"The Merry Jail" is a primitive German farce from Ernst Lubitsch and a far cry from the director's sophisticated romantic comedies he later made in Hollywood, or even his later German features. Interestingly, however, the director would return to the same and similar material when adapting some of his earliest more sophisticated pictures in America, namely the very first such film, "The Marriage Circle" (1924), its remake "One Hour with You" (1932) and, in particular, "So This is Paris" (1926). All base their humor around flirting with marital infidelity and in the case of "The Merry Jail" and "So This is Paris," at least, around masquerade and mistaken identity, which was also a common theme in the rest of Lubitsch's German oeuvre, as well as part of some of the American pictures.
While credited as as adaptation of the Johann Strauss operetta "Die Fledermaus" ("The Bat," which refers to a costume worn in it) and released in Germany during the Great War, "The Merry Jail," which takes its title from the third act of the Strauss operetta, may have its origins traced back to France, one of the nations, of course, that Germany was at war with at that time. As Ben Brewster ("The Circle: Lubitsch and the Theatrical Farce Tradition," from "Film History") has detailed, "Die Fledermaus" was a German adaptation reset in Vienna, where it premiered, of the French play "La Réveillon" (the title referring to the French-style New Year's Eve party), which was set and opened in Paris, and which would later be credited as the source for Lubitsch and scriptwriter Hanns Kräly's 1926 adaptation "So This is Paris." While Brewster claims that "So This is Paris" more closely follows the plot of "Die Fledermaus," he suggests that it may've cited the Parisian play to either avoid rights issues or comparisons to "The Merry Jail," and 1917 surely wasn't an opportune time for a German film to credit the French even if Lubitsch were aware at the time of its Parisian origins. For the 1926 production, however, Paris was a convenient location to suggest sexual promiscuity, even though the place has no real relevance to the film's narrative. "One Hour with You" would later exploit Paris for the same purpose, whereas "The Marriage Circle" resorted to a title card in an attempt to justify its Viennese setting, claiming it "still the city of laughter and light romance." Yet, regardless of the locale, Lubitsch was bound to bring his own Berliner sensibilities to whatever production.
Although "The Marriage Circle" and "One Hour with You" are based on another play, which as Brewster points out, was a comedy-drama, rather than a farce like "La Réveillon," and concerned with the fallen woman problem (similar to Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan," which Lubitsch also adapted in 1925), they share similarities with "The Merry Jail" and "So This is Paris." All feature circular re-couplings surrounding a central married couple who reunite and, in general, as in the somewhat similar endings of this film and "The Marriage Circle," avoid moralizing the subject. "The Marriage Circle" even features a scene where the wife mistakes the other man for her husband, which is kind of a reversal of the masquerade of the wife in disguise to lure back her husband in this film and in "So This is Paris." In any event, dramatic irony based on characters' misconceptions is a device employed in all four films, as well as in other Lubitsch works. Unlike "So This is Paris," "The Marriage Circle" and "One Hour with You" also feature a similar cab scene to the one here, although in those films the characters share the ride, whereas here the driver leaves during the two's prolonged dispute. Additionally, the name Mizi, the maid in this one, is similar to the Mizzie/Mitzi name of the other woman in the other two films. I don't think there is a character with such a name in "So This is Paris," though. The final acts of the 1926 semi-remake, however, are quite similar to "The Merry Jail," as they also involve an arrest of the wrong man, due to the man's attempts to woo the other man's wife, while the husband goes to a ball and gets drunk, instead. And, again, the wife discovers where her husband is and wears a mask, tricking him into having an affair with his own wife. All of the films feature parties, too.
Lubitsch's sensibilities weren't as refined in 1917 as they later would be, and that's especially evident in the broad gesticulation and general mugging of the actors here. There's also quite a bit of positioning for them to appear in a frontal position before the generally-immobile camera. On the other hand, they do look as though they were having a good time, including future-Oscar-winner Emil Jannings as a drunk prison guard, with a fake mustache that makes him look like a Keystone Kop and who seems to rather enjoy kissing other men. The rest of the production is dated and theatrical, including title cards declaring the three-act structure, and even with the "opening up" of the play, it still mostly takes place within three interiors, although the extensive crosscutting helps to alleviate the staginess. A couple exceptions are the scene in the hat store, where the wife sees the other man, first, through his reflection in a mirror and, then, through a window; and the comical series of reverse-angle shots for when they argue over the taxi ride. The latter effect would be too showy for Lubitsch's later style, but the importance of looks, as in the former example, would become dominant, especially in the director's best silent films, such as "The Marriage Circle," "Lady Windermere's Fan" and "So This is Paris."
