都說勇者無懼。輕歌劇原是當年已然式微的物事，劉別謙逆流而上一再帶到水銀燈下，竟成為開創荷里活歌舞片的大功臣。第二部司花利亞與珍娜．麥當奴的鑽石組合，重拍已成經典的《迴轉姻緣》。劉別謙原意只充當監製，導演筒假手佐治寇克。開拍不到一周，節奏亂套的毛片沒法通過我們超高班監製的關口，一聲令下劇本重寫影片自己接手重拍，演員與編劇不但沒怨言甚至還皆大歡喜。故事與原作大同小異，形式卻南轅北轍，司花利亞的演繹更傳神抵死，一曲＜美芝＞妙得神魂絕倒。大小配角心思中見豐富血肉，劉別謙與編劇拍檔拉弗遜的化學作用開始顯現。

This oscar-nominated musical remake of The Marriage Circle was originally George Cukor's baby, but Lubitsch took over the helm, resulting in a famous lawsuit. However, Cukor later conceded: "I could never make a Lubitsch film." The scene is transposed from Vienna to Paris, and focus shifted from the unhappily married "philanderess"' schemes to steal her best friend's husband, to revel in the sheer verve and sexual desirability of Chevalier and MacDonald - both to others and to each other. Overlapping lines, recitative song interludes and Chevalier's direct address to the camera invite audience complicity in the characters' transgressions and set the film apart from "all-singing" Hollywood musicals.

Source: 28th HKIFF

In 1861, Countess Angelina, ruler of Bergamo in southeastern Europe, is at a loss when invaded by a Hungarian army. Her lookalike ancestress Francesca, who saved a similar situation 300 years before, comes to life from a portrait to help her descendant. Complicating factor: the newlywed countess feels strangely drawn to the handsome Hungarian invader, Colonel Teglash, who commandeers the castle to give his exhausted soldiers a rest, but later falls in love with the owner of the place.
The film was Lubitsch's first musical project since directing The Merry Widow for MGM in 1934. It proved to be his last film. Eight days after principal photography began, he died of a heart attack, and Otto Preminger, who had completed A Royal Scandal when Lubitsch was forced to withdraw due to illness in 1944, took over the reins. He stipulated sole screen credit should go to Lubitsch "as a mark of respect and admiration for the departed master."

埃及的沙漠里坐落着一处陵墓，据说这里埋葬着一位叫“玛”的皇后，所有见到她的人都会遭受厄运。年轻的画家艾伯特·温德兰执意要去一探究竟，结果发现陵墓里根本没有什么活木乃伊，只有一位也叫“玛”的埃及女孩。几年前她被阿拉伯人杜拉拐至此地，在他的指挥下假扮木乃伊装神弄鬼。玛的遭遇令艾伯特心生爱怜，便将她救出陵墓，一同返回欧洲。而杜拉发誓他会向背叛他的玛复仇……

An independent woman can't choose between the two men she loves so the trio agree to try living together in a platonic friendly relationship.

An unhappily married couple moves to Vienna, where the wife’s married best friend lives, and soon, sparks fly between the wife and the best friend’s husband.

A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.

Amateur plumber Cluny Brown gets sent off by her uncle to work as a servant at an English country estate.

A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.

Very entertaining silent film about cute, lively young Ossi, a tomboy full of a fun-loving spirit, she likes to smoke, drink booze, stick out her tongue, and play poker with her male chums - but her guardian and governess want her to behave like a "proper young lady". Wishing she were "born a boy" she heads to a local men's store and has herself fitted for an evening suit. Soon she's out on the streets in top hat, white tie, and tails, her hair groomed like a boy's, she rides the street car, and goes to a ballroom where she's soon drinking champagne and smoking cigars, flirting with (and even kissing) her own guardian - and he think's she's a fellow!
This film is full of charm and loads of fun, in many ways due to the delightful and well done performance given by Ossi Oswalda, a very likable young actress, totally tops in cute and charming! The DVD of this has a nice looking black and white print and includes an extremely appealing, lively piano score by Neil Brand that is the perfect accompaniment to this film.

1943 film by Ernst Lubitsch

1939 film by Ernst Lubitsch

1916 film by Ernst Lubitsch

While vacationing without her busy British diplomat husband, a married woman falls for another man.

