casablanca". Who could argue with that? (Hint: us.) But there were plenty of head scratchers as well. Prestige choices like "How Green Was My Valley", "Mrs. Miniver" and Olivier's "Hamlet" look a little creaky these days. Hell, we might argue that "Rebecca" was not even Hitchcock's best film of 1940! And the less said about "Going My Way" and "Gentlemen's Agreement", the better. So kick back, round up the usual suspects, and help us make this podcast more important than the gas in that light…
It's time for another round of Studios Year by Year, starting over with Paramount 1930! And this time Dave has brought even more nostalgic reading material to give some context for this studio content. We also launch another new series feature: a review of our favourite movies from the previous 1930-1948 round. Turning to the Paramount movies we watched for this episode, we struggle to come to terms with the pointless battle of the sexes in Lubitsch's The Love Parade, starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, who are having a lot of sexy Pre-Code fun until the dictates of storytelling demand conflict; and struggle through a nigh-unwatchable transfer/copy of the sturdy operetta The Vagabond King, starring MacDonald and Dennis King. In both films, the adorable Lillian Roth delights. And finally, as if all of that weren't enough, a New Year's Eve throwback (by the time this is posted) in Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: we watched the beloved When Harry Met Sally and the cult classic 200 Cigarettes at the Revue Cinema. Time Codes: 0h 00m 25s: 1930 in film + Paramount Recap 0h 21m 10s: THE LOVE PARADE [dir. Ernst Lubitsch] 0h 43m 24s: THE VAGABOND KING [dir. Ludwig Berger] 0h 56m 50s: Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto: When Harry Met Sally (1989) by Rob Reiner & 200 Cigarettes (1999) by Risa Bramon Garcia Year in Film information from Forgotten Films to Remember by John Springer Studio Film Capsules provided by The Paramount Story by John Douglas Eames Additional studio information from: The Hollywood Story by Joel W. Finler +++ * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's latest film piece on Preston Sturges, Unfaithfully Yours, and the Narrative role of comedic scapegoating. * Check out Dave's new Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project! Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!
First and foremost, Secret Movie Club sends everyone affected by the Los Angeles fires (this podcast is posted January 2025) the best. We're here as a community to help rebuild. If it can bring a smile to your face in a helpful way, we offer this podcast on "The Lubitsch Touch". Master classic Hollywood filmmaker Ernest Lubitsch developed a cinematic shorthand storytelling style full of visual, verbal, and cinematic grace/flair. If he could convey character or information cinematically rather than through clunky dialogue, he did it. This style, the essence of what cinema can do, inspired countless moviemakers most notably master moviemaker Billy Wilder. Today we look just at Lubitsch's 1932 pre-code sophisticated sex comedy masterpiece Trouble In Paradise and the examples of his subtle touch therein.
Our second Diana Wynyard Acteurist Oeuvre-view episode brought two real oddball pre-Codes to our attention: Men Must Fight (1933), a hardcore pacifist film that predicts the upcoming world war in certain ways, in which Wynyard more or less reprises her Cavalcade role; and Reunion in Vienna (1933), based on a Robert E. Sherwood play, which could have been the first screwball comedy if Wynyard and John Barrymore had been playing Americans (but then, the movie's entire premise—the psychosexual allure of authoritarianism—would be removed). We make the probably indefensible case (more like an irresponsible opinion) that the latter handles a naughty love triangle in a more interesting way than Lubitsch's Design For Living from the same year. And in Fear and Moviegoing in Toronto, we watch a 65th anniversary screening of Sleeping Beauty, the most visually radical animated Disney film, and discuss whether it lives up to our childhood memories. Time Codes: 0h 00m 25s: Men Must Fight [dir. Edgar Selwyn] 0h 23m 48s: Reunion in Vienna [dir. Sidney Franklin] 0h 45m 10s: Fear & Moviegoing in Toronto – Sleeping Beauty (1959) by Clyde Geronimi +++ * Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's piece on Gangs of New York – “Making America Strange Again” * Check out Dave's Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project! Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at therebuggy@gmail.com We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!
