How Would Lubitsch Do It?

In our Season 3 finale, returning guest Bram Ruiter joins us to discuss the final film Ernst Lubitsch ever directed that didn’t involved on-set sound recording: ETERNAL LOVE! We discuss the film’s unusual status as a hybrid silent/sound picture, the strange story of how this film was lost and then discovered, John Barrymore’s dipsomaniacal tendencies, and the film’s terrific ending amidst long tangents in which break down how, exactly, one might deign to fix this rickety screenplay.

Edited by Will Ross.

Thanks to the guests who lent their time and support to this season: Peter Labuza, Tim Brayton, Molly Rasberry, Sarah Shachat, James Penco, Will Ross, Dave Kehr, Julia Sirmons, David Neary, David Cairns, and Bram Ruiter.

Our editors, Griffin Sheel, Gloria Mercer, and Will Ross, and our sound recordist, Anna Citak-Scott.

And others who lent valuable counsel and support: William Paul, the MOMA, Jose Arroyo, Matt Severson, the Margaret Herrick Library, Dara Jaffe, Scott Eyman, Patrick Keating, Paul Cuff, and many others.

We have a Discord!

We return on October 31st with Season 4, in which the movies begin to talk! Yes, we’re entering the sound era as well as the height of Lubitsch’s influence in Hollywood!

THE PATRIOT is a lost film. So, returning guest David Cairns joins us to pick up the pieces and discuss the film’s, and Ernst Lubistsc’s, connections to acclaimed studio rebel Josef Von Sternberg! We discuss THE SCARLET EMPRESS, THE LAST COMMAND, DISHONORED, THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN, BLONDE VENUS, SHANGHAI EXPRESS, and Sternberg’s habit of burning every bridge available to him.

Dialogue edit by Griffin Sheel.

Introductory synopsis from the Paramount Press Book for THE PATRIOT as printed in LOST FILMS by Frank Thompson.

Returning guest Bram Ruiter joins us to discuss ETERNAL LOVE. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

FUN IN A CHINESE LAUNDRY by Josef Von Sternberg

Whitney Museum digital asset manager and restorationist David Neary joins us to discuss THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG. We discuss all things film preservation, including photochemical and digital restoration processes, stochastic film restoration, the dangers and benefits of nitrate film stocks, and the morality of piracy.

Recorded live in New York City by Anna Citak-Scott.

Edited by Griffin Sheel.

This episode is dedicated to Carl Davis (1936–2023).

Returning guest David Cairns joins us to discuss THE PATRIOT and the works of Josef von Sternberg. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

FilmColors - Timeline of Historical Film Colors

The Carl Davis Collection

Photoplay Productions

Julia Sirmons joins us to discuss SO THIS IS PARIS, Lubitsch’s 1926 sex farce and pseudo-remake of THE MERRY JAIL. We cover the ways that Lubitsch treats feminine desire and fantasies, the film’s slightly tenuous connection to its titular location, the kaleidoscopic party scene, Lubitsch’s minimal use of title cards, communication and miscommunication, the politics of truth and secrets, the unconventional cyclical structure of Lubitsch’s comedies, and, most importantly of all, the messy-but-inevitable divorce of Ernst Lubitsch and Warner Brothers Pictures!

Edited by Griffin Sheel.

David Neary joins us to discuss THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Film Formally S1E10: Pre-Code Montage with Peter Labuza

Classic Corner: Design for Living

Legendary critic and Museum of Modern Art film curator Dave Kehr joins us to discuss LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN and the MOMA’s restorations of it and three more of this season’s films*. We discuss all the elements of the restoration process: scans, tinting, scoring, digital trickery, distribution, and even thievery.

To request films such as LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN for theatrical screenings, you can request a loan directly from the MOMA’s Celeste Bartos Film Preservation Center.

*ROSITA (S3E01), THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE (S3E02), and FORBIDDEN PARADISE (S3E04).

Julia Sirmons joins us to discuss SO THIS IS PARIS. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Dave Kehr's essay about LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN for the SF Silent Film Festival.

Returning guest Will Ross joins us to discuss FORBIDDEN PARADISE. We cover Lubitsch’s use of blocking, cutting, and production design for thematic purposes, anachronistic automobiles, slanderous Catharine the Great biopics, the film’s abstract politics, frivolous revolutionaries, the psychological effects of intercutting tints, MOMA’s intensive restoration of the film, and ethics in film preservation.

Come join our Discord!

Museum of Modern Art film curator Dave Kehr joins us to discuss LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Dave Kehr’s writeup on FORBIDDEN PARADISE.

James Penco joins us to discuss THREE WOMEN, Lubitsch’s 1924 melodramedy*. We discuss Lubitsch’s use of objects as a proxy for characters, the film’s sometimes-baffling tonal decisions, the preservation state of Lubitsch’s American silents, the wisdom of “Three Women” as a title, and the undeniable talents of Sissy Spacek and Shelley Duvall.

*To coin a phrase.

Come join our Discord!

Returning guest Will Ross joins us to discuss FORBIDDEN PARADISE. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Sarah Shachat joins us on-location in New York City to discuss THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE.. We mull over the evolution this film represents in Lubitsch’s tone, the strange pairing of Ernst Lubitsch and the Warner Brothers, the luminous Adolphe Menjou, Lubitsch’s bewilderingly advantageous contractual terms, his filmmaking philosophy circa the mid 1920s, the art of splitting couples up at parties, and, of course, Harry The Cameraman’s unbelievable story about nickels and bodily organs.

Come join our Discord!

James Penco joins us to discuss THREE WOMEN. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Margaret "Molly" Rasberry joins us to for a special side episode Charlie Chaplin’s A WOMAN OF PARIS: A DRAMA OF FATE, a key influence on Ernst Lubitsch going forward. We discuss Chaplin’s political leanings, the luminous Adolphe Menjou, the stories of the women who inspired the film, the impact it had on Lubitsch’s career, the evolution of film acting techniques, and the joy in pre-code conduct.

Come join our Discord!

Sarah Shachat joins us to discuss THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

Critic and friend of the show Tim Brayton returns to discuss Lubitsch’s first American silent film, ROSITA. We discuss Lubitsch’s artistic evolution upon leaving Berlin and entering Hollywood, his struggles with Merry Pickford, the film’s recent MOMA restoration, Lubitsch’s newfound mastery of tone, this film’s status as a ‘transitional work’, the typical Hollywood artistic and industrial processes circa 1923, Lubitsch’s career goals, and historical determinism.

Come join our Discord!

Margaret "Molly" Rasberry joins us to discuss Charlie Chaplin’s A WOMAN OF PARIS. For details as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.