From Ernst Lubitsch's experiences in Sophien Gymnasium (high school) theater, he decided to leave school at the age of 16 and pursue a career on the stage. He had to compromise with his father and keep the account books for the family tailor business while he acted in cabarets and music halls at night. In 1911 he joined the Deutsches Theater of famous director/producer/impresario Max Reinhardt, and was able to move up to leading acting roles in a short time. He took an extra job as a handyman while learning silent film acting at Berlin's Bioscope film studios. The next year he launched his own film career by appearing in a series of comedies showcasing traditional ethnic Jewish slice-of-life fare. Finding great success in these character roles, Lubitsch turned to broader comedy, then beginning in 1914 started writing and directing his own films.
His breakthrough film came in 1918 with The Eyes of the Mummy (1918) ("The Eyes of the Mummy"), a tragedy starring future Hollywood star 波拉·尼格丽. Also that year he made 卡门 (1918), again with Negri, a film that was commercially successful on the international level. His work already showed his genius for catching the eye as well as the ear in not only comedy but historical drama. The year 1919 found Lubitsch directing seven films, the two standouts being his lavish 杜巴里夫人 (1919) with two of his favorite actors--Negri (yet again) and 埃米尔·雅宁斯. His other standout was the witty parody of the American upper crust, 牡蛎公主 (1919) ("The Oyster Princess"). This film was a perfect example of what became known as the Lubitsch style, or the "Lubitsch Touch", as it became known--sophisticated humor combined with inspired staging that economically presented a visual synopsis of storyline, scenes and characters.
His success in Europe brought him to the shores of America to promote 法老王的妻子 (1922) ("The Loves of Pharaoh") and he become acquainted with the thriving US film industry. He soon returned to Europe, but came back to the US for good to direct new friend and influential star 玛丽·碧克馥 in his first American hit, 罗西塔 (1923). 回转姻缘 (1924) began Lubitsch's unprecedented run of sophisticated films that mirrored the American scene (though always relocated to foreign or imaginary lands) and all its skewed panorama of the human condition. There was a smooth transition between his silent films for Warner Bros. and the sound movies--usually at Paramount--now embellished with the flow of speech of Hollywood's greats lending personal nuances to continually heighten the popularity at the box office and the fame of Lubitsch's first-rate versatility in crafting a smart film. There was a mix of pioneering musical films and some drama also through the 1930s. The of those films resulted in Paramount making him its production chief in 1935, so he could produce his own films and supervise production of others. In 1938 he signed a three-year contract with Twentieth Century-Fox.
Certainly two of his most beloved films near the end of his career dealt with the political landscape of the World War II era. He moved to MGM, where he directed 葛丽泰·嘉宝 and 茂文·道格拉斯 in 妮诺契卡 (1939), a fast-paced comedy of "decadent" Westerners meeting Soviet "comrades" who were seeking more of life than the mother country could--or would--offer. During the war he directed perhaps his most beloved comedy--controversial to say the least, dark in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way--but certainly a razor-sharp tour de force in smart, precise dialog, staging and story: 你逃我也逃 (1942), produced by his own company, Romaine Film Corp. It was a biting satire of Nazi tyranny that also poked fun at Lubitsch's own theater roots with the problems and bickering--but also the triumph--of a somewhat raggedy acting troupe in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. 杰克·本尼's perfect deadpan humor worked well with the zany vivaciousness of 卡洛·朗白, and a cast of veteran character actors from both Hollywood and Lubitsch's native Germany provided all the chemistry needed to make this a classic comedy, as well as a fierce statement against the perpetrators of war. The most poignant scene was profoundly so, with 菲利克斯·布雷萨特--another of Reinhardt's students--as the only Jewish bit player in the company. His supreme hope is a chance to someday play Shylock. He gets his chance as part of a ruse in front of 阿道夫·希特勒's SS bodyguards. The famous soliloquy was a bold declaration to the world of the Axis' brutal inhumanity to man, as in its treatment of and plans for the Jewry of Europe.