專題另一部默片來自德國的喜劇之王劉別謙，是他應美國傳奇女星瑪麗碧克馥之邀到荷里活執導的首部作品《風流歌女》（1923）。同是曲折的愛情故事，大師靈巧優雅的電影語言及自成一家的「劉別謙筆觸」，令美國觀眾為之傾倒。

American multi-millionaire Michael Brandon marries his eighth wife, Nicole, the daughter of a broke French Marquis. But she doesn't want to be only a number in the line of his ex-wives and undertakes her own strategy to tame him.

Haunted by the memory of Walter Holderlin, a soldier he killed during World War I, French musician Paul Renard (Phillips Holmes) confesses to a priest (Frank Sheridan), who grants him absolution. Using the address on a letter he found on the dead man's body, Paul then travels to Germany to find his family.
As anti-French sentiment continues to permeate Germany, Dr. Holderlin (Lionel Barrymore) initially refuses to welcome Paul into his home, but changes his mind when his son's fiancée Elsa identifies him as the man who has been leaving flowers on Walter's grave. Rather than reveal the real connection between them, Paul tells the Holderlin family he was a friend of their son, who attended the same musical conservatory he did.
Although the hostile townspeople and local gossips disapprove, the Holderlins befriend Paul, who finds himself falling in love with Elsa (Nancy Carroll). When she shows Paul her former fiancé's bedroom, he becomes distraught and tells her the truth. She convinces him not to confess to Walter's parents, who have embraced him as their second son, and Paul agrees to forego easing his conscience and stays with his adopted family. Dr. Holderlin presents Walter's violin to Paul, who plays it while Elsa accompanies him on the piano.
The film's original title, The Man I Killed, was changed to The Fifth Commandment to avoid giving "wrong impressions in the minds of the public about the character of the story." It ultimately was released as Broken Lullaby.

1919 film by Ernst Lubitsch

戲名難免使人聯想到食色「性」也，但慾望的對象？對不起，卻是個男兒。美國蠔業大王有個刁蠻女，一天覺得自己非要嫁人不可，被媒人相中的落難歐洲王子派出心腹試探虛實，蠔女一聲多謝馬上拉去註冊結婚，當晚大排筵席，酒飽飯醉後只差沒半點洞房動機。直至窮王子真人現眼前，慾望傾瀉得一發不可收拾。女性情慾在劉別謙筆下從來都很坦然和直接，蠔女這荷里活女性原型，令後來者亦甘拜下風。揶揄資本家與消費社會的大場面可觀亦抵死，筆觸細膩幽默。劉別謙第二部長片，是他打造品牌之作，驚人的成熟導技令人擊節復感動。

Everything Lubitsch learned about the art of comedy in his German period comes to a grand summation in this saber-sharp satire on the crass materialism of America's nouveau riche, and the pompous airs of the declining European aristocracy. Ossi, daughter of the oyster tycoon (but more like Attila the Hun than an heiress), demands a prince when the Shoe-cream King's daughter lands a count. Prince Nucky is chosen for his title and his debts. But when he sends his bald friend Josef to call on Ossi, he is mistaken for the prince. What follows is the most Gargantuan wedding feast ever filmed, with an assembly of 300 hired waiters and a peevish subversion of gender roles.

Source: 28th HKIFF

1940 film directed by Ernst Lubitsch

一部給低估了的傑作，鑑於前作被指離經叛道，劉別謙改拍童話式故事，拍出令德國人瞠目結舌的格調與清新幽默感，論者認為它比《卡里加里醫生的密室》更應名垂青史（兩片其實是雙生兒，只是主角一個作惡一個行善）。不肯成長的男孩被叔父強迫娶妻，玩具大王借女兒的模樣造出機械公仔，演出一幕騙婚記，但竟弄假成真。幕開只見我們的導演跑出來，用紙板砌出人與物，接着疊現真實畫面。戲演下去，所有場景透視詭異，道具有時索性繪在牆上。全片優美且自由奔放，活像頑童開心炮製的藝術品。值得一看的還有德國默片女星奧茜奧華黛的傳奇身影。

Proceeding The Cabinet of Dr Caligari by one year, this is both vintage early Lubitsch with its sly slapstick and Rabelaisian humour, and the only work that shares the subliminal, hallucinatory style of German expressionism. He exhibits a blinding array of camera effects, like an astounding shot of a dozen images of mouths in one frame. Also ahead of his time is an opening scene with Lubitsch himself constructing a miniature stage contraption that becomes the film set. A Pirandelloesque concept of art and artifice informs the Hoffman-inspired story about a man who purchases a life-sized doll to stand in for a bride. He gets more than he bargained for - the owner's daughter pretending to be doll!

Source: 28th HKIFF