John Schlesinger's Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) is a deeply personal work, presaging New Hollywood while making something neither New Hollywood or the British New Wave would dare. We meet a middle-aged doctor, Daniel, and a 30 something divorced woman, Alex, who are both dating Bob, a young artist who makes them both feel alive even if he's a self-centered jerk most of the time. Like the average non-Lubitsch film about polyamory, this relationship is obviously doomed, but the exploration of Daniel and Alex's emotional journey in their final week with Bob is exquisite. Plus, we get to meet some of the most wonderfully precocious we've ever seen in a Criterion picture.
On Episode 144 of Floating Through Film, we're getting in the spirit of Christmas with two Christmas classics, starting with another excuse to review a Lubitsch film, 1940's The Shop Around the Corner, before getting to 1993's stop-motion classic, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1:10:06). We hope you enjoy! Episode Next Week: 2024 Recap Music: - Intro: from The Shop Around the Corner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY2KqCOBNGY&ab_channel=MovieTitleScreens) - Break: from The Nightmare Before Christmas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxI6xiRvCQ8&list=PL11yx8k7z8j54uCoV3XKe361N0n4eyN3o&index=13&ab_channel=Release-Topic) - Outro: from The Nightmare Before Christmas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX5_Dl-NQLM&list=PL11yx8k7z8j54uCoV3XKe361N0n4eyN3o&index=11&ab_channel=TheCitizensofHalloween-Topic) Hosts: Luke Seay (LB: https://letterboxd.com/seayluke/, Twitter: https://x.com/luke67s) Blake Tourville (LB: https://letterboxd.com/blaketourville/, Twitter: https://x.com/vladethepoker) Dany Joshuva (LB: https://letterboxd.com/djoshuva/, Twitter: https://x.com/grindingthefilm) Podcast Links (Spotify and Apple): https://linktr.ee/floatingthroughfilm Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/floatingfilm/ Email: floatingthroughfilm@gmail.com
Paul Bartel directs this black comedy that's "not Lubitsch—but it's not quite John Waters either", according to Criterion essayist David Ehrenstein. Eating Raoul (1982), is a story of America, of the normally hidden and unpunished violence of wealth accumulation. Or it's a story of America, of two prudish weirdos punishing the people they don't like. Or it's a story of America. the dream of revenge against the managerial class. Or it's none of these things completely, as we get into a discussion this week about just how strong the metaphor in Eating Raoul is. But hey, it's still a pretty fun movie.
We're taking you back to film school this week with a remake of an all time Lubitsch classic that asks an important question: what is the best way to fight back against Nazis, and can we make it funny? Mitch is obviously responsible for this pick. Art by Jade Dickinson: @jadesketches on Instagram | @jadesketches on TikTok Listen to Liam's Weezer podcast here Listen to "Like the Weather," the new EP from Liam's band Guest Room Status Find the show on Instagram Find Corey and Liam on Twitter Find MK Podquest and Strat 2 here Reach us via email: tmaopodcast@gmail.com Music from filmmusic.io "Eighties Action" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
How Would Lubitsch Do It comes to a close with our grand finale. Tim Brayton returns to discuss Cluny Brown and look back on both Ernst Lubitsch's career and the past five seasons of this show. First, we discuss everything Cluny Brown: the film's generosity and humanism, its commentary on British class society, its relationship with the second world war, its full-throated embrace of absurdism, the title character's magnetism, Adam Belinski's status as a revision on a stock villain, and the film's somewhat autobiographical and wonderfully optimistic ending. Second, we close out the show with a look back: we debate our respective rankings (Tim, Devan) of Lubitsch's filmography, highlight our favourite cast members, crew members and collaborators, discuss subsequent filmmakers who bear distinct marks of Lubitsch's influence, discuss whether or not the show's structure accurately reflects the ebbs and flows and our subject's career, and answer the key questions: why Lubitsch? Why a podcast? Edited by Griffin Sheel. A Thanks I started this quixotic project two years ago with the hope of making something that spoke to me and, if anyone else was interested, so be it. Turns out some other people were interested, and if you're reading