Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (1919) :
Brief Review :
A Superb and Hysterical Lubitsch Comedy beyond farce level of its time. The things happened before "Lubitsch Touch" are overwhelming to be frank, while his late works are little underwhelming. When i saw his 30s and 40s comedies i found couple of them overhyped and overstated while some of them were really Classics. But when i begun watching his early works ie. silent films i realised that these films are highly underrated. The Doll (1919) was such a great comedy for its time and is for today's time too and in the same year he made another fantastic comedy- The Oyster Princess. It is a grotesque comedy in 4 acts about an American millionaire's spoiled daughter's marriage that does not go as planned. Like The Doll, this one also has comic Humour created from the mistaken and improbable situations so the atmosphere all around becomes funny, automatically. The film is also noted for intangible use of style and sophistication which was later termed as "The Lubitsch Touch" but believe me this one is better than those 30s Popular comedies. Ossi Oswalda is hilarious and wild in this film and it allows her to be free, nasty yet funny. Julius Falkenstein was very funny too and considering the importance of his role, he's even better than the so called hero of the film. In supporting roles, Victor Janson and Harry Liedtke are just as good as the other two. There is something about Lubitsch many people don't know and those who know it, knows entirely different from each other. I am one of those who loved his farcical treatments but more than that loved his sensible flicks. The Oyster Princess is among those. Although, it is hysterical and completely madcap comedy it makes more sense than his popular comedies of 30s such as 'Trouble In Paradise' (1932) and 'Ninotchka' (1939).
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest
A Superb and Hysterical Lubitsch Comedy beyond farce level of its time. The things happened before "Lubitsch Touch" are overwhelming to be frank, while his late works are little underwhelming. When i saw his 30s and 40s comedies i found couple of them overhyped and overstated while some of them were really Classics. But when i begun watching his early works ie. silent films i realised that these films are highly underrated. The Doll (1919) was such a great comedy for its time and is for today's time too and in the same year he made another fantastic comedy- The Oyster Princess. It is a grotesque comedy in 4 acts about an American millionaire's spoiled daughter's marriage that does not go as planned. Like The Doll, this one also has comic Humour created from the mistaken and improbable situations so the atmosphere all around becomes funny, automatically. The film is also noted for intangible use of style and sophistication which was later termed as "The Lubitsch Touch" but believe me this one is better than those 30s Popular comedies. Ossi Oswalda is hilarious and wild in this film and it allows her to be free, nasty yet funny. Julius Falkenstein was very funny too and considering the importance of his role, he's even better than the so called hero of the film. In supporting roles, Victor Janson and Harry Liedtke are just as good as the other two. There is something about Lubitsch many people don't know and those who know it, knows entirely different from each other. I am one of those who loved his farcical treatments but more than that loved his sensible flicks. The Oyster Princess is among those. Although, it is hysterical and completely madcap comedy it makes more sense than his popular comedies of 30s such as 'Trouble In Paradise' (1932) and 'Ninotchka' (1939).
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest