Ernst Lubitsch (; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German-born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane
comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch". Among his best known works are ''
Trouble in Paradise'', ''
Design for Living
''Design for Living'' is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Cowa ...
'', ''
Ninotchka
''Ninotchka'' is a 1939 American romantic comedy film made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch and starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Walter Reisch, based o ...
'', ''
The Shop Around the Corner
''The Shop Around the Corner'' is a 1940 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan. The supporting cast included Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Fe ...
'', ''
To Be or Not to Be To Be or Not to Be may refer to:
* ''To be, or not to be'', the soliloquy from ''Hamlet''.
Films and TV, theatre and books
* ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1942 film), directed by Ernst Lubitsch
* ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1983 film), a remake produced ...
'' and ''
Heaven Can Wait''.
In 1946, he received an
Honorary Academy Award for his distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture.
Early life
Lubitsch was born in 1892 in Berlin, the son of Simon Lubitsch, a tailor, and Anna (née) Lindenstaedt. His family was
Ashkenazi Jew
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
ish; his father was born in
Grodno in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
(now
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
), and his mother was from
Wriezen
Wriezen () is a town in the district Märkisch-Oderland, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 11 km southeast of Bad Freienwalde.
Demography
File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Wriezen.pdf, Development of Population since 1875 within the Curr ...
outside Berlin. He turned his back on his father's tailoring business to enter the theater, and by 1911 was a member of
Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pro ...
's
Deutsches Theater.
Career
Early work, 1913–1921
![Alexander Binder - Ernst Lubitsch um 1920](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Alexander_Binder_-_Ernst_Lubitsch_um_1920.jpg)
In 1913, Lubitsch made his film debut as an actor in ''The Ideal Wife''. He gradually abandoned acting to concentrate on directing. He appeared in approximately 30 films as an actor between 1912 and 1920. His last film appearance as an actor was in the 1920 drama ''
Sumurun'', opposite
Pola Negri
Pola Negri (; born Apolonia Chalupec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femm ...
and
Paul Wegener
Paul Wegener (11 December 1874 – 13 September 1948) was a German actor, writer, and film director known for his pioneering role in German expressionist cinema.
Acting career
At the age of 20, Wegener decided to end his law studies and conce ...
, which he also directed.
In 1918, he made his mark as a serious director with ''
Die Augen der Mumie Ma
''Die Augen der Mumie Ma'' (English: ''The Eyes of the Mummy'' or ''The Eyes of the Mummy Ma'') is a 1918 German silent film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The film stars Pola Negri as Ma, Emil Jannings as Radu, and Harry Liedtke as Wendland. It was ...
'' (''The Eyes of the Mummy''), starring Pola Negri. Lubitsch alternated between escapist comedies and large-scale historical dramas, enjoying great international success with both. His reputation as a grand master of world cinema reached a new peak after the release of his spectacles ''
Madame Du Barry'' (retitled ''Passion'', 1919) and ''
Anna Boleyn
''Anna Boleyn,'' also known as ''Deception'', is a 1920 German historical film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It stars Henny Porten as Anne Boleyn and Emil Jannings as King Henry VIII.
The film was produced by Paul Davidson's Union Film, a ...
'' (''Deception'', 1920). Both of these films found American distributorship by early 1921. They, along with Lubitsch's ''
Carmen'' (released as ''Gypsy Blood'' in the U.S. in 1921) were selected by ''The New York Times'' on its list of the 15 most important movies of 1921.
With glowing reviews under his belt and American money flowing his way, Lubitsch formed his own production company and set to work on the high-budget spectacular ''
The Loves of Pharaoh
''The Loves of Pharaoh'' (german: Das Weib des Pharao, aka ''The Wife of the Pharaoh'') is a 1922 German historical epic film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It starred Emil Jannings.
A complete version of the film had been considered lost for ye ...
'' (1921). Lubitsch sailed to the United States for the first time in December 1921 for what was intended as a lengthy publicity and professional factfinding tour, scheduled to culminate in the February premiere of ''Pharaoh''. However, with World War I still fresh, and with a slew of German "New Wave" releases encroaching on American movie workers' livelihoods, Lubitsch was not gladly received. He cut his trip short after little more than three weeks and returned to Germany. But he had already seen enough of the American film industry to know that its resources far outstripped the spartan German companies.
Hollywood silent films, 1922–1927
![Pola Negri and Ernst Lubitsch on set of Forbidden Paradise](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Pola_Negri_and_Ernst_Lubitsch_on_set_of_Forbidden_Paradise.jpg)
Lubitsch finally left Germany for Hollywood in 1922, contracted as a director by
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
. He directed Pickford in the film ''
Rosita''; the result was a critical and commercial success, but director and star clashed during its filming, and it ended up as the only project that they made together. A free agent after just one American film, Lubitsch was signed to a remarkable three-year, six-picture contract by
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
that guaranteed the director his choice of both cast and crew, and full editing control over the final cut.
