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

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David Cairns returns to discuss A Royal Scandal, Dragonwyck, That Lady in Ermine, and the death of Ernst Lubitsch.

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.

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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.

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

Kevin Bahr joins us for the first of our episodes on the greatest Jimmy Stewart-related Christmas movie of them all, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. In this episode, we discuss the film’s unusual structure, ensemble nature, each character’s arc towards self-improvement, capital, our shared admiration of Pepi, the film’s historical context, Samson Raphaelson’s screenplay, and the depths of the film’s darkness as well as the warmth that persists despite said darkness.

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Whit Stillman and Jose Arroyo join us for our second episode on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Author Donald Bracket joins us to discuss NINOTCHKA, and in particular the collaboration between the film’s two writers: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. We cover their tumultuous collaboration from their first films to its sordid ending with the masterpiece SUNSET BOULEVARD, as well as the development of the screenplay for NINOTCHKA.

Edited by Griffin Sheel.

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Kevin Bahr joins us for the first of our episodes on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER.. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

DOUBLE SOLITAIRE: The Films of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder by Donald Brackett

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.

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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.

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!

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Edited by Sophia Yoon.

Podcaster and actor Griffin Newman joins us to discuss NINOTCHKA.. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

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.

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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.

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.

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Edited by Brennen King

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.

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.

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Author Imogen Sara Smith joins us to discuss DESIRE. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

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

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.

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The censor’s hammer falls, and Lubitsch’s career comes to a close in grand fashion in Season 5.

MPAA Production Code Administration Records for THE MERRY WIDOW

The Merry Widow Blog Entry by Jose Arroyo

Eric Dienstfrey joins us to discuss the sound technology behind early talkies, and in particular THE MERRY WIDOW. We cover the ways in which recording and exhibition technology changed and fluctuated throughout the 1930s, the sordid tale of both the innovation and skullduggery engaged in by Electrical Research Products, Inc, the institution of the uniform-but-limiting Academy Mono standard, Jeanette Macdonald’s vocal stylings, and much more!

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Tim Brayton returns to discuss THE MERRY WIDOW in our season finale. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Under the Standard: MGM, AT&T, and the Academy’s Regulation of Power by Eric Dienstfrey

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

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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.

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.

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Willa Ross returns to discuss Heaven Can Wait. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

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

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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

Willa Ross returns to further discuss TROUBLE IN PARADISE! In this episode, fierce debates are had about the film’s position on the spectrum between idealism and cynicism, Lubitsch’s sense of rhythm, the film’s political angles in the context of the great depression, the famous clock scene, the way in which sensory deprivation allows us to participate in the creation of artistic meaning, and much more!

Edited by Rylee Cronin

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Columbia University professor and author Krin Gabbard joins us to discuss yet more TROUBLE IN PARADISE!

MPAA Production Code notes on TROUBLE IN PARADISE. courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library.

Pre-Code Lubitsch (from THE DISSOLVE) by Kim Morgan

In the first of three episodes in on TROUBLE IN PARADISE, Tanya Goldman joins us to discuss two key works in the Gentleman Thief subgenre - the aforementioned TROUBLE IN PARADISE as well as William Dieterle’s JEWEL ROBBERY! We cover the work of William Powell, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, and Miriam Hopkins, the differing ways in which each film deals with morality and ethics in the midst of all the pre-code transgressions, the love language of thievery, and plenty else!

Edited by Griffin Sheel

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Will Ross returns to further discuss TROUBLE IN PARADISE. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Flawless: Kay Francis’ Jewel Heist Comedies in 'Crooked Marquee' by Julia Sirmons

University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Emerita Lea Jacobs joins us for a discussion of film rhythm in the early sound era. We discuss the various ways films can deal with on-set singing and musical numbers, the incredibly complex and constrictive ways in with early sound films were constrained when it came to everything from blocking and camera placement to editing, Mamoulian and Lubitsch’s respective uses of music as rhythmic devices, and the difficulties that audio revisionism engenders.

Throughout this episode, we’ll be referencing various videos that are available at the bottom of these shownotes.

Edited by Gloria Mercer

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Tanya Goldman joins us to discuss TROUBLE IN PARADISE as well as JEWEL ROBBERY. For details as to where to find these films, check out our resources page.

