Ich möchte kein Mann sein

Ossi, the teenage daughter of a wealthy Berliner, likes playing poker, smoking and drinking. Her guardian is not amused; he swears he will teach her mores. Ossi gets the chance to buy a dress coat and formal mens' clothing for herself, cross dresses and goes off on a spree: it has to be the Mäusepalast, a pleasure hall where the champaign flows. Here she meets her guardian, and things get interesting. This outing by Lubitsch and Ossi Oswalda is considerably better than 'The Oyster Princess', which I watched a while ago. It was clearly intended to help the audiences forget the war that was still raging in the summer of 1918. The film depicts a peaceful, wealthy world, with food plentiful and young men in abundance (and without war injuries), a world where pre-war life has returned, including well dressed people on the underground and motorcars and hackneys on the streets. The acting is actually good. Ossi Oswalda fits the role to perfection, and her guardian (Curt Goetz) does likewise very well. The picture has wit and tempo and is surprisingly open about homosexuality - surprisingly because I did not expect this of a film made in imperial Germany (the censors banned it for underage audiences, though). Contemporay critics were rapturous, and newspapers reported gales of laughter. I managed to stay calm while watching it, but still, it is a good film.

Four of the earliest romantic comedies from Ernest Lubitsch that are available, "The Merry Jail" (1917), "The Oyster Princess", "The Doll" (both 1919) and this film, "I Don't Want to Be a Man", all base much of their humor around situations of mistaken identity. A character masquerades as someone else and absurdity and amusement ensue; in this case, our tomboy protagonist dresses and pretends to be a man for a day of drinking. Lengthy analysis could and probably has been written about the homosexual overtones of the scenes of the male lead repeatedly kissing and touching a woman he believes to be and appears to be a man.

Lubitsch's style was already fairly polished by this time, which is especially evident in the nice 35mm transfers of these films available on home video. The up and down camera movements for seasickness stand out as the most gimmicky technique. What I especially appreciate here, however, is some good comedic visual timing with amusing title cards. For example, in one scene, an intertitle states, "The poor child will be so miserable", which is followed by a shot of the "poor child" dancing zestfully. Overall, even if these early comedies by Lubitsch aren't exceptionally funny and their humor often broad, they're short and well paced; generally, I find them more enjoyable than his ponderous, early dramatic, costume spectacles with Pola Negri.

A tomboy disguises herself as one of the boys, but finds that life as a man has its own difficulties.

First of all, was this film made in 1918 or 1920? IMDb says 1918 and the Kino DVD says 1920. I tend to think Kino should be more knowledgeable on this particular title, but I find it hard to doubt IMDb... not that it makes a big difference, but to put it in context of the formative years of cinema, it seems that a more precise date would help.

But anyway, this is quite the ground-breaker, having a woman dress as a man and live as one for a day. Countless films have used this formula since... was this the first? Always an interesting concept, because it seems that most women could not pass as men (or most men as women)... and yet, here, despite a feminine touch there was a generally manly appearance presented.

Frau Ossi ( Frau Ossi Oswalda ) is a good example of how modern were the Teutonic frauleins at the beginning of the last century; youngsters ahead of their time who influenced future generations of women to forget old habits and behaviours. The girlies of today should be being thankful to those old but modern German frauleins, certainly.

For example, Frau Ossi, a bourgeois fraulein, likes very much to play cards and drink with the servants, not to mention smoking cigarettes. She wants to be on equal terms with her male partners, something her father and governess think is very indecorous behaviour for a serious Teutonic girl. However, Frau Ossi is a very modern and unconventional fraulein who doesn't respect old social Teutonic ways. She doesn't hesitate to break the rules and behave like a man but pretty soon Frau Ossi discovers that it's not easy being a man (especially a genuine German aristocrat) going to balls day after day and trying to look good in a tuxedo.

"Ich Möchte Kein Mann Sein" ( I Don't Want To Be A Man ) (1918) is one of those three reel early Herr Lubitch comedies, deliciously funny and very characteristic of Herr Lubitsch's German first period. Typical of these medium-lengths Herr Lubitsch films is a quick rhythm, hilarious situations, many misunderstandings and of course a crowded bourgeoisie ball. The latter features a most peculiar orchestra led by a frantic conductor. It's the usual war between the sexes and the upending of gender stereotypes, full of "joie de vivre" and performances that suit light comedy.

"Ich Möchte Kein Mann Sein" stars Herr Lubitsch's first muse, Frau Ossi Oswalda, a charming but Germanic actress who collaborated with the Teutonic director in this early German period before the appearance of Frau Pola Negri in his artistic life. His subsequent films were more ironic, sophisticated and sexual but the early presence of such themes can be appreciated in films like "Ich Möchte Kein Mann Sein" with the help of madcap Frau Oswalda. The film seems light, even deliciously superficial but this Herr Graf would say that the simplicity is deceptive and underlying it is an elaborate and difficult cinematic technique of which Herr Lubitsch was a master.

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must behave not as a man, but as an aristocrat.

This is a an excellent comedy vehicle for German silent film star Ossi Oswalda. She plays a young tomboy who, unable to leave the house at night in female attire, dresses up as a boy and has a whale of a time at a local dance. She attracts the - unwelcome - attention of a gaggle of females, flirts outrageously with one man, makes fun of others kissing, and ends up spending the evening with another young man. There are some very funny farcical routines - notably one scene where Ossi, apparently drunk, tries her best not to go into the gents restroom, moves towards the ladies, and is shooed away by some irate women. Eventually she and the young man travel home together, and end up in one another's arms kissing. Lubitsch's film offers some of the challenges to gender stereotypes that would be offered a decade and a half later in Hollywood films such as QUEEN Christina (1932). Oswalda makes a convincing man, proving beyond doubt that male courtship rituals are simple, to say the least. The action rattles along at a brisk pace, leading to a predictable conclusion, but ICH MOCHTE KEIN MANN SEIN remains highly watchable.