Événement

SILENT SALON : Picnic and Silent Film with Live Organ

Ernst Lubitsch arrived in Hollywood in 1922. He was 30 years old. He soon achieved fame for his class comedies, expressing the unspeakable with a twinkle in the eye, clever editing and suggestiv dialogue making any and all attempts of censorship impossible.
The German Lubitsch is less widely known, however, his more sweeping comedic effects are well worth rediscovering
THE OYSTER PRINCESS (1919) already foreshadowed America. One inter-title reads Das imponiert mir gar nicht (I am not impressed) tossing barbs at the countrys nouveau-riches. The slightly earlier I DONT WANT TO BE A MAN (1918) stuns with a cross-dressing-plot anticipating the anything goes atmosphere of the sin city Berlin in the 20s. THE DOLL (1919) comes across like a Punch and Judy Show, rife with paper decor and earthy comedic effects. And last but not least THE MOUNTAIN CAT (1921). The film is a satire on militarism where everything, from the camera to the props go crazy. After Germanys loss in WW1, this masterful film was no success then, but today it is more enjoyable than ever, also due to the fact, that Pola Negri, who later played Hollywods statutory vamp , was able to prove her comedic talent. (Martin Koerber, Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin)

Saturday, July 7 @ 8:00 p.m
BEFORE THE LUBITSCH TOUCH
DOUBLE FEATURE

THE OYSTERPRINCESS (Die Austernprinzessin)
(Germany, 1919, 47 min., starring Ossi Oswalda, Harry Liedtke, Victor Janson and Julius Falkenstein)
The tale of an heiress to a fortune, who wants to marry a real-life prince. Her father, eager to please her, sends for Prince Nucki, who, instead of answering the call, sends his friend Josef to check things out.
This film is characteristic of what would be called later The Lubitsch Touch a ritualization of breaches of sexual or social property in an unexpected and absurd way (A Cinema History)

I DON'T WANT TO BE A MAN (Ich möchte kein Mann sein)
(Germany, 1919, 44 min starring Ossi Oswalde)
This film is a sprightly examination of an adventurous young woman posing as a man for a day. Precociously challenging social and sexual status-quo politics that dont seem all that alien today, its a revitalized artifact that functions just as well as a saucy romp. (Guy Lodge, The Observer, July 2015)