this now, that's probably you. My endless and sincere thanks for sticking it through. Thanks to the many guests who lent their time and support throughout the show: Lauren Faulkner Rossi, Fran Hoepfner, Bram Ruiter, Luci Marzola, Jaime Rebenal, Maddie Whittle, Paul Cuff, Kristin Thompson, Stefan Droissler, Molly Rasberry, Sarah Shachat, James Penco, Dave Kehr, Julia Sirmons, David Neary, Patrick Keating, Jennifer Fleeger, Katharine Coldiron, Jonathan Mackris, Will Sloan, Lea Jacobs, Tanya Goldman, Krin Gabbard, Jordan Fish, Ray Tintori, Z Behl, Eric Dienstfrey, Scott Eyman, Imogen Sarah Smith, Chris Cassingham, Olympia Kiriakou, Griffin Newman, Kevin Bahr, Whit Stillman, Adrian Martin, Jose Arroyo, Lance St. Laurent, Tim Brayton, William Paul, Dara Jaffe, Gary Jaffe, Peter Labuza, Willa Ross, Eloise Ross, David Cairns, Noah Isenberg, Matt Severson, Mateusz Pacewicz, and Charlotte Garson. Our editors: Griffin Sheel, Gloria Mercer, Willa Ross, Sophia Yoon, Rylee Cronin, Brennen King, & Eden Cote-Foster Our location sound engineer, Anna Citak-Scott. And others who lent valuable counsel and support: the Margaret Herrick Library, the Museum of Modern Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and most of all to Ernst Lubitsch, who taught me more than it could possibly take the sixty-eight episodes of this podcast to describe. This entire experience - hundreds of hours of research, recording, and editing - has been among the great pleasures of my life, and everyone's contributions have meant a great deal to me. Onwards to whatever's next!
[Due to our last-minute addition of two episodes, the podcast feed mistakenly had S5E09a queued here for a few hours this morning - it should now be fixed!] How Would Lubitsch Do It comes to a close with a grand finale. Tim Brayton returns to discuss Cluny Brown and look back on both Ernst Lubitsch's career and the past five seasons of this show. First, we discuss everything Cluny Brown: the film's generosity and humanism, its commentary on British class society, its relationship with the second world war, its full-throated embrace of absurdism, the title character's magnetism, Adam Belinski's status as a revision on a stock villain, and the film's somewhat autobiographical and wonderfully optimistic ending. Second, we close out the show with a look back: we debate our respective rankings (Tim, Devan) of Lubitsch's filmography, highlight our favourite cast members, crew members and collaborators, discuss subsequent filmmakers who bear distinct marks of Lubitsch's influence, discuss whether or not the show's structure accurately reflects the ebbs and flows and our subject's career, and answer the key questions: why Lubitsch? Why a podcast? Edited by Griffin Sheel. A Thanks I started this quixotic project two years ago with the hope of making something that spoke to me and, if anyone else was interested, so be it. Turns out some other people were interested, and if you're reading this now, that's probably you. My endless and sincere thanks for sticking it through. Thanks to the many guests who lent their time and support throughout the show: Lauren Faulkner Rossi, Fran Hoepfner, Bram Ruiter, Luci Marzola, Jaime Rebenal, Maddie Whittle, Paul Cuff, Kristin Thompson, Stefan Droissler, Molly Rasberry, Sarah Shachat, James Penco, Dave Kehr, Julia Sirmons, David Neary, Patrick Keating, Jennifer Fleeger, Katharine Coldiron, Jonathan Mackris, Will Sloan, Lea Jacobs, Tanya Goldman, Krin Gabbard, Jordan Fish, Ray Tintori, Z Behl, Eric Dienstfrey, Scott Eyman, Imogen Sarah Smith, Chris Cassingham, Olympia Kiriakou, Griffin Newman, Kevin Bahr, Whit Stillman, Adrian Martin, Jose Arroyo, Lance St. Laurent, Tim Brayton, William Paul, Dara Jaffe, Gary Jaffe, Peter Labuza, Willa Harlow Ross, Eloise Ross, David Cairns, Noah Isenberg, Matt Severson, Mateusz Pacewicz, and Charlotte Garson. Our editors: Griffin Sheel, Gloria Mercer, Willa Harlow Ross, Sophia Yoon, Rylee Cronin, Brennen King, & Eden Cote-Foster Our location sound engineer, Anna Citak-Scott. And others who lent valuable counsel and support: the Margaret Herrick Library, the Museum of Modern Art, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and most of all to Ernst Lubitsch, who taught me more than it could possibly take the sixty-eight episodes of this podcast to describe. This entire experience - hundreds of hours of research, recording, and editing - has been among the great pleasures of my life, and everyone's contributions have meant a great deal to me. Onwards to whatever's next!
