''I Don't Want to Be a Man'' (german: Ich möchte kein Mann sein) is a 1918

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

film directed by

Ernst Lubitsch 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 ...

. It was shot at the

Tempelhof Studios The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial back ...

in Berlin.

Cast

Ossi Oswalda Ossi may refer to: Organizations * Open Source Seed Initiative, dedicated to maintaining access to plant genetic resources * Open Source Software Institute, promoter of open-source software solutions in the US Federal, state and municipal governm ...

as Ossi *

Curt Goetz Curt Goetz (; 17 November 1888 – 12 September 1960), born Kurt Walter Götz, was a Swiss German writer, actor and film director. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant German comedy writers of his time. With his wife Valérie von Marten ...

as Dr. Kersten *

Ferry Sikla Ferry Sikla (born Ferry Sykla; 11 March 1865 – 8 February 1932) was a German stage and film actor. He appeared in more than fifty films from 1914 to 1931. Selected filmography References External links * 1865 births 1932 deaths G ...

as Counsellor Brockmüller *

Margarete Kupfer Margarete Kupfer (born Margarete Kupferschmid; 10 April 1881 – 11 May 1953) was a German actress. Partial filmography * '' The Canned Bride'' (1915) * '' Frau Eva'' (1916) * ''The Queen's Secretary'' (1916) * '' When Four Do the Same'' (1917) ...

as The Governess *

Victor Janson Victor Arthur Eduard Janson ( lv, Viktors Artūrs Eduards Jansons; 25 September 1884 – 29 June 1960) was a German stage and film actor and film director of Latvians, Latvian ethnicity. Selected filmography Actor * ''Your Dearest Enemy'' (1916) ...

Plot

High-spirited young Ossi Oswalda is the bane of her uncle and governess' existence. She insists on playing poker and smoking and talks with strange men on the street. When her uncle leaves to take up a new job, she looks forward to enjoying new freedom. Her hopes are dashed when her new guardian Dr. Kersten proves to be strict and unyielding. Frustrated with her cloistered life, Ossi sneaks out on the town dressed as a young man. She finds that being a man has its own disadvantages when she discovers she is not given the same gentle treatment when she is masquerading as a male. She decides to attend a lavish ball in her new disguise. Soon, Dr. Kersten appears at the ball trying to woo a young lady and Ossi vengefully tries to steal her away from her hated guardian. Eventually, another man attracts the woman's attention, and the disguised Ossi and the doctor reconcile. The two proceed to bond over cigars and champagne. After the ball is over, the pair drunkenly stumble home, exchanging inebriated kisses. After they pass out in a hired cab, the driver mistakenly leaves Ossi at the doctor's house and drops off the doctor at Ossi's home. Upon waking up in strange house, Ossi becomes alarmed and runs home where the doctor has woken up and is trying to sneak out of the house undetected. Still in disguise, she pretends she is visiting her cousin Ossi, and the doctor begs her not to tell his ward about their "adventure". Ossi agrees and goes upstairs where she begins to undress. The doctor comes to wake her and is astonished to see Ossi wearing a man's suit. The tables are turned when Ossi scolds him for his behavior. Giving in to the attraction he feels for her, the doctor kisses her.

DVD releases

The film was released in the US by

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art house films, ...

as part of the boxed set ''Lubitsch in Berlin'' in 2007 with English intertitles. It was released in the UK by Eureka's

Masters of Cinema Masters of Cinema is a line of DVD and Blu-ray releases published through Eureka Entertainment. Because of the uniformly branded and spine-numbered packaging and the standard inclusion of booklets and analysis by recurring film historians, the l ...

series as part of the boxed set ''Lubitsch in Berlin: Fairy-Tales, Melodramas, and Sex Comedies'' in 2010 with German intertitles and English subtitles.

External links

* 1918 films German black-and-white films German silent short films Films directed by Ernst Lubitsch Films of the German Empire 1910s German-language films 1918 comedy films 1918 short films Cross-dressing in film 1910s LGBT-related films UFA GmbH films German comedy short films Silent comedy films 1910s German films {{1910s-short-comedy-film-stub