Film Rhythm After Sound by Lea Jacobs

In this very special episode, we visit Matt Severson on-location at the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, California to discuss the glorious pre-code adultery musical ONE HOUR WITH YOU! In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss the film’s monumental horniness, the ways in which Lubitsch & company were allowed to get said horniness past the censors, the musical styles on display, the film’s status as a remake of THE MARRAIGE CIRCLE, the various fourth-wall breaking moments, the rare tinted cut of the film, Hans Dreier’s gorgeous art deco production design, and much more. Oh, that Mitzi!

Edited by Griffin Sheel

Recorded by Anna Citak-Scott at the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, California.

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University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Emerita Lea Jacobs joins us to discuss LOVE ME TONIGHT as well as film rhythm in the early sound era. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Eclipse Series essay on One Hour With You by Michael Koresky

MPAA. Production Code Administration Records for One Hour With You courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library

Film writer and podcaster Will Sloan joins us to discuss THE MAN I KILLED (BROKEN LULLABY), Lubitsch’s heartfelt 1932 pacifist screed and his only straight-ahead drama of the sound era.

We cover the film’s radical interwar politics, its portrayal of grief, the many different performance styles on display, the haunting and twisted ending, national post-WWI guilt, the film’s imperfections (which we love), our fantasy recasting of Philips Holmes, and much more.

Edited by Sophia Yoon.

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Matt Severson returns to discuss ONE HOUR WITH YOU. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

UC Berkeley PHD student Jonathan Mackris joins us to discuss Lubitsch’s 1931 musical THE SMILING LIEUTENANT! In this episode, we cover Maurice Chevalier’s career and charisma, the film’s mildly troubled production, the entrance of the highly consequential Samson Raphaelson to the Lubitsch stable of collaborators, Lubitsch’s increasingly ambitious use of montage, the questionable musical abilities of various lead characters, and much more.

Edited by Rylee Cronin.

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Will Sloan joins us to discuss THE MAN I KILLED (aka BROKEN LULLABY.) For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Eclipse Series essay on The Smiling Lieutenant by Michael Koresky

Billy Wilder’s Explanation of the Lubitsch Touch

Romantic Comedy in Hollywood by James Harvey

Katharine Coldiron, author of Junk Film: Why Bad Movies Matter, joins us to discuss Ernst Lubitsch’s 1930 musical MONTE CARLO. Our wide-ranging conversation covers the evolution of Lubitsch’s formal technique in the early sound era, the film’s extremely naughty lyrical content, and its gentle satire of class and gender roles. In the second half of the episode, we move on to a discussion of “junk movies”: films which, despite a distinct lack of competence on the part of their creators, achieve something of value.

Edited by Sophia Yoon

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Jonathan Mackris joins us to discuss THE SMILING LIEUTENANT. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Eclipse Series Essay on Monte Carlo by Michael Koresky

Junk Film by Katharine Coldiron

Anti-Masterpieces by Will Ross

After Last Season (Film Formally Podcast)

Street Fighter: The Movie (The Hit Factory Podcast feat. Devan Scott)

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.

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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.

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

Ursinus College professor Jennifer Fleeger joins us to discuss THE LOVE PARADE. In this episode, we cover the operetta form, the divergent singing styles of Jeanette Macdonald and Maurice Chevalier, how those styles interact with the recording technology of the time, as well as this film’s fascinating and sometimes uneasy ways of dealing with both class and gender roles.

Edited by Griffin Sheel.

Katharine Coldiron joins us to discuss MONTE CARLO. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

The MPAA Production Come Administration Records for THE LOVE PARADE courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library

Paris and the Musical: The City of Lights on Stage and Screen edited by Olaf Jubin

Eclipse Series: Lubitsch Musicals essay on The Love Parade by Michael Koresky

Pre-Code.com’s list of Essential Pre-Code Hollywood Films

Sound American by Jennifer Fleeger

Mismatched Women: The Siren Song Through the Machine by Jennifer Fleeger

Media Ventriloquism by Jennifer Fleeger

How Would Lubitsch Do It returns for a fourth season! It’s an exciting time for Ernst Lubitsch and, therefore, the podcast: this season, we’ll be covering the years between the introduction of synchronized sound in Hollywood and the establishment of the Production Code Administration in 1934. Ahead of us lie the years of Lubitsch’s greatest influence in Hollywood: by the end of this season, he’ll have gone from a prominent silent film director to being the first (and only!) director to have ever been given the reins of a major Hollywood studio. In between lie many of his greatest and most celebrated works.