Cahiers du Cinéma deputy editor Charlotte Garson joins us for a wide-ranging discussion that takes a look back at the past five seasons of the podcast and our subject's career: among other things, we cover Lubitsch's treatment of unconventional relationships, feminine sexuality and gender fluidity, his treatment of theatricality, his influence upon the critics of Cahiers and other filmmakers, and more doors. Edited by Griffin Sheel. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: It's the end! The grand finale! Tim Brayton returns to discuss Cluny Brown and to help wrap up the whole show with a look back at everything we've spent the past two years covering. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Ernst Lubitsch (1985) - Cahiers du Cinéma Charlotte's introductions, delivered at the Centre Des Arts Cinema, for: To Be Or Not To Be Ninotchka I Don't Want To Be a Man & The Oyster Princess Charlotte's analysis of Bluebeard's Eighth Wife
Screenwriter Mateusz Pacewicz (Corpus Christi, The Hater) joins us to discuss the films of Lubitsch from a Polish perspective. We coverTo Be Or Not To Be's depiction of Warsaw, the history of Lubitsch's collaborators such as Pola Negri, the dynamics of European immigrants in twentieth-century America, the nature of dark comedy and ‘lightness', the nature of performance, lies, truth, identity, and nationality, and the tall tales of Andrzej Krakowski. David Neary also stops by for an encore discussion of Heaven Can Wait. Edited by Griffin Sheel. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: In our penultimate episode, Cahiers du Cinéma deputy editor Charlotte Garson joins us for a retrospective! WORKS CITED: Ernst Lubitsch in Warsaw - April 26, 1936, Kino no. 17
Matt Severson returns to discuss Wes Anderson and The Grand Budapest Hotel. We discuss Lubitsch's clear influence on the film, Anderson's use of fabulist distancing techniques, common attitudes about Anderson's supposed emotional remoteness, and our own emotional connections to the film. Edited by Eden Cote-Foster. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Screenwriter Mateusz Pacewicz joins us to discuss Ernst from a Polish perspective! WORKS CITED: The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel by Matthew Zoller Seitz Video Essay on The Grand Budapest Hotel by Matthew Zoller Seitz Devan's review of To Be Or Not To Be on Letterboxd
David Cairns returns to discuss the end of Ernst Lubitsch's career and life: a period in which, after a heart attack left him debilitated, he produced a series of films directed by the likes of Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Otto Preminger. We cover Dragonwyck, cinema's foremost depiction of the Dutch patroonship system in what is now upstate New York; A Royal Scandal, a remake of Forbidden Paradise; andThat Lady in Ermine, Lubitsch's final unfinished project later completed to little effect by Otto Preminger. Throughout the episode, we discuss the gap in worldviews between Lubitsch and Preminger, our dream Lubitsch/actor pairings that never came to pass, Billy Wilder's tall tales, Ernst Lubitsch's death, and what comes next. Edited by Brennen King. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: A reading of Freundschaft, Samson Raphaelson's eulogy for Ernst Lubitsch. WORKS CITED: The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger by Chris Fujiwara
Writer and film historian Eloise Ross joins us to discuss noted Lubitsch disciple Otto Preminger and his 1944 noir Laura. We cover Preminger's past and parallels with Lubitsch, the tumultuous story of Laura's production, the film's highly unusual tone, its memorable characters and dialogue, and the majesty of Clifton Webb. Edited by Brennen King We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: David Cairns returns to discuss A Royal Scandal, Dragonwyck, That Lady in Ermine, and the death of Ernst Lubitsch. WORKS CITED: The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger by Chris Fujiwara
Willa Ross returns for a lively discussion about Heaven Can Wait. We cover Lubitsch and Raphaelson's opposing views on the film's unusual protagonist, its counterintuitive structure and elisions, the film's theological implications, argue about whether or not the production code negatively impacted the film, and discuss what happened at Fox in the early 1970s and why it matters for technicolor pictures such as this. Edited by Griffin Sheel. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Writer and film historian Eloise Ross joins us to discuss Otto Preminger and his 1944 noir Laura. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Eloise Ross's Writeup for HEAVEN CAN WAIT in Senses of CInema Heaven Can Wait: The Simple Act of Living by William Paul Robert Harris's “KNIGHTS OF FILM PRESERVATION” Forum Post
