History of World Cinema II: The Films of Ernst Lubitsch

Provides an overview of cinema made around the world between 1930 and 1960, highlighting technical, cultural, political, and economic forces that shaped mid-twentieth-century cinema. We study key film movements and national cinemas towards developing a formal, historical, and theoretical appreciation of a variety of commercial and art film traditions. Specific topics may vary by term/year/instructor. This term's topic: Ernst Lubitsch was: a stage actor in Berlin; a comic actor in early German cinema; Germany's most profitable director in the early 1920s; a director of subtle silent comedies in Hollywood in the later `20s; an innovative director of sound musicals and comedies in the 1930s; head of production for Paramount Pictures; and one of the few directors whose name and likeness were familiar to audiences across America, one famed for what became known as The Lubitsch Touch. The course considers Lubitsch in all these contexts. Charts intersections with collaborators, genre conventions, sexuality and censorship, and studio control. Lubitsch's style depends on performance, so attention will be given to film acting as he came to shape it.