Aside from our film-by-film coverage of Lubitsch’s work in this period, this season will feature a number of experts in the field of early sound cinema who have lent their time and knowledge so as to help paint a clearer picture of the evolving state of both technology and artistry in Hollywood cinema throughout this era.

The first of these guests is Patrick Keating, professor of Communication at Trinity University and author of Hollywood Lighting from the Silent Era to Film Noir as well as The Dynamic Frame: Camera Movement in Classical Hollywood, among others. In this episode, Patrick and I discuss the history and ideology of early camera movement: why do directors choose to move, and how do they theorize the motivations behind this movement? We also discuss the dimensions of visible labor behind camera operation, the many differences between dollies, cranes, gimbals, and steadicams, aspect ratio shifts, and the many misconceptions floating around regarding early film camera movement.

Edited by Griffin Sheel.

Ursinus College professor Jennifer Fleeger joins us to discuss THE LOVE PARADE. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Hollywood Lighting from the Silent Era to Film Noir by Patrick Keating

The Dynamic Frame: Camera Movement in Classical Hollywood by Patrick Keating

In our Season 3 finale, returning guest Bram Ruiter joins us to discuss the final film Ernst Lubitsch ever directed that didn’t involved on-set sound recording: ETERNAL LOVE! We discuss the film’s unusual status as a hybrid silent/sound picture, the strange story of how this film was lost and then discovered, John Barrymore’s dipsomaniacal tendencies, and the film’s terrific ending amidst long tangents in which break down how, exactly, one might deign to fix this rickety screenplay.

Edited by Will Ross.

Thanks to the guests who lent their time and support to this season: Peter Labuza, Tim Brayton, Molly Rasberry, Sarah Shachat, James Penco, Will Ross, Dave Kehr, Julia Sirmons, David Neary, David Cairns, and Bram Ruiter.

Our editors, Griffin Sheel, Gloria Mercer, and Will Ross, and our sound recordist, Anna Citak-Scott.

And others who lent valuable counsel and support: William Paul, the MOMA, Jose Arroyo, Matt Severson, the Margaret Herrick Library, Dara Jaffe, Scott Eyman, Patrick Keating, Paul Cuff, and many others.

We have a Discord!

We return on October 31st with Season 4, in which the movies begin to talk! Yes, we’re entering the sound era as well as the height of Lubitsch’s influence in Hollywood!

THE PATRIOT is a lost film. So, returning guest David Cairns joins us to pick up the pieces and discuss the film’s, and Ernst Lubistsc’s, connections to acclaimed studio rebel Josef Von Sternberg! We discuss THE SCARLET EMPRESS, THE LAST COMMAND, DISHONORED, THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN, BLONDE VENUS, SHANGHAI EXPRESS, and Sternberg’s habit of burning every bridge available to him.

Dialogue edit by Griffin Sheel.

Introductory synopsis from the Paramount Press Book for THE PATRIOT as printed in LOST FILMS by Frank Thompson.

Returning guest Bram Ruiter joins us to discuss ETERNAL LOVE. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

FUN IN A CHINESE LAUNDRY by Josef Von Sternberg LOST FILMS by Frank Thompson The Red, Gold, Sunset Sound Libraries at Archive.og

Whitney Museum digital asset manager and restorationist David Neary joins us to discuss THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG. We discuss all things film preservation, including photochemical and digital restoration processes, stochastic film restoration, the dangers and benefits of nitrate film stocks, and the morality of piracy.

Recorded live in New York City by Anna Citak-Scott.

Edited by Griffin Sheel.

This episode is dedicated to Carl Davis (1936–2023).

