Herr Lubitsch Goes to Hollywood: German and American Film after World War I

221 Pages·2005·3.43 MB·English

by  Kristin Thompson

Ernst Lubitsch, the German film director who left FFIILLMM FFIILLMM
Berlin for Hollywood in 1923, is best remembered for
the famous “Lubitsch touch” in such masterpieces as
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Trouble in Paradise and Ninotchka, featuring Greta E
Garbo. Kristin Thompson’s study focuses on Lubitsch’s CCUULLTTUURREE R CCUULLTTUURREE
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silent films from the years between 1918 and 1927,
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tracing the impact this director had on consolidating IN TRANSITION U IN TRANSITION
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classical Hollywood filmmaking. She gives a new I
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assessment of the stylistic two-way traffic between S
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the American and the German film industries, after
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World War I each other’s strongest rival in Europe.
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By 1919, Lubitsch had emerged as the finest pro- O
ponent of the German studio style: E
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sophisticated, urbane and thorough-
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ly professionalized. He was quick to O

absorb ‘American’ innovations and H
stylistic traits, becoming the unique O
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master of both systems and contrib- L
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Utilizing Lubitsch’s silent films as a
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key to two great national cinemas,

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Thompson's extensively illustrated
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goes beyond an authorial study and S
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Kristin Thompson is an honorary H
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She is the author of Storytelling in Film and Television. S
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ISBN90-5356-708-9
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Herr Lubitsch Goes to Hollywood

Herr Lubitsch Goes to Hollywood
German and American Film after World War I
Kristin Thompson
Amsterdam University Press
Coverphotograph:ErnstLubitschatworkonhisfirstHollywoodfilm,Rosita
(courtesy the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
Cover design: Kok Korpershoek, Amsterdam
Lay-out:japes, Amsterdam
isbn90 5356 709 7(hardcover)
isbn90 5356 708 9(paperback)
nur 674
© Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam,2005
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved
above,nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced,storedinorintroducedintoa
retrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans(electronic,me-
chanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwise)withoutthewrittenpermis-
sion of both the copyright owner and the author of the book.
For Paolo

Contents
Acknowledgements 9
Introduction
Lubitsch: The Filmmakers’ Filmmaker 11
Lubitsch’s Place in Two National Cinemas 12
The Standard Story: Germany Escapes Hollywood’s Influence 14
Chapter One: Lubitsch’s Career
Studying the Conditions of Influence 17
Lubitsch and the German Film Industry 19
Lubitsch’s Reputation in the 1920s 29
Areas of Stylistic Influence 31
Chapter Two: Making the Light Come from the Story: Lighting
Different Lighting Equipment 35
Different Conceptions of Lighting 38
Lubitsch and the German Norm 42
Germany’s Discovery of Three-point Lighting 47
Lubitsch Masters Three-point Lighting in Hollywood 50
Three-point Lighting and Expressionism 52
Chapter Three: Subduing the Cluttered Background: Set Design
Classical Norms of Set Design 53
Lubitsch and German Set Design 57
Herr Lubitsch Goes to Hollywood 63
Lubitsch’s Work with His Hollywood Art Directors 68
Chapter Four: Guiding the Viewer’s Attention: Editing
Lubitsch the Editor 71
Editing in Postwar German Films 74
8 Kristin Thompson
Lubitsch’s Hollywood Films 84
Chapter Five: Peeking at the Players: Acting
The Survival of Pantomimic Acting in Post-War German Cinema 91
Lubitsch’s German Features 93
Lubitsch’s Hollywood Features 98
Chapter Six: Mutual Influences
Equipping for Influence: The Modernization of German Studios 109
German Cinema Goes Hollywood 112
Contemporary Discussions of American-Style Techniques 113
Distinctively German Devices and Their Impact 118
Epilogue: The Lubitsch Touch 127
Notes 133
Filmography 145
Index 149
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:ErnstLubitsch,SilentCinema1916-26.”I
amgratefultoThomasandthestaffofthatconferenceforhavingplantedthe
seedthatled,muchlater,tothisbook.ThepaperthatIpresentedattheircon-
ferencesatinafilefolderformanyyears,duringwhichIhavepursuedother
projects that involved watching German films, including those by Lubitsch
and also about 75 “ordinary” German films (i.e., not German Expressionist,
notKammerspiel,notNeueSachlichkeit).MymainfocusofstudywasGerman
Expressionism, to which movement Lubitsch did not belong. He seemed,
however,tooimportant–andattractive–afiguretoignore.Hisfilmshaveso
farbeenaccordedfarlessclosestudythantheydeserve.Eventually,italsobe-
cameapparentthatLubitschcouldprovideawaytocomparenormativestyles
inAmericanandGermanfilmsofthelastdecadeofthesilentera,forherewas
afilmmakerwho,uniquely,wasamasterofbothnationalstylesandthedirec-
tormosthighlyrespectedbyhiscolleaguesinbothcountries.Mygratitudeto
Thomascontinues,forthisexaminationofLubitschhascomefullcircleandre-
turnedtohisdiligentcareinthefinalpublication.Mythankstohimandtothe
UniversityofAmsterdamPressformakingitpossibletopresentthisanalytical
study with the numerous illustrations that it required.
IamgratefulforthevitalassistanceIreceivedduringmyresearchfromvar-
iouspeopleandinstitutions:KitteVinkeandthestaffoftheDeutschesFilm-
institut-DIF, Frankfurt am Main; Klaus Volkmer of the Münchener Film-
museum; Gabrielle Claes and the staff of the Cinémathèque Royale de
Belgique;PaoloCherchiUsai,CarolineYeager,andthestaffoftheMotionPic-
tureDepartmentoftheInternationalMuseumofPhotographyattheGeorge
Eastman House; Matti Lukkarila, Timo Matoniemi, and the staff of the
SuomenElokuva-Arkisto,Helsinki;thestaffoftheMargaretHerrickLibrary
oftheAcademyofMotionPictureArtsandSciences;andthedevotedorganiz-
ers of La Giornate del Cinema Muto, Pordenone and Sacile, Italy.
ConsiderablethanksareduetoPetervonBaghandMichaelCampiforpro-
vidinginvaluableresearchmaterials.BenBrewster,LeaJacobs,andthefaculty
andstudentsoftheweeklyColloquiummeetingoftheDept.ofCommunica-
tionArtsattheUniversityofWisconsin-Madison,haveovertheyearsoffered