While credited as as adaptation of the Johann Strauss operetta "Die Fledermaus" ("The Bat," which refers to a costume worn in it) and released in Germany during the Great War, "The Merry Jail," which takes its title from the third act of the Strauss operetta, may have its origins traced back to France, one of the nations, of course, that Germany was at war with at that time. As Ben Brewster ("The Circle: Lubitsch and the Theatrical Farce Tradition," from "Film History") has detailed, "Die Fledermaus" was a German adaptation reset in Vienna, where it premiered, of the French play "La Réveillon" (the title referring to the French-style New Year's Eve party), which was set and opened in Paris, and which would later be credited as the source for Lubitsch and scriptwriter Hanns Kräly's 1926 adaptation "So This is Paris." While Brewster claims that "So This is Paris" more closely follows the plot of "Die Fledermaus," he suggests that it may've cited the Parisian play to either avoid rights issues or comparisons to "The Merry Jail," and 1917 surely wasn't an opportune time for a German film to credit the French even if Lubitsch were aware at the time of its Parisian origins. For the 1926 production, however, Paris was a convenient location to suggest sexual promiscuity, even though the place has no real relevance to the film's narrative. "One Hour with You" would later exploit Paris for the same purpose, whereas "The Marriage Circle" resorted to a title card in an attempt to justify its Viennese setting, claiming it "still the city of laughter and light romance." Yet, regardless of the locale, Lubitsch was bound to bring his own Berliner sensibilities to whatever production.
Although "The Marriage Circle" and "One Hour with You" are based on another play, which as Brewster points out, was a comedy-drama, rather than a farce like "La Réveillon," and concerned with the fallen woman problem (similar to Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan," which Lubitsch also adapted in 1925), they share similarities with "The Merry Jail" and "So This is Paris." All feature circular re-couplings surrounding a central married couple who reunite and, in general, as in the somewhat similar endings of this film and "The Marriage Circle," avoid moralizing the subject. "The Marriage Circle" even features a scene where the wife mistakes the other man for her husband, which is kind of a reversal of the masquerade of the wife in disguise to lure back her husband in this film and in "So This is Paris." In any event, dramatic irony based on characters' misconceptions is a device employed in all four films, as well as in other Lubitsch works. Unlike "So This is Paris," "The Marriage Circle" and "One Hour with You" also feature a similar cab scene to the one here, although in those films the characters share the ride, whereas here the driver leaves during the two's prolonged dispute. Additionally, the name Mizi, the maid in this one, is similar to the Mizzie/Mitzi name of the other woman in the other two films. I don't think there is a character with such a name in "So This is Paris," though. The final acts of the 1926 semi-remake, however, are quite similar to "The Merry Jail," as they also involve an arrest of the wrong man, due to the man's attempts to woo the other man's wife, while the husband goes to a ball and gets drunk, instead. And, again, the wife discovers where her husband is and wears a mask, tricking him into having an affair with his own wife. All of the films feature parties, too.
Lubitsch's sensibilities weren't as refined in 1917 as they later would be, and that's especially evident in the broad gesticulation and general mugging of the actors here. There's also quite a bit of positioning for them to appear in a frontal position before the generally-immobile camera. On the other hand, they do look as though they were having a good time, including future-Oscar-winner Emil Jannings as a drunk prison guard, with a fake mustache that makes him look like a Keystone Kop and who seems to rather enjoy kissing other men. The rest of the production is dated and theatrical, including title cards declaring the three-act structure, and even with the "opening up" of the play, it still mostly takes place within three interiors, although the extensive crosscutting helps to alleviate the staginess. A couple exceptions are the scene in the hat store, where the wife sees the other man, first, through his reflection in a mirror and, then, through a window; and the comical series of reverse-angle shots for when they argue over the taxi ride. The latter effect would be too showy for Lubitsch's later style, but the importance of looks, as in the former example, would become dominant, especially in the director's best silent films, such as "The Marriage Circle," "Lady Windermere's Fan" and "So This is Paris."