Returning guest David Cairns joins us to discuss THE PATRIOT and the works of Josef von Sternberg. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

FilmColors - Timeline of Historical Film Colors

The Carl Davis Collection

Photoplay Productions

Julia Sirmons joins us to discuss SO THIS IS PARIS, Lubitsch’s 1926 sex farce and pseudo-remake of THE MERRY JAIL. We cover the ways that Lubitsch treats feminine desire and fantasies, the film’s slightly tenuous connection to its titular location, the kaleidoscopic party scene, Lubitsch’s minimal use of title cards, communication and miscommunication, the politics of truth and secrets, the unconventional cyclical structure of Lubitsch’s comedies, and, most importantly of all, the messy-but-inevitable divorce of Ernst Lubitsch and Warner Brothers Pictures!

Edited by Griffin Sheel.

David Neary joins us to discuss THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Film Formally S1E10: Pre-Code Montage with Peter Labuza

Classic Corner: Design for Living

Legendary critic and Museum of Modern Art film curator Dave Kehr joins us to discuss LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN and the MOMA’s restorations of it and three more of this season’s films*. We discuss all the elements of the restoration process: scans, tinting, scoring, digital trickery, distribution, and even thievery.

To request films such as LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN for theatrical screenings, you can request a loan directly from the MOMA’s Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Center.

*ROSITA (S3E01), THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE (S3E02), and FORBIDDEN PARADISE (S3E04).

Julia Sirmons joins us to discuss SO THIS IS PARIS. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Dave Kehr's essay about LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN for the SF Silent Film Festival.

Returning guest Will Ross joins us to discuss FORBIDDEN PARADISE. We cover Lubitsch’s use of blocking, cutting, and production design for thematic purposes, anachronistic automobiles, slanderous Catharine the Great biopics, the film’s abstract politics, frivolous revolutionaries, the psychological effects of intercutting tints, MOMA’s intensive restoration of the film, and ethics in film preservation.

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Museum of Modern Art film curator Dave Kehr joins us to discuss LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Dave Kehr’s writeup on FORBIDDEN PARADISE. Dave Kehr’s introduction to a screening of FORBIDDEN PARADISE.

James Penco joins us to discuss THREE WOMEN, Lubitsch’s 1924 melodramedy*. We discuss Lubitsch’s use of objects as a proxy for characters, the film’s sometimes-baffling tonal decisions, the preservation state of Lubitsch’s American silents, the wisdom of “Three Women” as a title, and the undeniable talents of Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall.

*To coin a phrase.

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Returning guest Will Ross joins us to discuss FORBIDDEN PARADISE. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Sarah Shachat joins us on-location in New York City to discuss THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE.. We mull over the evolution this film represents in Lubitsch’s tone, the strange pairing of Ernst Lubitsch and the Warner Brothers, the luminous Adolphe Menjou, Lubitsch’s bewilderingly advantageous contractual terms, his filmmaking philosophy circa the mid 1920s, the art of splitting couples up at parties, and, of course, Harry The Cameraman’s unbelievable story about nickels and bodily organs.

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James Penco joins us to discuss THREE WOMEN. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

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.

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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.

Ernst Lubitsch’s American Comedy by William Paul

Margaret "Molly" Rasberry joins us to for a special side episode Charlie Chaplin’s A WOMAN OF PARIS: A DRAMA OF FATE, a key influence on Ernst Lubitsch going forward. We discuss Chaplin’s political leanings, the luminous Adolphe Menjou, the stories of the women who inspired the film, the impact it had on Lubitsch’s career, the evolution of film acting techniques, and the joy in pre-code conduct.

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Sarah Shachat joins us to discuss THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Critic and friend of the show Tim Brayton returns to discuss Lubitsch’s first American silent film, ROSITA. We discuss Lubitsch’s artistic evolution upon leaving Berlin and entering Hollywood, his struggles with Merry Pickford, the film’s recent MOMA restoration, Lubitsch’s newfound mastery of tone, this film’s status as a ‘transitional work’, the typical Hollywood artistic and industrial processes circa 1923, Lubitsch’s career goals, and historical determinism.

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Margaret "Molly" Rasberry joins us to discuss Charlie Chaplin’s A WOMAN OF PARIS. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

We’re back, and Ernst Lubitsch is now in Hollywood!

