{"product_id":"lubitsch-in-berlin-masters-of-cinema-blu-ray","title":"LUBITSCH IN BERLIN (Masters of Cinema) (Blu-ray)","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"col-md-6 pr-md-5\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBefore he arrived in Hollywood to leave his indelible (and inimitable) mark on timeless comedies like \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eTrouble in Paradise\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Shop Around the Corner\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Ernst Lubitsch created an expansive body of work in Germany that proved to be as varied in its tone as it was sophisticated in its measure of man and woman. This set collects six recently restored works from the silent phase of Lubitsch’s career, and casts new light on the director both as a fully-formed comic master, and as a virtuoso of cinematographic technique.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eIch möchte kein Mann sein: \u003c\/em\u003eOne of the first collaborations between Lubitsch and the exuberant Ossi Oswalda,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eIch möchte kein Mann sein\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e[\u003cem\u003eI Wouldn’t Like to Be a Man\u003c\/em\u003e] is a concise sketch of society life in three acts. When Ossi’s uncle goes away on a business trip, a new guardian steps in to tame the distractable niece. But Ossi finds a way out of the house and into a grand ball… by way of a brazen cross-dressing scheme — and triggers what is perhaps Lubitsch’s most twisted finale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eDie Puppe: \u003c\/em\u003e“Four amusing acts from a toy-chest” — so reads the opening title of the comic masterpiece\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eDie Puppe.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e[\u003cem\u003eThe Doll.\u003c\/em\u003e] adapted by Lubitsch and co-scenarist Hanns Kräly from a libretto by A. M. Wilner (based in turn on a tale from E. T. A. Hoffmann). Ossi Oswalda stars in a double-role as both the mischievous daughter, and automatonic creation, of a wildly coiffed “dollmaker”. When a wealthy baron decides the time has come for his prudish nephew to take a wife, an uproariously ribald plot unwinds into what is perhaps the world’s first-ever sex-doll comedy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eAs\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eDie Austernprinzessin.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e[\u003cem\u003eThe Oyster Princess.\u003c\/em\u003e], Ossi Oswalda makes another turn as a plutocrat’s rambunctious daughter — now the heiress of a global oyster empire, devoting her wiles once again to the service of man-ipulation. A comic high-point in the master’s oeuvre,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eDie Austernprinzessin.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eshowcases the trademarks of the “Lubitsch Touch” and its ten-fingered dexterity, resulting in a film that is simultaneously clever, concise, and risqué.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSumurun: \u003c\/em\u003eBy turns melodramatic and grotesquely comic,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSumurun\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ebrings together performances by star-players Paul Wegener (\u003cem\u003eDer Golem.\u003c\/em\u003e), Pola Negri, Harry Liedtke, and Ernst Lubitsch himself (in the role of an ultra-pathetic hunchbacked minstrel) for this ensemble tale pulled from the milieu of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Arabian Nights\u003c\/em\u003e. Featuring hundreds of extras milling through open-air set-pieces and dusky harem-chambers alike,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eSumurun\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003edemonstrates Lubitsch’s ability to transfigure rote romance into vibrant pageant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eDie Bergkatze: \u003c\/em\u003eSet in one of Lubitsch’s hallmark mythical kingdoms,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eDie Bergkatze\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e[\u003cem\u003eThe Mountain-Lion\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\/\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Wildcat\u003c\/em\u003e] finds Lubitsch in exuberantly expressionistic mode, employing a host of optical masks to create perhaps the most visually audacious comic spectacle of his career. Pola Negri plays the daughter of a band of thieves; seduction of army commander (and audience) ensues. Lubitsch’s personal favourite work of all his German films,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eDie Bergkatze\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003erepresents a peak in both Lubitsch’s silent oeuvre and the silent cinema as a whole.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"col-md-6 pl-md-5 product-features-column\"\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eSPECIAL FEATURES\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cul data-sku=\"EKA70270\" data-display=\"true\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHigh-definition restored transfers of all 6 films\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOriginal German intertitles with optional English subtitles\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRobert Fischer's 2006 feature-length documentary - Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin: From Schönhauser Allee to Hollywood\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eExclusive concertina score for Die Puppe, by Bernard Wrigley\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePLUS: A booklet containing liner notes for all six features by film-writers David Cairns, Anna Thorngate and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"EUREKA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46480022962350,"sku":"EKA70270","price":17.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0583\/4614\/3918\/files\/LUBITSCH-IN-BERLIN-LIME-LIGHT-BD.jpg?v=1751295872","url":"https:\/\/limelightcollection.co.uk\/en-eu\/products\/lubitsch-in-berlin-masters-of-cinema-blu-ray","provider":"Limelight Collection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}