Herr Lubitsch Goes to Hollywood

Front matter

Herr Lubitsch

Goes to Hollywood =

Herr Lubitsch Goes to Hollywood

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction Lubitsch: The Filmmakers’ Filmmaker Lubitsch’s Place in Two National Cinemas

The Standard Story: Germany Escapes Hollywood’s Influence

Chapter Four: Guiding the Viewer’s Attention: Editing Lubitsch the Editor Editing in Postwar German Films

71 74

Lubitsch’s Hollywood Films

Chapter Five: Peeking at the Players: Acting The Survival of Pantomimic Acting in Post-War German Cinema Lubitsch’s German Features

Lubitsch’s Hollywood Features

Chapter Six: Mutual Influences Equipping for Influence: The Modernization of German Studios German Cinema Goes Hollywood Contemporary Discussions of American-Style Techniques

Distinctively German Devices and Their Impact Epilogue: The Lubitsch Touch Notes Filmography

Index

91 93 98

109 112 113

Acknowledgements

This book traces its existence back to a wonderful conference hosted at the University of East Anglia in December of 1983 and organized by Thomas Elsaesser: “Space, Frame, Narrative: Ernst Lubitsch, Silent Cinema 1916-26.” I am grateful to Thomas and the staff of that conference for having planted the seed that led, much later, to this book. The paper that I presented at their conference sat in a file folder for many years, during which I have pursued other projects that involved watching German films, including those by Lubitsch and also about 75 “ordinary” German films (i.e., not German Expressionist, not Kammerspiel, not Neue Sachlichkeit). My main focus of study was German Expressionism, to which movement Lubitsch did not belong. He seemed, however, too important - and attractive - a figure to ignore. His films have so far been accorded far less close study than they deserve. Eventually, it also became apparent that Lubitsch could provide a way to compare normative styles in American and German films of the last decade of the silent era, for here was a filmmaker who, uniquely, was a master of both national styles and the director most highly respected by his colleagues in both countries. My gratitude to Thomas continues, for this examination of Lubitsch has come full circle and returned to his diligent care in the final publication. My thanks to him and to the University of Amsterdam Press for making it possible to present this analytical study with the numerous illustrations that it required.

Iam grateful for the vital assistance I received during my research from various people and institutions: Kitte Vinke and the staff of the Deutsches Filminstitut-DIF, Frankfurt am Main; Klaus Volkmer of the Münchener Filmmuseum; Gabrielle Claes and the staff of the Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique; Paolo Cherchi Usai, Caroline Yeager, and the staff of the Motion Picture Department of the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House; Matti Lukkarila, Timo Matoniemi, and the staff of the Suomen Elokuva-Arkisto, Helsinki; the staff of the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and the devoted organizers of La Giornate del Cinema Muto, Pordenone and Sacile, Italy.

Considerable thanks are due to Peter von Bagh and Michael Campi for providing invaluable research materials. Ben Brewster, Lea Jacobs, and the faculty and students of the weekly Colloquium meeting of the Dept. of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, have over the years offered helpful comments on presentations of early versions of these chapters. Jake Black has been of immense assistance in preparing the many illustrations. David Bordwell has shared with me a love of Lubitsch, as he has shared so many other things, for decades. His comments and suggestions have greatly improved this book.