Peter Labuza returns for the second of two episodes on To Be Or Not To Be. We discuss the film's production history, the way in which the film both fulfills and frustrates conventions of comedic structure, Lubitsch's specific habits in directing actors, the film's unusual tonal arc, the film's depiction of fascist ideology, and Rudolph Mate's cinematography. Edited by Eden Cote-Foster. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Willa Ross returns to discuss Heaven Can Wait. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Bosley Crowther's Review of TO BE OR NOT TO BE in the New York Times Ernst Lubitsch's Response Independent Stardom: Freelance Women in the Hollywood Studio System by Emily Carman Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris
Returning guest Dara Jaffe and first-time guest Gary Jaffe join us for the first of two episodes on To Be Or Not To Be. In this episode, we cover the interplay between theatre and film, and of improvisation and comedy; the many dimensions of the film's relationship with Jewish identities; the use of empathy and humanism as anti-fascist tools; Lubitsch's self-reflexive approach to diegetic reality; the key character of Greenberg, and Felix Bressart's performance; the history of performances of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice; and the film's influence on contemporary cinema. Recorded at the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, CA by Anna Citak-Scott. Edited by Griffin Sheel. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Peter Labuza returns for the second of two discussions on To Be Or Not To Be. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Production Code Administration notes on To Be Or Not To Be Hollywood's Other Great Anti-Nazi Movie by Thomas Doherty David Kalat's Commentary on the Criterion Edition of To Be Or Not To Be Adrian Martin's Review of To Be Or Not To Be. To Be Or Not To Be (A Jew) by Dorian Stuber and Marianne Tettlebaum
On Episode 124 of Floating Through Film, we're reviewing silent movies from 2 great directors, Ernst Lubitsch and John Ford. We start with Lubitsch's 1919 comedy, The Doll (3:09), before moving two Ford's exciting western, 3 Bad Men (34:19). We hope you enjoy! Episode Next Week: M Night Shyamalan (Trap + Old) Music: - Intro: Early Summer -Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25b5TJFLHwE&ab_channel=danielosky2006 - Outro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU4KojmH3zA&ab_channel=ReedLanger Hosts: Luke Seay (https://letterboxd.com/seayluke/), Blake Tourville (https://letterboxd.com/blaketourville/), and Dany Joshuva (https://letterboxd.com/djoshuva/) Podcast Links (Spotify and Apple): https://linktr.ee/floatingthroughfilm Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/floatingfilm/ Email: floatingthroughfilm@gmail.com
We return from our brief hiatus with our most in-depth episode yet, culled from five hours of discussions recorded over a period of several months with William Paul, author of the essential critical study Ernst Lubitsch's American Comedy. We discuss Paul's friendship with frequent Lubitsch collaborator Samson Raphaelson, Raphaelson's sometimes-harsh retrospective criticism of his own work, the linguistic tics that unite Lubitsch's filmography, their methods of adapting obscure Hungarian plays, Raphaelson's recollections of Alfred Hitchcock's very different working methods, and Suspicion's shocking alternate ending. Later on, we discuss the neuroscientific mechanisms of comedy, the biological purpose of laughter, the relationship of To Be Or Not To Be and the idea of “passing”, and engage in some record-correction as to whether or not the film was as controversial as is widely believed. Edited by Brennen King and Eden Cote-Foster. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Dara and Ryan Jaffe join us for the first of two discussions on To Be Or Not To Be For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Ernst Lubitsch's American Comedy by William Paul
Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/film
Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts
Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies
Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/lgbtq-studies
Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture
Hollywood is haunted by the ghost of playwright and novelist Oscar Wilde. Wilde in the Dream Factory: Decadence and the American Movies (Oxford University Press, 2024) by Dr. Kate Hext is the story of his haunting, told for the first time. Set within the rich evolving context of how the American entertainment industry became cinema, and how cinema become the movies, it reveals how Wilde helped to shape Hollywood in the early twentieth century. It begins with his 1882 American tour, and traces the ongoing popularity of his plays and novel in the early twentieth century, after his ignominious death. Following the early filmmakers, writers and actors as they headed West in the Hollywood boom, it uncovers how and why they took Wilde's spirit with them. There, in Hollywood, in the early days of silent cinema, Wilde's works were adapted. They were also beginning to define a new kind of style -- a 'Wilde-ish spirit', as Ernst Lubitsch called it -- filtering into the imaginations of Lubitsch himself, as well as Alla Nazimova, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein and many others. These were the people who translated Wilde's queer playfulness into the creation of screwball comedies, gangster movies, B-movie horrors, and films noir. Wilde and his style embodied a spirit of rebellion and naughtiness, providing a blue-print for the charismatic cinematic criminal and screwball talk onscreen. Wilde in the Dream Factory revises how we understand both Wilde's afterlife and cinema's beginnings. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/british-studies
Tim Brayton returns to discuss noted Lubitsch fan and disciple Preston Sturges and his 1941 meta-comedy SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS. We cover Sturges' immense admiration of Lubitsch, the film's immensely fascinating but perhaps frustrating relationship with its own status as a satire of its own form, Sturges' political beliefs and moral compass, the value of communal viewings to comedic cinema, and much more. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: We're taking a little break! See you in a few weeks for the last eleven episodes of Season 5, the end of our story. WORKS CITED: Romantic Comedy in Hollywood: From Lubitsch to Sturges and The Lady Eve (The Current) by James Harvey Pursuits of Happiness: A Reading of the lady Eve by Stanley Cavell Fast Talk: Preston Sturges and the Speed of Sound by Joe McElhaney Preston Sturges: Success in the Movies by Manny Farber and W.S. Poster Christmas in July (Review) by Adrian Martin
UW-Madison PHD Candidate Lance St. Laurent joins us to discuss THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING, as well as some comedic theory. We discuss our mutual admiration for elements of this relatively minor divorce-and-remarriage-style comedy, Lubitsch's attempts to tackle psychoanalysis and modern art, and the film's production origins. Additionally, we go deep on comic theory: relief, superiority, and incongruity all have their day, and we discuss the ways in which comedy involves collaboration between an artist and their audience. Lastly, we apply all this to the Tom Green masterpiece FREDDY GOT FINGERED, because that's germane. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Tim Brayton returns to discuss Preston Sturges and THE LADY EVE. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Humour: A Short Introduction by Noel Carroll
This week, we present an episode of the SCREEN GUILD THEATER starring Ernst Lubitsch, Claudette Colbert, and possibly Jack Benny! Originally aired on October 20th, 1940. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Lance St. Laurent joins us to discuss THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING, as well as some comedic theory. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Ernst Lubitsch: The Radio Years (Forum Post) - A list of every Lubitsch-related episode of the Screen Guild Theater.
Critic Adrian Martin joins us for our final episode on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. In our discussion, we deconstruct some of the film's camera direction, discuss Lubitsch's late-period style and his more subtle (yet still very much present) formalism, his structural methodology, his use of repetition, the dynamics between “art” and “craft”, and Lubitsch's continuing influence. We also, at long last, try to define the Lubitsch “touch”. Or maybe not. Edited by Brennen King We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: We present an episode of THE GULF SCREEN GUILD THEATRE starring Ernst Lubitsch, Claudette Colbert, and possibly Jack Benny. WORKS CITED: Game Space and Play Time: A Partial History of American Screen Comedy (Lubitsch, Sturges, Tashlin) by Adrian Martin Adrian Martin's Review of THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER Innuendo by William D. Routt Cinematógrafos - Edgardo Cozarinsky (Buenos Aires: BAFICI, 2010) Acting Ordinary in The Shop Around the Corner - George Tolles
Whit Stillman and Jose Arroyo join us for our second episode on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. Whit discusses Lubitsch's writing process, the ways in which the film is exemplary of the Hollywood studio system at its best, and his admiration for Pirovitch. Jose later joins us for a formal breakdown of the film's final scene. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Film critic Adrian Martin joins us for our final episode on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. WORKS CITED: Whit Stillman: Not So Long Ago Stillman's Writeup on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER for the New York Times Jose Arroyo's Podcast Episode on SHOP and YOU'VE GOT MAIL
Actor and podcaster Griffin Newman joins us to discuss NINOTCHKA! We discuss Lubitsch's stature in Hollywood, Greta Garbo's incredible lead performance, Rouben Mamoulian's musical remake SILK STOCKINGS, the early development of the script, Cary Grant's possible involvement, the film's mechanics as both a romantic comedy and geopolitical satire, the film's relationship with the ideologies of the lead characters, the great Felix Bressart, and the Al Ruddy hagiography otherwise known as ‘THE OFFER'. Edited by Griffin Sheel. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Author Donald Bracket joins us to discuss NINOTCHKA and the film's two writers: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Production Code Administration notes on NINOTCHKA
Film historian and podcast host Dr. Olympia Kiriakou joins us to discuss Lubitsch's sole screwball comedy: BLUEBEARD'S EIGHTH WIFE. We run down the definition of “screwball” through lenses of class, sex, tone, and pace; the impact of the production code on the genre; the uneasy fit between Lubitsch and the genre; the film's terrific meet-cute; the introduction of two upstarts named Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett; and much more! We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify Edited by Sophia Yoon. NEXT WEEK: Podcaster and actor Griffin Newman joins us to discuss NINOTCHKA.. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Becoming Carole Lombard by Olympia Kiriakou The Screwball Story Podcast
Film programmer and curator Chris Cassingham joins us to discuss Lubitsch's ambiguous, cloistered chamber drama ANGEL. We cover Lubitsch's newfound low-key late period style, the withholding nature of both the film's characters and the film itself, interwar politics, the film's deeply-encoded implications, Marlena Dietrich's persona, and our feminist readings of the text. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Film historian Dr. Olympia Kiriakou joins us to discuss BLUEBEARD'S EIGHTH WIFE. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Adrian Martin's review of ANGEL
Film writer and author Imogen Sara Smith joins us to discuss Frank Borzage's DESIRE, produced by Ernst Lubitsch during his tenure as Production Head at Paramount Studios! In this episode, we discuss the state of Lubitsch's career in this time of personal and political upheaval, the state of Hollywood in the Hays Code era, the the careers of Marlene Dietrich and Frank Borzage, the film's relationship with genre, and the code-mandated final beat of the plot. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify Edited by Brennen King NEXT WEEK: Film programmer and curator Chris Cassingham joins us to discuss ANGEL. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: The Motion Picture Production ("Hays") Code [Full Text] Marlene Dietrich: Life and Legend by Steven Bach
It's our final season, and much has changed: Lubitsch is production head of Paramount, though not for long. The Production Code administration is enforcing the Hays code with an iron fist and, much worse, the National Socialist German Workers' Party is ruling Germany with a significantly heavier iron first. Over the course of the next ten years, we'll experience another world war, the height of classical Hollywood, and the death of our show's namesake. To kick things off, renowned author Scott Eyman joins us to discuss his definitive biography of Ernst Lubitsch, Laughter in Paradise, as well as Lubitsch's life and career circa the mid-late 1930s. We cover Eyman's research process, Lubitsch's attitudes towards life and art, his tenure as production head of Paramount, and his working methods with actors. Edited by Sophia Yoon. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Author Imogen Sara Smith joins us to discuss DESIRE. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: Ernst Lubitsch Made the Hollywood Comedy Sublime by Alex Ross What Makes Lubitsch Lubitsch by Farren Smith Nehme Survival Tactics: German Filmmakers in Hollywood by Joe McElhaney
Ep. 235: K.J. Relth-Miller on Berlin Retrospectives: Lubitsch, Helke Sander, Carlos Saura, and more Welcome to The Last Thing I Saw with your host, Nicolas Rapold. For a number of festivals now, I've been fortunate enough to delve into the retrospective selections with programmer K.J. Relth-Miller from the Academy Museum (who also teaches at CalArts). This time we talked about the special Retrospective selections drawn from the Deutsche Kinemathek and films in the Classics section at the Berlinale. We start with Ernst Lubitsch's 1921 silent comedy Kohlhiesel's Daughters, which screened with live musical accompaniment, and then move on to later selections such as The Germans and Their Men (1989, Helke Sander), Herzsprung (1992, Helke Misselwitz), Angels of Iron (1980, Thomas Brasch), and Deprisa, Deprisa (1981, Carlos Saura). Please support the production of this podcast by signing up at: rapold.substack.com Photo by Steve Snodgrass
It's our season finale, and the end of the pre-code era! To celebrate, Tim Brayton returns to discuss THE MERRY WIDOW. We effuse about the film's infectious energy, the many incredible ‘Lubitsch Touch' moments and gestures, discuss Lubitsch's extremely loose adaptation of the Lehar operetta, the French-language version, Edward Everett Horton's greatest role, the film's relationship with love and death, the more “conservative” nature of the film's resolution, and much more! With that, Season 4 of HOW WOULD LUBITSCH DO IT comes to a close, and with it the pre-code era. Oh how we'll miss you, lax Hays office overseers. Thanks to the guests who lent their time and support to this season: Jennifer Fleeger, Katharine Coldiron, Jonathan Mackris, Will Sloan, Matt Severson, Lea Jacobs, Tanya Goldman, Willa Ross, Krin Gabbard, Molly Rasberry, Jordan Fish, Ray Tintori, Z Behl, Eric Dienstfrey and Tim Brayton. Our editors: Gloria Mercer, Griffin Sheel, Sophia Yoon, & Rylee Cronin. Our location sound engineer, Anna Citak-Scott. And others who lent valuable counsel and support: Peter Labuza, Jose Arroyo, the Margaret Herrick Library, Dave Kehr and the Museum of Modern Art, Dara Jaffe and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Patrick Keating, Scott Eyman, Paul Cuff, David Cairns, and all the members of our Discord. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT SEASON: The censor's hammer falls, and Lubitsch's career comes to a close in grand fashion in Season 5. WORKS CITED: MPAA Production Code Administration Records for THE MERRY WIDOW The Merry Widow Blog Entry by Jose Arroyo
Gabor Steingart präsentiert das Pioneer Briefing
Podcasters, filmmakers, and artists Jordan Fish, Ray Tintori, and Z Behl join us to further discuss DESIGN FOR LIVING and disrupt the flow of the podcast much like the film in question disrupts the format of the romantic comedy! We cover the film's structure, production design, relationship with branding and commerce, Gilda's identity as “matron of the arts”a, Lubitsch's camera blocking, draw allusions to, of all films, Robert Altman's THREE WOMEN and David Fincher's THE KILLER. Edited by Griffin Sheel We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Eric Dienstfrey joins us to discuss the sound technology behind THE MERRY WIDOW. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
Molly Rasberry returns to discuss DESIGN FOR LIVING in the first of two episodes devoted to Lubitsch's (in)famous 1933 pre-code romantic comedy! We cover the absolutely scandalous nature of the film's central ménage à trois, the drastic changes made to Noel Coward's source material, the screen presence of the film's three leads, and much more! Edited by Sophia Yoon. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Jordan Fish, Ray Tintori, and Z Behl join us to further discuss DESIGN FOR LIVING. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page. WORKS CITED: MPAA Production Code Notes for DESIGN FOR LIVING courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library. Design for Living: It Takes Three (Criterion Collection Essay) by Kim Morgan Three Square Meals a Day (RogerEbert.com) by Fran Hoepfner Review: Design for Living by Veronica Magdalene
Bram Ruiter returns to discuss the Paramount anthology film IF I HAD A MILLION, and in particular Ernst Lubitsch's contribution THE CLERK. We discuss the struggles inherent to anthology films, compare and contrast the different directorial styles of each of the film's directors, Lubitsch's relative mastery of the poetics of cinema, and what we would do if we had one million 1932 U.S. Dollars. Edited by Sophia Yoon We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Molly Rasberry returns to discuss DESIGN FOR LIVING. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
Author and scholar Krin Gabbard joins us for our third and final episode on TROUBLE IN PARADISE! In this episode, we cover Samson Raphaelson's history with Lubitsch, Samson's mixed feelings on the film itself, the film's ambivalence towards the possible romantic pairings that it might end on, and the dense use of leitmotifs in W. Franke Harling's score. We have a Discord! Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify NEXT WEEK: Bram Ruiter returns to discuss IF I HAD A MILLION and THE CLERK. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
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