How Would Lubitsch Do It? – Details, episodes & analysis

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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Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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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Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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.

We have a Discord!

Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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