It’s been an exciting time for the podcast: we’ve traveled around the world or, more specifically, to Los Angeles and New York City, to record the next few seasons. We begin at the Margaret Herrick Library at Beverly Hills, in conversation with Peter Labuza as we discuss the history of early Hollywood, wherein Ernst Lubitsch is about to begin the second phase of his career.

In this episode, we cover the landscape and economics of the studio system circa the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s including studios such as MGM, 20th Century, Universal, Paramount, and RKO, the interplay between capital and labor in this industry, the impact of synchronized sound, the great depression, the Hays code, JEWEL ROBBERY, and much more!

Anna Citak-Scott was our recording engineer for this episode.

Thanks to Matt Severson and the Margaret Herrick Library for letting us record in the Karl Malden room.

We have a Discord!

Critic and friend of the show Tim Brayton returns to discuss Lubitsch’s first American silent film, ROSITA. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Hard, Fast, and Brokerage: Irving H. Levin, the Filmmakers, and the Birth of Conglomerate in Hollywood by Peter Labuza For The Maintenance of the System: Institutional and Cultural Change within the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, 1922-1945 by Paul MacLusky Moticone The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960 by Bordwell, Thompson, and Staiger. Making Cinelandia: American Films and Mexican Film Culture by Laura Isabel Serna An Empire of Their Own by Niel Gabler Film Rhythm after Sound by Lea Jacobs Working in Hollywood by Ronnie Regev YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS: KAY FRANCIS

For our season finale, we’re excited to welcome Munich Film Museum director Stefan Drössler to discuss the (mostly) lost film THE FLAME. Stefan was responsible for the reconstructions of both THE FLAME and THE LOVES OF THE PHARAOH, and shares his insights into all elements of the restoration process: handling and structuring the film elements, creating (or recreating) the soundtracks, and speculative tinting. We also discuss the state of the German and American film industries circa 1923, Lubitsch’s decision to leave for America, his German identity, and the fates of many of Lubitsch’s German collaborators.

Gloria Mercer was our dialogue editor for this episode.

That brings us to the end of Lubitsch’s Berlin period and, thusly, the end of season 2! Join us in July when we return for our third season in which we cover Lubitsch’s American silent period.

FILM HISTORY: THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNEY Vol. 21 No. 3: Ernst Lubitsch and EFA by Stefan Drössler

THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER Trailer

Film academic, Egyptologist, all-around legend Kristin Thompson joins us to discuss THE LOVES OF THE PHARAOH! We cover the ‘Egyptomania’ craze that swept the western world in the early 20th century, the film’s anachronism, the possible historical inspirations for the film’s plot, Lubitsch’s transition to dark studios, the evolution in acting styles, and the influence Weimar cinema had on American films and vice versa.

Griffin Sheel was our dialogue editor for this episode.

Munich Film Museum director Stefan Drössler joins us to discuss THE FLAME.

HERR LUBITSCH GOES TO HOLLYWOOD by Kristin Thompson

Paul Cuff’s Entry on THE LOVES OF THE PHARAOH on his website ‘The Realm of Silence’.

Will Ross and Bram Ruiter rejoin us to discuss Lubitsch’s 1921 Bavarian expressionist comedy epic THE WILDCAT. We wrestle with this exhilarating-yet-difficult work as we consider unmotivated aspect ratio changes, body double swaps, questionable rug-pull endings, Lubitsch’s artistic toolkit, and the film’s ridiculous production design.

Griffin Sheel was our dialogue editor for this episode.

NEXT WEEK:

Legendary film scholar and egyptologist Kristin Thompson joins us to discuss THE LOVES OF THE PHARAOH. 

Surprise! Paul Cuff returns to discuss something completely different: Abel Gance’s 1927 epic NAPOLEON! We discuss our shared love of the film, our first experiences watching it, Abel Gance’s subsequent career, and the history of the film’s restoration.

Gloria Mercer was our dialogue editor for this episode.

Bram Ruiter and Will Ross rejoin us to discuss Lubitsch’s 1921 expressionist comic extravaganza, THE WILDCAT.

