That rare thing: the perfect film comedy.
"Trouble in Paradise," Ernst Lubitsch's sparkling 1932 comedy, stars Herbert Marshall and an adorable Miriam Hopkins as con artists in love, while Kay Francis plays the woman who comes between them. The film is fast, sexy, effortless and absolutely charming.
People always refer to "the Lubitsch touch" when talking about the famous director's films, and I understand completely what they mean. There's something about his films that's common to all of them but is very hard to describe. It has something to do with tone -- all of his films feel like they're perfectly balanced between humor, sentimentality, pathos and melancholy. They're funny, but none of them feel like insignificant fluff; there's an underlying strain of melancholy running through all of them, yet none of them make the mistake of taking the world too seriously. I don't know what it was that made his films so delightful, but I love it.
Grade: A+
"Trouble in Paradise," Ernst Lubitsch's sparkling 1932 comedy, stars Herbert Marshall and an adorable Miriam Hopkins as con artists in love, while Kay Francis plays the woman who comes between them. The film is fast, sexy, effortless and absolutely charming.
People always refer to "the Lubitsch touch" when talking about the famous director's films, and I understand completely what they mean. There's something about his films that's common to all of them but is very hard to describe. It has something to do with tone -- all of his films feel like they're perfectly balanced between humor, sentimentality, pathos and melancholy. They're funny, but none of them feel like insignificant fluff; there's an underlying strain of melancholy running through all of them, yet none of them make the mistake of taking the world too seriously. I don't know what it was that made his films so delightful, but I love it.
Grade: A+