Events | Silent Salon 2018
Los Angeles | July 7, 2018 | 8:00 PM
Summer is upon us and so is “Silent Salon”, our annual silent film event. Bring friends and family, make it a surprise date, or entertain guests from out of town with a true L.A. experience. Enjoy a picnic in our gorgeous, newly landscaped garden, watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean and file into our salon for silent films with Live organ and piano accompaniment.
Following the Silent Film Special of THE ANCIENT LAW (by E.A. Dupont) on June 5th, we will honor Ernst Lubitsch featuring four of his lesser known German comedies.
Ernst Lubitsch arrived in Hollywood in 1922. He was 30 years old. He soon achieved fame for his class comedies, expressing the unspeakable with a twinkle in the eye, clever editing and suggestive dialogue making any and all attempts at censorship impossible.
The German Lubitsch is less widely known, however, his more sweeping comedic effects are well-worth rediscovering. THE OYSTER PRINCESS (1919) already foreshadowed America. One inter-title reads "Das imponiert mir gar nicht" ("I am not impressed") tossing barbs at the country’s nouveau-riches. The slightly earlier I DON’T WANT TO BE A MAN (1918) stuns with a cross-dressing-plot anticipating the "anything goes" atmosphere of the "sin city" of Berlin in the 20s. THE DOLL (1919) comes across like a Punch and Judy Show, rife with paper decor and earthy comedic effects. And last but not least THE MOUNTAIN CAT (1921). The film is a satire on militarism where everything, from the camera to the props go crazy. After Germany’s loss in WW1, this masterful film was no success then, but today it is more enjoyable than ever, also due to the fact, that Pola Negri, who later played Hollywod’s statutory vamp, was able to prove her comedic talent. (Martin Koerber, Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin)
We would like to thank The Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek for their support. “Before the Lubitsch Touch” was curated by Martin Koerber, Head of Audiovisual Heritage - Film of the Deutsche Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen.
June 5: Silent Film Special
July 7: Before the Lubitsch Touch #1
July 28: Before the Lubitsch Touch #2
August 18: Before the Lubitsch Touch #3
July 7: Before the Lubitsch Touch #1
DOUBLE FEATURE
THE OYSTERPRINCESS (Die Austernprinzessin)
(Germany, 1919, 47 min., starring Ossi Oswalda, Harry Liedtke, Victor Janson and Julius Falkenstein)
The tale of an heiress to a fortune, who wants to marry a real-life prince. Her father, eager to please her, sends for Prince Nucki, who, instead of answering the call, sends his friend Josef to check things out.
“This film is characteristic of what would be called later “The Lubitsch Touch” a ritualization of breaches of sexual or social property in an unexpected and absurd way” (A Cinema History)
I DON'T WANT TO BE A MAN (Ich möchte kein Mann sein)
(Germany, 1919, 44 min. starring Ossi Oswalde)
“This film is a sprightly examination of an adventurous young woman posing as a man for a day. Precociously challenging social and sexual status-quo politics that don’t seem all that alien today, it’s a revitalized artifact that functions just as well as a saucy romp.” (Guy Lodge, The Observer, July 2015)