Lubitsch had a massive heart attack in 1943 after having signed a producer/director's contract with 20th Century-Fox earlier that year, but completed 天堂可以等待 (1943). His continued efforts in film were severely stymied but he worked as he could. In late 1944 奥托·普雷明格, another disciple of Reinhardt's Viennese theater work, took over the direction of 皇族丑闻 (1945), with Lubitsch credited as nominal producer. March of 1947, the year of his passing, brought a special Academy Award (he was nominated three times) to the fading producer/director for his "25-year contribution to motion pictures." At his funeral, two of his fellow directorial émigrés from Germany put his epitaph succinctly as they left. 比利·怀德 noted, "No more Lubitsch." 威廉·惠勒 answered, "Worse than that - no more Lubitsch films."
Discovered actress 珍妮特·麦克唐纳. In 1929, Lubitsch was reviewing old screen tests of Broadway performers and spotted MacDonald. He cast her as the leading lady in 璇宫艳史 (1929).
Known for "The Lubitsch Touch" due to his sophisticated wit and style.
Brought together 莫里斯·舍瓦利耶 and 珍妮特·麦克唐纳, one of Hollywood's greatest screen pairings. Off screen, the pair loathed each other.
Was known for always playing practical jokes on his film sets.
He directed a "mummy" film, the silent German production The Eyes of the Mummy (1918).
Retrospective at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. [1984]
Was voted the 16th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890- 1945". Pages 692-700. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
He had a daughter, Nicola, with his wife Vivian Gaye.
"MOS" is used, on a slate, when a scene is filmed without sync sound (or any sound). This term is widely thought to be an homage to Lubitsch, who would say, in his thick Berlin accent, that he wished to shoot some footage "mitout sound." "Mit" means "with" in German--ergo, without sound . . . "mitout sound" . . . "M-O-S".
Directed three different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: 刘易斯·斯通, 莫里斯·舍瓦利耶 and 葛丽泰·嘉宝.
比利·怀德 considered him his favorite director.
Son of Simcha (Simon) Lubitsch, a Jewish tailor.
Became a naturalized US citizen in 1936.
Formed his own production company, Romaine Film Corp.
The talkies were unable to get at Ernst Lubitsch, on the contrary. Some of his best works as a director came in the 30's and early 40's into being.
After that he gave up his acting career and concentrated to the direction. He shot first big movies and from now on Ernst Lubitsch belonged to the first brigade of German directors.
His family was Ashkenazi Jewish, his father born in Grodno in the Russian Empire and his mother from Wriezen (Oder), outside Berlin. He turned his back on his father's tailoring business to enter the theater, and by 1911, he was a member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater.
By 1915, he had already realized his first movie entitled Miss Soapsuds (1914). Together with Austro-Hungarian actor Ernst Matray, he established his reputation as a director, writer, producer and comedian with the foundation of the Malu-Film company.
He made his film debut as an actor in The Ideal Wife (1913). Shortly thereafter, his appearances in The Perfect Thirty-Six (1914) and its sequel 公司的骄傲 (1914) established his Continental reputation as a talented comedian.
Lubitsch qualified as an accountant before he came in contact with the theater.
Shortly before his death, he was awarded with the Honorary Award in 1947 for his life work.
During the shooting of his last movie 穿裘皮大衣的女人 (1948), he died and with him the so-called Lubitsch touch. The movie was finished by 奥托·普雷明格.
Because of the success of his movie Madame Du Barry (1934), he became well known in the United States.
比利·怀德 had a sign over his office door, which read "How would Lubitsch do it?".
Along with 杰克·康威, 迈克尔·柯蒂兹, 维克多·弗莱明, 约翰·福特, 阿尔弗雷德·希区柯克, 山姆·伍德, 弗朗西斯·福特·科波拉, 赫伯特·罗斯 and 史蒂文·索德伯格, he is one of ten directors to have more than one film nominated for Best Picture in the same year. 驸马艳史 (1931) and 红楼艳史 (1932) (which he co-directed 乔治·库克) were both so nominated at the 5th Academy Awards in 1932.
Directed six films nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards: 爱国者 (1928), 璇宫艳史 (1929), 驸马艳史 (1931), 红楼艳史 (1932), 妮诺契卡 (1939) and 天堂可以等待 (1943).
He has directed five films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: 少奶奶的扇子 (1925), 天堂里的烦恼 (1932), 妮诺契卡 (1939), 街角的商店 (1940) and 你逃我也逃 (1942).
In most of his comedies, he took up serious subjects and spiced them with elegance, sophistication, cynicism and witty lines - It became known as "the Lubitsch Touch."
