Miss Milliard

A terrific silent film in which the spoiled daughter of the immensely wealthy Oyster King throws a jealous fit 'cause the daughter of the "shoe-cream king" has married a count. Daddy says he'll "buy her a prince", and promptly seeks out a local matchmaker. A prince is quickly found, who happens to be broke but not that ready to marry, it seems - so he sends his friend to scout her out and the friend introduces himself under the guise of the prince's name!

This is a great film, very inventive and different - I've never seen anything quite like it. The photography is done in an interesting style, and everything in the film is visually surreal from the oddball rooms to unusual styles of dress worn by the various characters (what's with the dad's hair?!). The film is really full of charm and is also quite amusing - especially the scenes featuring an absolute army of servants who pour all over the house, even though only father and daughter appear to live in this gigantic household of strangely decorated rooms. There is also a very amusing foxtrot dance scene, and I even like the little sly grins and side to side glances each actor gives when they are introduced in the opening credits. The DVD of this film features a clear black and white print with excellent contrast and an extremely well-done, perky music score that suits this film to a tea. Superb!

Ernst Lubitsch is probably best known to us Yanks as the director of "Ninotchka" and other movies where the humor often derived from possible innuendos (commonly called the Lubitsch touch). You might not have known that he started out in his native Germany directing comedies, including "Die Austernprinzessin" ("The Oyster Princess" in English).

This movie depicts a bored rich family where the dad decides to marry off the daughter, only for some unexpected things to happen as a result. I suspect Lubitsch viewed the United States as a land of decadent excess (the family has servants waiting on them hand-and-foot) and wanted to satirize it. How ironic that he later moved to the US and had a prominent career during Hollywood's golden age. Strange how things work out.

Anyway, it's a funny movie. Although it's available on Wikipedia, it doesn't have subtitles there, so you'll probably have to rent a physical copy.

The Oyster Princess (1919) - 7.0

Some legit mentally good filmmaking going on here with some interesting shots

Absurdist humor that doesn't feel completely dated

Well put together sets with a solid narrative

Impressive film for the time

As disappointed as I was in the dramatic titles in Kino's LUBITSCH IN BERLIN series, this comic double feature more than makes up for it. It clearly shows that Ernst Lubitsch's true talent lay in comedy not dramatic spectacle and these movies serve as a blueprint for his later career in Hollywood. THE OYSTER PRINCESS (1919) is an outrageous farce about an overly pampered American tycoon ("I am not impressed" is his favorite reply) who tries to find a prince to marry his spoiled and impetuous daughter. It's not subtle but it's extremely funny. I DON'T WANT TO BE A MAN (1920) is an early version of VICTOR/VICTORIA as a young woman dressed as a man has her guardian fall in love with her. This movie is closer to the Hollywood Lubitsch.

Both films give Lubitsch the opportunity to score satirical points taking on such targets as the American nouveau riche, impoverished aristocrats, and male and female stereotypes. Both films also feature German silent comedienne Ossi Oswalda who looks like Mary Pickford but behaves like Mabel Normand. She is an absolute delight especially in MAN as she challenges the roles men and women are assigned by society. The pictures are crisp black and white transfers with incredibly witty intertitles which clearly show that Germans do have a sense of humor. The musical accompaniment by Aljoscha Zimmerman (PRINCESS) and Neil Brand (MAN) complements both films perfectly.

My only criticism of this disc is that the movies are too short (PRINCESS is 64 min while MAN is only 48) whereas the dramatic ones in this series seem to go on forever. Proof once again that comedy was Ernst Lubitsch's true forte. This DVD (along with THE WILDCAT which is positively outrageous) belongs on your shelf as a perfect example that slapstick can be sophisticated and that other countries beside America could produce excellent silent comic fare...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

Oyster-king Quaker cannot be impressed anymore. He is so rich that he even has a special butler holding his cigar while he is smoking. The only thing Quaker would be impressed by is if his daughter Ossi were to marry a real prince. He makes an offer to the poor prince Nucki, who sends his friend Josef to get a clear idea of the woman.

While this is an excellent comedy, what really shines is its satirical commentary on race and class. Race because of how the Oyster King has black servants, something that was not uncommon at the time (despite slavery officially ending some time earlier). And class because of how extravagant the king lives. Surely he is an exaggeration or caricature -- could anyone be this opulent?

The very idea is interesting because today if you want to attack excess wealth on film, you have to be more subtle about it, more clever. Exactly why I am not sure...