1922 - THE LOVES OF PHARAOH aka The Wife of the Pharaoh

One of the most important directors in early film history.  Ernest Lubitsch started out in silent films in Germany and made the transition to sound films in the United States until his death from a heart attack.  Lubitisch is chiefly remembered as a director who was good with intimate stories of love and romance.  But for whatever reason, probably just to show he could do it, he made a few epic films.  The Loves of Pharaoh is one of these.

The film stars one of the biggest stars in silent cinema Emil Jannings.  He was big stuff for a while until World War II when he starred in a lot of propaganda films for the Nazis during the war.  This didn't really work out very well for him.  After the war he was finished in the film business due to his association with the Nazi party.

 

Well anyway Jannings plays the Pharaoh of Egypt who happens to fall in love with a slave girl and all hell breaks lose as only it can in one of these larger than life stories.  This story was shot on a massive production level with huge sets and large scale battle scenes.  The film is well staged by Lubitsch who for a man who preferred to make more intimate stories did a very good job on this larger than life story.  The Loves of Pharaoh is certainly worth a look for the production values and battle scenes alone.

The film was written by Norbert Falk and Hanns Kräly.  The film exists on YouTube in a very good copy.  The running time is 100 minutes.

1940 - THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER - excellent Lubitsch romance

A classic romance from Ernest Lubitsch, James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan are employees at a shop in Budapest.  They can't stand each other at work but unbeknownst to them they are secret pen pals carrying on a romance by mail.  That's pretty much the plot of this incredibly charming film.

 

If you are interested in the famous "Lubitsch Touch" it's usually in reference to his sly way of conveying sex on screen during the 1940's.  However Lubitsch was equally good at coaxing fine performances out of his cast.  In this case he managed to keep James Stewart's shtick under control and actually got a warm and affecting performance out of him. The rest of the cast is equally good, Frank Morgan usually remembered as the Wizard from the Wizard of Oz film gives a very touching performance as the owner of the shop.

 The film was made at MGM studios but many critics have pointed out that it has a real European flavor to it.

 

Lubitsch always closely supervised his writers, in this case his long time collaborator Samson Raphaelson. The film runs 99 minutes.  A real winner of a film.