Settling in America, Lubitsch established his reputation for sophisticated comedy with such stylish films as ''
The Marriage Circle
''The Marriage Circle'' is a 1924 American silent comedy film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and distributed by Warner Bros. Based on the play ''Only a Dream'' by Lothar Schmidt, the screenplay was written by Paul Bern. The "circle" o ...
'' (1924), ''
Lady Windermere's Fan
''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London.
The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...
'' (1925), and ''
So This Is Paris'' (1926). But his films were only marginally profitable for Warner Brothers, and Lubitsch's contract was eventually dissolved by mutual consent, with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
and
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
buying out the remainder. His first film for MGM, ''
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg
''The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg'', also known as ''The Student Prince'' and ''Old Heidelberg'', is a 1927 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer silent drama film based on the 1901 play '' Old Heidelberg'' by Wilhelm Meyer-Förster. It was directed by Ern ...
'' (1927), was well regarded, but lost money. ''
The Patriot'' (1928), produced by Paramount, earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Directing.
Sound films, 1928–1940
![Ernst Lubitsch and wife](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Ernst_Lubitsch_and_wife.jpg)
Lubitsch seized upon the advent of sound films to direct musicals. With his first sound film, ''
The Love Parade
''The Love Parade'' is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, involving the marital difficulties of Queen Louise of Sylvania (MacDonald) and her consort, C ...
'' (1929), starring
Maurice Chevalier and
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American singer and Actor, actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (''The Love Parade'', ''Love Me Tonight'', ''The Merry Widow (1934 ...
, Lubitsch hit his stride as a maker of worldly musical comedies (and earned himself another
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
nomination). ''
The Love Parade
''The Love Parade'' is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald, involving the marital difficulties of Queen Louise of Sylvania (MacDonald) and her consort, C ...
'' (1929),
''Monte Carlo'' (1930), and ''
The Smiling Lieutenant
''The Smiling Lieutenant'' is a 1931 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch, starring Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert and Miriam Hopkins, and released by Paramount Pictures.
It was written by Samson Raphaelson and ...
'' (1931) were hailed by critics as masterpieces of the newly emerging musical genre. Lubitsch served on the faculty of the University of Southern California for a time.
His next film was a romantic comedy, written with
Samson Raphaelson
Samson Raphaelson (March 30, 1894 – July 16, 1983) was a leading American playwright, screenwriter and fiction writer.
While working as an advertising executive in New York, he wrote a short story based on the early life of Al Jolson, called ' ...
, ''
Trouble in Paradise'' (1932). Later described (approvingly) as "truly amoral" by critic
David Thomson, the cynical comedy was popular both with critics and with audiences. But it was a project that could only have been made before the enforcement of the
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
, and after 1935, ''Trouble in Paradise'' was withdrawn from circulation. It was not seen again until 1968. The film was never available on videocassette and only became available on DVD in 2003.
Writing about Lubitsch's work, critic
Michael Wilmington observed:
Whether with music, as in MGM's opulent ''
The Merry Widow
''The Merry Widow'' (german: Die lustige Witwe, links=no ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt ...
'' (1934) and Paramount's ''
One Hour with You'' (1932), or without, as in ''
Design for Living
''Design for Living'' is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Cowa ...
'' (1933), Lubitsch continued to specialize in comedy. He made only one other dramatic film, the antiwar ''
Broken Lullaby'' (also known as ''The Man I Killed'', 1932).
In 1935, he was appointed
Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
's production manager, thus becoming the only major Hollywood director to run a large studio. Lubitsch subsequently produced his own films and supervised the production of films of other directors. But Lubitsch had trouble delegating authority, which was a problem when he was overseeing sixty different films. He was fired after a year on the job, and returned to full-time moviemaking. In 1936, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
On July 27, 1935, he married British actress Vivian Gaye. They had one daughter, Nicola Anne Patricia Lubitsch, on October 27, 1938. When war was declared in Europe, Vivian Lubitsch and her daughter were staying in London. Vivian sent her baby daughter, accompanied by her nursemaid, Consuela Strohmeier, to Montreal aboard the Donaldson Atlantic Line's , which was sunk by a German submarine on September 3, 1939 with a loss of 118 passengers. The child and the nurse survived.
In 1939, Lubitsch moved to MGM, and directed
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...
in ''
Ninotchka
''Ninotchka'' is a 1939 American romantic comedy film made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer by producer and director Ernst Lubitsch and starring Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas. It was written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Walter Reisch, based o ...
''. Garbo and Lubitsch were friendly and had hoped to work together on a movie for years, but this would be their only project. The film, co-written by
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hol ...
, is a satirical comedy in which the famously serious actress' laughing scene was promoted by studio publicists with the tagline "Garbo Laughs!"
In 1940, he directed ''
The Shop Around the Corner
''The Shop Around the Corner'' is a 1940 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan. The supporting cast included Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Fe ...
'', an artful comedy of cross purposes. The film reunited Lubitsch with his ''Merry Widow'' screenwriter Raphaelson, and starred
James Stewart and
Margaret Sullavan as a pair of bickering co-workers in Budapest, each unaware that the other is their secret romantic correspondent.