A REVOLUTION FOR THE SCREEN: ABEL GANCE’S NAPOLEON by Paul Buff

Paul Cuff’s Commentary on the BFI Napoleon Blu-Ray

NAPOLEON by Kevin Brownlow

Film academic Paul Cuff joins us to discuss ANNA BOLEYN, Lubitsch’s second grand historical biopic about European royalty. We discuss Lubitsch’s career directory, the uses and misuses of Emil Jannings and Henny Porten, Weimar-era production design and lighting, silent film scores, and how this film compares to Lubitsch’s others epics.

Gloria Mercer was our dialogue editor for this episode.

After recording this episode, Paul and I discussed a certain other silent historical epic for long enough to warrant a whole bonus episode. So, we’re taking a break from Lubitsch for a week to talk NAPOLEON VU PAR ABEL GANCE (1927). What a curveball!

Paul’s Entry on THE LOVES OF THE PHARAOH on his website ‘The Realm of Silence’.

Instead of discussing SUMURUN, Devan will discuss the podcast and answer some of your questions.

We’re starting a discord! Check it out here: https://discord.gg/jJFvB5tk

Film academic Paul Cuff joins us to discuss ANNA BOLEYN, Lubitsch’s second grand historical biopic about European royalty.

Film writer and programmer Maddie Whittle joins us to discuss ROMEO AND JULIET IN THE SNOW, Lubitsch’s other 1920 comic riff on William Shakespeare. We discuss shocking adaptational genre shifts, dunking jokes, Lubitsch’s habit of shooting location exteriors in the alps and only the alps, continuity, and the sad preservation status of this film.

Griffin Sheel was our dialogue editor for this episode.

We discuss SUMURUN.

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

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.

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

Filmmaker, critic, and academic David Cairns joins us to discuss KOHLHEISEL’S DAUGHTERS, Lubitsch’s Bavarian comic riff on Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’. We delve into the difficulties of adapting one of the English canon’s most infamously chauvinistic plays, empathizing with 103-year-old art, our confusion over the fact that this film has been so unjustifiably neglected, slipping things past the sensors, Henny Porten’s wonderful performances, Emil Jannings’ lack of sex appeal, Fritz Lang’s flight from the Nazis, and the ways in which this film points (or doesn’t) to Lubitsch’s future tendencies.

Gloria Mercer was our dialogue editor for this episode.

Maddie Whittle joins us to discuss Lubitsch’s other 1920 travesty on a Shakespeare play, ROMEO AND JULIETTE IN THE SNOW!

EUREKA MADAME DUBARRY BLU-RAY LINER NOTES - David Cairns

SHADOWPLAY

Critic and friend of the show Tim Brayton returns to discuss Lubitsch’s lo-fi comic masterpiece THE DOLL. Much enthusiasm for this completely iconoclastic curio of a film is shared as we discuss the nature of artifice, history’s least-convincing fake horses, the mysterious circumstances under which this film’s release was botched, Lubitsch’s not-all-that-scathing satire of organized religion, and unacceptably bad silent film scores.

Griffin Sheel was our dialogue editor for this episode.

Filmmaker, critic, and academic David Cairns joins us to discuss KOHLHEISEL’S DAUGHTERS, Lubitsch’s bizarre Bavarian take on Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’.

Critic Jaime Rebanal joins us to discuss MADAME DUBARRY, Lubitsch’s highly celebrated international breakthrough. What are we to make of it aesthetically circa 2023? How do we interface with 104-year-old blockbusters? Are biopics inherently broken? Who is Emil Subich? We cover all this and more, plus John Ford!

Critic and friend of the show Tim Brayton returns to discuss Lubitsch’s lo-fi comic masterpiece THE DOLL.. For details on where to find this film, check out our resources page.

FROM CALIGARI TO HITLER by Siegfried Kracauer

We’re back, as season two commences! As is now tradition, we start our season with a discussion intended to provide some context. In this episode, film and media historian Luci Marzola and I discuss early Hollywood lighting, the role of cinematographers throughout this era, the consequences of sound, and questions of realism! Our focus is on the development of lighting ideologies and techniques throughout the silent and early sound era in Hollywood, but, as usual, we cover all that and much more!

Critic Jaime Rebanal Lubitsch’s oldest surviving directorial work. For details on where to find this film, check out our resources page.

HOLLYWOOD LIGHTING FROM THE SILENT ERA TO FILM NOIR by Patrick Keating

PAINTING WITH LIGHT by John Alton