How Would Lubitsch Do It?

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.
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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.
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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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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

S5E04b - The Shop Around the Corner [1940] with Whit Stillman and Jose Arroyo

Whit Stillman and Jose Arroyo join us for our second episode on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. Whit discusses Lubitsch’s writing process, the ways in which the film is exemplary of the Hollywood studio system at its best, and his admiration for Pirovitch. Jose later joins us for a formal breakdown of the film’s final scene.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Film critic Adrian Martin joins us for our final episode on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER.
WORKS CITED:
Whit Stillman: Not So Long Ago
Stillman's Writeup on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER for the New York Times
Jose Arroyo's Podcast Episode on SHOP and YOU'VE GOT MAIL

S5E04a - The Shop Around the Corner [1940] with Kevin Bahr

Kevin Bahr joins us for the first of our episodes on the greatest Jimmy Stewart-related Christmas movie of them all, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. In this episode, we discuss the film’s unusual structure, ensemble nature, each character’s arc towards self-improvement, capital, our shared admiration of Pepi, the film’s historical context, Samson Raphaelson’s screenplay, and the depths of the film’s darkness as well as the warmth that persists despite said darkness.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Whit Stillman and Jose Arroyo join us for our second episode on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.

S5E03b - Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, & Ninotchka [1939] with Donald Brackett

Author Donald Bracket joins us to discuss NINOTCHKA, and in particular the collaboration between the film’s two writers: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. We cover their tumultuous collaboration from their first films to its sordid ending with the masterpiece SUNSET BOULEVARD, as well as the development of the screenplay for NINOTCHKA.
Edited by Griffin Sheel.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Kevin Bahr joins us for the first of our episodes on THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER.. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
DOUBLE SOLITAIRE: The Films of Charles Brackett and Billy Wilderby Donald Brackett

S5E03a - Ninotchka [1939] with Griffin Newman

Actor and podcaster Griffin Newman joins us to discuss NINOTCHKA! We discuss Lubitsch’s stature in Hollywood, Greta Garbo’s incredible lead performance, Rouben Mamoulian’s musical remake SILK STOCKINGS, the early development of the script, Cary Grant’s possible involvement, the film’s mechanics as both a romantic comedy and geopolitical satire, the film’s relationship with the ideologies of the lead characters, the great Felix Bressart, and the Al Ruddy hagiography otherwise known as ‘THE OFFER’.
Edited by Griffin Sheel.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Author Donald Bracket joins us to discuss NINOTCHKA and the film’s two writers: Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
Production Code Administration notes on NINOTCHKA

S5E02 - Bluebeard's Eighth Wife [1938] with Olympia Kiriakou

Film historian and podcast host Dr. Olympia Kiriakou joins us to discuss Lubitsch’s sole screwball comedy: BLUEBEARD’S EIGHTH WIFE. We run down the definition of “screwball” through lenses of class, sex, tone, and pace; the impact of the production code on the genre; the uneasy fit between Lubitsch and the genre; the film’s terrific meet-cute; the introduction of two upstarts named Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett; and much more!
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Edited by Sophia Yoon.
NEXT WEEK:
Podcaster and actor Griffin Newman joins us to discuss NINOTCHKA.. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
Becoming Carole Lombard by Olympia Kiriakou
The Screwball Story Podcast

S5E01 - Angel [1937] with Chris Cassingham

Film programmer and curator Chris Cassingham joins us to discuss Lubitsch’s ambiguous, cloistered chamber drama ANGEL. We cover Lubitsch’s newfound low-key late period style, the withholding nature of both the film’s characters and the film itself, interwar politics, the film’s deeply-encoded implications, Marlena Dietrich’s persona, and our feminist readings of the text.
We have a Discord!
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
NEXT WEEK:
Film historian Dr. Olympia Kiriakou joins us to discuss BLUEBEARD’S EIGHTH WIFE. For information as to where to find this film, check out our resources page.
WORKS CITED:
Adrian Martin's review of ANGEL