David Thomson wrote:
Later films, 1941–1947
Lubitsch next directed ''
That Uncertain Feeling'' (1941), a remake of his 1925 film ''
Kiss Me Again;'' an independent production by Lubitsch with
Sol Lesser
Sol Lesser (February 17, 1890 – September 19, 1980) was an American film producer. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1961.
Biography
In 1913, while living in San F ...
, it was not a commercial success. Lubitsch followed with a film that has become one of his best regarded comedies, ''
To Be or Not to Be To Be or Not to Be may refer to:
* ''To be, or not to be'', the soliloquy from ''Hamlet''.
Films and TV, theatre and books
* ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1942 film), directed by Ernst Lubitsch
* ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1983 film), a remake produced ...
'', a witty, dark and insightful film about a troupe of actors in
Nazi-occupied Poland. He spent the balance of his career at
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
, but a heart condition curtailed his activity, and he spent much of his time in supervisory capacities. His next picture was ''
Heaven Can Wait'' (1943), his first color film and another Raphaelson collaboration.
The film is about Henry Van Cleve (played by
Don Ameche
Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...
), who presents himself at the gates of Hell to recount his life and the women he has known from his mother onward, concentrating on his happy but sometimes difficult 25 years of marriage to Martha (
Gene Tierney
Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the ...
).
After ''Heaven Can Wait'', Lubitsch began work on ''
A Royal Scandal'' (1945), a remake of his silent film ''
Forbidden Paradise''.
Edwin Justus Mayer
Edwin Justus Mayer (November 8, 1896 – September 11, 1960) was an American screenwriter. He wrote or co-wrote the screenplays for 47 films between 1927 and 1958.
Edwin Justus Mayer worked on many screenplays but he is remembered now for ...
wrote the screenplay for ''A Royal Scandal'' and had worked with Lubitsch on ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1942). ''A Royal Scandal's'' pre-production and rehearsals were completed under Lubitsch, the original director of this film. He became ill during shooting, so Lubitsch hired
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor.
He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...
to finish the film. After ''A Royal Scandal'', Lubitsch regained his health, and directed ''
Cluny Brown
''Cluny Brown'' is a 1946 American romantic comedy made by Twentieth Century-Fox, directed and produced by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay was written by Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Reinhardt based on the 1944 novel by Margery Sharp. The mu ...
'' (1946), with
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...
and
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...
.
In March 1947, Lubitsch was awarded a
Special Academy Award for his "25-year contribution to motion pictures". Presenter
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy (; October 15, 1900 – September 13, 1987) was an American film director and producer. In his youth he played juvenile roles in vaudeville and silent film comedies.
During the 1930s, LeRoy was one of the two great practitioners of ...
, calling Lubitsch "a master of innuendo", described some of his attributes as a filmmaker: "He had an adult mind and a hatred of saying things the obvious way." Lubitsch was the subject of several interviews at that time, and consistently cited ''The Shop Around the Corner'' as his favorite of his films. Considering his overall career, he mused "I made sometimes pictures which were not up to my standard, but then it can only be said about a mediocrity that all his works live up to his standard."
Death
Lubitsch died of a heart attack on November 30, 1947, in Hollywood at the age of 55. His last film, ''
That Lady in Ermine
''That Lady in Ermine'' is a 1948 American Technicolor musical film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay by Samson Raphaelson is based on the 1919 operetta ''Die Frau im Hermelin'' by Rudolph Schanzer and Ernst Welisch.
Although Lubitsc ...
'' with
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth Grable (December 18, 1916 – July 2, 1973) was an American actress, pin-up girl, dancer, model, and singer.
Her 42 films during the 1930s and 1940s grossed more than $100 million; for 10 consecutive years (1942–1951) she reign ...
, was completed by
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor.
He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...
and released posthumously in 1948.
When leaving Lubitsch's funeral,
William Wyler
William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), ''The Best Years of ...
said "No more Lubitsch."
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hol ...
responded "Worse than that. No more Lubitsch pictures."
Lubitsch is interred at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park. On February 8, 1960, Lubitsch received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
for his contributions to the motion pictures industry, at 7040 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.
Lubitsch touch
Biographer Scott Eyman attempted to characterize the famed "Lubitsch touch":
Career assessment and legacy
In 1946, he received an
Honorary Academy Award for his distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture. He was nominated three times for
Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to:
Film awards
* AACTA Award for Best Direction
* Academy Award for Best Director
* BA ...
.
The Ernst-Lubitsch-Prize, a German Comedy prize, was established in 1958 in an effort of Billy Wilder to keep the memory of his friend alive.
Filmography
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
External links
*
*
The Cinema of Ernst LubitschVirtual History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubitsch, Ernst
1892 births
1947 deaths
Male actors from Berlin
American Ashkenazi Jews
German emigrants to the United States
Academy Honorary Award recipients
Film people from Berlin
German people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
USC School of Cinematic Arts faculty
German male film actors
German male silent film actors
American film directors
American male screenwriters
American film producers
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
20th-century German male actors
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters