It has been said that a man named Ernst Lubitsch invented the modern Hollywood. Who was this man and what does that extravagant statement mean? It was the early thirties, the beginning of the great depression and the beginning of talking pictures. The American public was down and hurting and movies were the cheapest escape and entertainment. But a new type of movie was needed to take advantage of this different kind of film in which characters actually talk to each other. Lubitsch, an immigrant from Germany and a veteran actor and then director in that country’s thriving film industry, virtually single handedly created a new genre to take advantage of sound; the romantic comedy. He adapted movie stories from European literary sources to American taste and created movies that were sophisticated and sexy but above all, entertaining and funny. These films, which came to be called Romantic Comedies, were just the tonic that the public needed to help them momentarily forget their woes. Other filmmakers much admired Lubitsch and soon followed his lead to make films in this new genre; some of the most famous being Frank Capra, Leo McCarey, Howard Hawks, and Preston Sturges.The Romantic Comedy, this Lubitsch invention, has remained a staple of the American film, though today it is hardly recognizable from the great ones that Lubitsch made. One of the prime practitioners of the romantic comedy today is Judd Apatow who has either directed or produced such films as: The 40-year-old Virgin (2005), Knocked Up (2007), Superbad (2007), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), and Pineapple Express (2008). Funny though they are, the humor is of a crass nature and there is none of the subtly or sophistication of Lubitsch films. Nevertheless, they fill the same need for escape that the public needs today during these days of recession and hard times, as the great master Lubitsch provided during the thirties depression.
Apatow’s Romantic Comedies Movie Posters
Assignment 3, Extra Credit #1
1 comment:
I absolutely love Ernst Lubitsch's films. But I'm not sure that your assertion that Lubitsch single-handedly invented the romantic comedy is accurate. Shakespeare wrote romantic comedies (Twelfth Night, As You Like It) and there were actually quite a few silent romantic comedies such as "It" (1927, Clara Bow), "Flirting with Love" (1924), "Za Za" (Gloria Swanson, 1923). Lubitch's brand of comedy is more often referred to as "sophisticated comedy," because of its primary focus on the rich, elegant lives of the elite and privileged.
What is so interesting about Lubitsch's films is that they seem, on the surface, to be superficial and completely removed from the hardships of the times in which they were released. But to look at his films as purely escapist ventures would be a foolish mistake. "Trouble in Paradise," for example, is about a pair of thieves working in a bourgeois world where money is no object. But at the same time, everyone within the film is overly preoccupied with money, how to get it, and what to do with it. The style, narrative, and characters of the film are infused with ironies that highlight, not dismiss, the cultural contexts of the film. "Trouble in Paradise" is a very clever product of its time, at once offering audiences a utopian dream of high society, and demonstrating the emptiness and frivolity of this dream.
Lubitsch's films were sharp, charming, funny, and entertaining social commentaries. I totally agree with you that the modern (or post-modern) romantic comedy has unfortunately traveled very far from the Lubitsch's brilliant touch. It's really too bad.
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