How Would Lubitsch Do It?

S5E08 - Dragonwyck, A Royal Scandal, That Lady In Ermine, and the Death of Ernst Lubitsch with David Cairns

David Cairns returns to discuss the end of Ernst Lubitsch’s career and life: a period in which, after a heart attack left him debilitated, he produced a series of films directed by the likes of Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Otto Preminger. We cover Dragonwyck, cinema’s foremost depiction of the Dutch patroonship system in what is now upstate New York; A Royal Scandal, a remake of Forbidden Paradise; andThat Lady in Ermine, Lubitsch’s final unfinished project later completed to little effect by Otto Preminger.
Throughout the episode, we discuss the gap in worldviews between Lubitsch and Preminger, our dream Lubitsch/actor pairings that never came to pass, Billy Wilder’s tall tales, Ernst Lubitsch’s death, and what comes next.
Edited by Brennen King.
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NEXT WEEK:
A reading of Freundschaft, Samson Raphaelson’s eulogy for Ernst Lubitsch.
WORKS CITED:
The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger by Chris Fujiwara

S5E07.5 - Otto Preminger's Laura [1944] with Eloise Ross

Writer and film historian Eloise Ross joins us to discuss noted Lubitsch disciple Otto Preminger and his 1944 noir Laura. We cover Preminger’s past and parallels with Lubitsch, the tumultuous story of Laura’s production, the film’s highly unusual tone, its memorable characters and dialogue, and the majesty of Clifton Webb.
Edited by Brennen King
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
David Cairns returns to discuss A Royal Scandal, Dragonwyck, That Lady in Ermine, and the death of Ernst Lubitsch.
WORKS CITED:
The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger by Chris Fujiwara

S5E07 - Heaven Can Wait [1943] with Willa Ross

Willa Ross returns for a lively discussion about Heaven Can Wait. We cover Lubitsch and Raphaelson’s opposing views on the film’s unusual protagonist, its counterintuitive structure and elisions, the film’s theological implications, argue about whether or not the production code negatively impacted the film, and discuss what happened at Fox in the early 1970s and why it matters for technicolor pictures such as this.
Edited by Griffin Sheel.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Writer and film historian Eloise Ross joins us to discuss Otto Preminger and his 1944 noir Laura. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
Eloise Ross's Writeup for HEAVEN CAN WAIT in Senses of CInema
Heaven Can Wait: The Simple Act of Living by William Paul
Robert Harris’s “KNIGHTS OF FILM PRESERVATION” Forum Post

S5E06b - To Be Or Not To Be [1942] with Peter Labuza

Peter Labuza returns for the second of two episodes on To Be Or Not To Be. We discuss the film’s production history, the way in which the film both fulfills and frustrates conventions of comedic structure, Lubitsch’s specific habits in directing actors, the film’s unusual tonal arc, the film’s depiction of fascist ideology, and Rudolph Mate’s cinematography.
Edited by Eden Cote-Foster.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Willa Ross returns to discuss Heaven Can Wait. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
Bosley Crowther’s Review of TO BE OR NOT TO BE in the New York Times
Ernst Lubitsch's Response
Independent Stardom: Freelance Women in the Hollywood Studio System by Emily Carman
Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War by Mark Harris

S5E06a - To Be Or Not To Be [1942] with Dara and Gary Jaffe

Returning guest Dara Jaffe and first-time guest Gary Jaffe join us for the first of two episodes on To Be Or Not To Be. In this episode, we cover the interplay between theatre and film, and of improvisation and comedy; the many dimensions of the film’s relationship with Jewish identities; the use of empathy and humanism as anti-fascist tools; Lubitsch’s self-reflexive approach to diegetic reality; the key character of Greenberg, and Felix Bressart’s performance; the history of performances of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice; and the film’s influence on contemporary cinema.
Recorded at the Margaret Herrick Library in Beverly Hills, CA by Anna Citak-Scott.
Edited by Griffin Sheel.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Peter Labuza returns for the second of two discussions on To Be Or Not To Be. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
Production Code Administration notes on To Be Or Not To Be
Hollywood's Other Great Anti-Nazi Movie by Thomas Doherty
David Kalat’s Commentary on the Criterion Edition of To Be Or Not To Be
Adrian Martin’s Review of To Be Or Not To Be.
To Be Or Not To Be (A Jew) by Dorian Stuber and Marianne Tettlebaum

S5E05.75 - Ernst Lubitsch's American Comedy with William Paul

We return from our brief hiatus with our most in-depth episode yet, culled from five hours of discussions recorded over a period of several months with William Paul, author of the essential critical study Ernst Lubitsch’s American Comedy.
We discuss Paul’s friendship with frequent Lubitsch collaborator Samson Raphaelson, Raphaelson’s sometimes-harsh retrospective criticism of his own work, the linguistic tics that unite Lubitsch’s filmography, their methods of adapting obscure Hungarian plays, Raphaelson’s recollections of Alfred Hitchcock's very different working methods, and Suspicion’s shocking alternate ending.
Later on, we discuss the neuroscientific mechanisms of comedy, the biological purpose of laughter, the relationship of To Be Or Not To Be and the idea of “passing”, and engage in some record-correction as to whether or not the film was as controversial as is widely believed.
Edited by Brennen King and Eden Cote-Foster.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Dara and Ryan Jaffe join us for the first of two discussions on To Be Or Not To Be For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
Ernst Lubitsch’s American Comedy by William Paul

S5E05.5 - Preston Sturges and Sullivan’s Travels [1941] with Tim Brayton

Tim Brayton returns to discuss noted Lubitsch fan and disciple Preston Sturges and his 1941 meta-comedy SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS. We cover Sturges’ immense admiration of Lubitsch, the film’s immensely fascinating but perhaps frustrating relationship with its own status as a satire of its own form, Sturges’ political beliefs and moral compass, the value of communal viewings to comedic cinema, and much more.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
We’re taking a little break! See you in a few weeks for the last eleven episodes of Season 5, the end of our story.
WORKS CITED:
Romantic Comedy in Hollywood: From Lubitsch to Sturges and The Lady Eve (The Current) by James Harvey
Pursuits of Happiness: A Reading of the lady Eve by Stanley Cavell
Fast Talk: Preston Sturges and the Speed of Sound by Joe McElhaney
Preston Sturges: Success in the Movies by Manny Farber and W.S. Poster
Christmas in July (Review) by Adrian Martin

S5E05 - That Uncertain Feeling [1941] and Comedic Theory with Lance St. Laurent

UW-Madison PHD Candidate Lance St. Laurent joins us to discuss THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING, as well as some comedic theory. We discuss our mutual admiration for elements of this relatively minor divorce-and-remarriage-style comedy, Lubitsch’s attempts to tackle psychoanalysis and modern art, and the film’s production origins. Additionally, we go deep on comic theory: relief, superiority, and incongruity all have their day, and we discuss the ways in which comedy involves collaboration between an artist and their audience. Lastly, we apply all this to the Tom Green masterpiece FREDDY GOT FINGERED, because that’s germane.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Tim Brayton returns to discuss Preston Sturges and THE LADY EVE. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
Humour: A Short Introduction by Noel Carroll

S5E04.5 - Jack Benny is Not Appearing on This Show [1940]

This week, we present an episode of the SCREEN GUILD THEATER starring Ernst Lubitsch, Claudette Colbert, and possibly Jack Benny!
Originally aired on October 20th, 1940.
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Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Lance St. Laurent joins us to discuss THAT UNCERTAIN FEELING, as well as some comedic theory. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
Ernst Lubitsch: The Radio Years (Forum Post) - A list of every Lubitsch-related episode of the Screen Guild Theater.

S5E04c - The Shop Around the Corner [1940] with Adrian Martin

Critic Adrian Martin joins us for our final episode on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. In our discussion, we deconstruct some of the film’s camera direction, discuss Lubitsch’s late-period style and his more subtle (yet still very much present) formalism, his structural methodology, his use of repetition, the dynamics between “art” and “craft”, and Lubitsch’s continuing influence.
We also, at long last, try to define the Lubitsch “touch”. Or maybe not.
Edited by Brennen King
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
We present an episode of THE GULF SCREEN GUILD THEATRE starring Ernst Lubitsch, Claudette Colbert, and possibly Jack Benny.
WORKS CITED:
Game Space and Play Time: A Partial History of American Screen Comedy (Lubitsch, Sturges, Tashlin) by Adrian Martin
Adrian Martin's Review of THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER
Innuendo by William D. Routt
Cinematógrafos - Edgardo Cozarinsky (Buenos Aires: BAFICI, 2010)
Acting Ordinary in The Shop Around the Corner - George Tolles