 Angel 1937  N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall, Melvyn Douglas, Edward Everett Horton, Ernest Cossart, Laura Hope Crews, Herbert Mundin, Ivan Lebedeff, Dennie Moore, Lionel Pape, Gino Corrado, Michael Visaroff, Eric Wilton, Olaf Hytten, James Finlayson
Bored housewife Maria (Marlene Dietrich) feels trapped in a loveless marriage with British nobleman Sir Frederick Barker (Herbert Marshall). So, off she goes to Paris for a vacation and falls in love with an American, Anthony "Tony" Halton (Melvyn Douglas).
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Bluebeard's Eighth Wife 1938  N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Comedy / Mystery / Thriller / Romance
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Claudette Colbert, Gary Cooper, Edward Everett Horton, David Niven, Elizabeth Patterson, Herman Bing, Warren Hymer, Franklin Pangborn, Rolfe Sedan, Lawrence Grant, Armand Cortes, Lionel Pape, Tyler Brooke, Leon Ames, Joseph Crehan
Multimillionaire Michael Brandon (Gary Cooper) has been married seven times, but he finally meets his match in wife #8 (Claudette Colbert). She has ulterior motives for the marriage, which come to naught when she ultimately falls in love with Michael.
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Broken Lullaby 1932  N/R, 77 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: The Man I Killed
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Carroll, Phillips Holmes, Louise Carter, Tom Douglas, Emma Dunn, Lucien Littlefield, Tully Marshall, Zasu Pitts, Frank Sheridan, George Bickel, George Irving, Lillian Elliott
A French soldier Paul Renaud (Phillip Holmes) kills enemy soldier Walter Holderlin (Tom Douglas) during a World War I battle. While trying to make it up to the dead man's parents (Lionel Barrymore and Loiuse Carter), he meets Walter's fiancee Elsa (Nancy Carroll) and falls in love with her. Well-told tale.
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Cluny Brown 1946 N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Charles Boyer, Jennifer Jones, Peter Lawford, Helen Walker, Reginald Gardiner, Reginald Owen, C. Aubrey Smith, Richard Haydn, Sara Allgood, Florence Bates, Margaret Bannerman, Ernest Cossart, Una O'Connor
Set in England during the late 1930s, this is the story of Cluny Brown (Jennifer Jones) who fills in for her plumber uncle and takes a job at a country estate where she meets and is attracted to a very charming Czech refugee, Adam Belenski (Charles Boyer). She is also attracted to a shopkeeper, Mr. Jonathan W. Wilson (Richard Haydn), who tries to break up Cluny's relationship with Adam. Believing that he has lost Cluny to Mr. Wilson, Adam leaves the estate–but not before leaving a special message in a gift for Cluny. Is it too late, or will Cluny catch up with Adam?
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Design for Living 1933 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Fredric March, Gary Cooper, Miriam Hopkins, Edward Everett Horton, Franklin Pangborn, Isabel Jewell, Helena Phillips Evans, James Donlan, Jane Darwell, Armand Kaliz
This is the film adaptation of Noel Coward's play about Gilda (Miriam Hopkins) who cannot choose between two men (Fredric March and Gary Cooper), so they decide to set up housekeeping together–with NO sex. Subsequent events provide good entertainment.
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Eternal Love 1929 N/R, 95 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: John Barrymore, Camilla Horn, Victor Varconi, Hobart Bosworth, Bodil Rosing, Mona Rico, Evelyn Selbie
Director Lubitsch's and John Barrymore's final silent film before moving into talkies, this tale, based on a novel by Jakob Christopher Beer, is set in the Swiss Alps (filmed in the Canadian Rockies). A couple, each of whom is in a loveless marriage, carries on a secret romance; but when the woman's husband is murdered, they are on the run. A real tearjerker, but well told.
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 Heaven Can Wait 1943  N/R, 112 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Fantasy / Romance
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Gene Tierney, Don Ameche, Charles Coburn, Marjorie Main, Laird Cregar, Spring Byington, Allyn Joslyn, Eugene Pallette, Signe Hasso, Louis Calhern, Tod Andrews, Helene Reynolds, Aubrey Mather, Scotty Beckett, Clara Blandick
Having lived a life of sin, Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche) presents himself to His Excellency (Laird Cregar) at the gates of Hades. However, His Excellency is not sure that he wants to accept Henry, so Henry recalls his 70-year life in an attempt to gain access. His life has been filled with misadventures, romantic infidelities, and even one true love who was Martha (Gene Tierney)–his wife of 25 years. After relating his story, His Excellency tells Henry that his only sin was living life to the fullest and that he is not welcome in Hades. He takes Henry to the elevator and tells him that it may be difficult to get through the Pearly Gates but that if he succeeds he will join Martha. An excellent film based on Ladislaus Bus-Fekete's play, "Birthdays." Oscar nominations were received for Best Picture and Director.
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If I Had a Million 1932 N/R, 85 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Gary Cooper, George Raft, Charles Laughton, Frances Dee, Charles Ruggles, W.C. Fields, Mary Boland, Roscoe Karns, Jack Oakie, Wynne Gibson
This film is a series of stories about what happens when an anonymous man picks names at random from the telephone book and gives those chosen gifts of money.
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The Love Parade 1929 N/R, 107 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical / Romance
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Lupino Lane, Lillian Roth, Edgar Norton, Eugene Pallette, E.H. Calvert, Lionel Belmore, Virginia Bruce, Ben Turpin, Andre Cheron, Carl Stockdale
A fun-loving diplomat (Maurice Chevalier) is recalled to his country, Sylvania, due to his escapades in France. Back home, the Queen's (Jeanette MacDonald) Cabinet demands that she get married. The Queen selects the diplomat, and the fun and music continue. A good early talkie, which received several Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Actor, and Director.
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The Merry Widow 1934 N/R, 99 min.
Genre: Musical
aka: The Lady Dances
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Una Merkel, Edward Everett Horton, George Barbier, Herman Bing, Minna Gombell, Sterling Holloway, Donald Meek, Akim Tamiroff
This is a delightful film about an aristocratic–but poor–count (Maurice Chevalier) who woos a wealthy widow (Jeanette MacDonald).
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Monte Carlo 1930 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical / Romance
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Jack Buchanan, Jeanette MacDonald, Zasu Pitts, Claud Allister, Lionel Belmore, Tyler Brooke, John Roche, Albert Conti, Helen Garden, Donald Novis, Billy Bevan, Sidney Bracey, Frances Dee, Rolfe Sedan
Countess Vera von Conti (Jeanette MacDonald) is engaged to Prince Otto von Seibenheim (Claud Allister), but she does not love him. So, just before the scheduled wedding, Vera heads for Monte Carlo where she loses, time after time, at the casinos. She meets a mysterious man (Jack Buchanan) who asks if he may touch her hair for luck. He strokes her hair, but it is Vera's luck that changes, and she asks him to stay by her side. What Vera does not know is that he is actually the very wealthy Count Rudolph Falliere who is posing as a commoner in order to be near Vera. The Count plays his game until he ends up winning her heart, and they live happily ever after. Among the songs MacDonald sings is, "Beyond the Blue Horizon."
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Ninotchka 1939  N/R, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire, Sig Ruman, Bela Lugosi, Felix Bressart, Alexander Granach, Gregory Gaye, Richard Carle, Edwin Maxwell
This pre-cold-war-era film pits the ideals of Communism against those of Capitalists in a very entertaining film featuring Greta Garbo as Ninotchka, the emissary from Russia whose head and heart are turned by love. There were Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Actress, and Writing (both Original Story and Screenplay).
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One Hour with You 1932 N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical
Director: George Cukor, Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Jeanette MacDonald, Genevieve Tobin, Charles Ruggles, Roland Young, Josephine Dunn, Richard Carle, George Barbier, Barbara Leonard, Charles Judels, Eric Wilton, Donald Novis, Mae Questel
Andre and Colette (Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald) are happily married. Andre, a doctor, has had chances to be unfaithful due to come-on's by his female patients, but when he meets Colette's best friend, Mitzi (Genevieve Tobin), the matrimonial mix-ups begin. Lots of music in this good remake of 1924's "The Marriage Circle," also directed by Ernst Lubitsch. The film received a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
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A Royal Scandal 1945 N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Otto Preminger, Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Tallulah Bankhead, Anne Baxter, Charles Coburn, William Eythe, Vincent Price, Mischa Auer, Sig Ruman, Vladimir Sokoloff, Mikhail Rasumny, Grady Sutton, Eva Gabor, Egon Brecher, Donald Douglas, Michael Visaroff, Wilton Graff
Russia's Czarina, Catherine the Great (Tallulah Bankhead), is threatened with an overthrow, but her sexual appetite pays off as her lover, Alexi (William Eythe), comes to her aid and outfoxes the rebels.
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The Shop Around the Corner 1940 N/R, 97 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Felix Bressart, William Tracy, Inez Courtney, Charles Halton, Charles Smith, Sarah Edwards, Edwin Maxwell, William Edmunds, Grace Hale, Mary Carr
Kiara (Margaret Sullavan) and Alfred (James Stewart) are co-workers in a small, Budapest shop. Although they are antagonistic toward each other at work, they unwittingly become loving pen pals. Because they do not sign their real names, they do not realize that they are writing to each other. Will their antagonism stop when the truth comes out? The story was later remade as the musical film "In the Good Old Summertime" and as the Broadway play "She Loves Me."
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The Smiling Lieutenant 1931 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Comedy / Musical / Romance
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, Miriam Hopkins, George Barbier, Charles Ruggles, Hugh O'Connell, Janet Reade, Lon MacSunday, Elizabeth Patterson, Granville Bates, Maude Allen, Charles Wagenheim, Robert Strange
This story takes place in Vienna where Lt. "Niki" von Preyn (Maurice Chevalier) shares an apartment with his lover Franzi (Claudette Colbert). When King Adolf XV (George Barbier) visits the city, his dowdy daughter Princess Anna (Miriam Hopkins) falls in love with "Niki," and he is forced to marry her. But, "Niki" refuses to consummate the marriage–until good-hearted Franzi performs a makeover on Anna, and "Niki" falls for Anna. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
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That Lady in Ermine 1948 N/R, 89 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Ernst Lubitsch, Otto Preminger
Cast: Betty Grable, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Cesar Romero, Walter Abel, Reginald Gardiner, Harry Davenport, Virginia Campbell, Whit Bissell, Edmund MacDonald, Harry Cording
It's the mid-1800s and an invading force, led by Col. Karolyi (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), takes over the castle of a ruling countess (Betty Grable). Karolyi falls in love with the countess, while she seeks advice from a deceased, female ancestor who dealt with a similar problem over 200 years ago. Not much here, but there are a few good songs. Director Lubitsch died shortly after the start of filming; Otto Preminger completed the film without credits.
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That Uncertain Feeling 1941  N/R, 84 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Merle Oberon, Melvyn Douglas, Burgess Meredith, Alan Mowbray, Olive Blakeney, Harry Davenport, Sig Ruman, Eve Arden, Richard Carle, Mary Currier
Jill and Larry (Merle Oberon and Melvyn Douglas) seem to be happily married, though Larry is preoccupied with his job as an insurance salesman. Jill starts getting the hiccups and goes to a psychologist who tells her it is because she has marital problems. She decides that she needs a side interest, so she brings home an eccentric piano player (Burgess Meredith), another patient of her psychologist. Larry has his work cut out for him if he wants to save his marriage. A cute comedy with a fine cast–Burgess Meredith is a hoot.
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To Be or Not to Be 1942 N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart, Lionel Atwill, Stanley Ridges, Sig Ruman, Tom Dugan, Miles Mander, Tom Dugan, Charles Halton, George Lynn, Henry Victor, Maude Eburne, Halliwell Hobbes
In Poland, during 1939, Shakespearean actors Joseph and Maria (Jack Benny and Carole Lombard) help the Polish underground. Maria falls for Lt. Stanislav Sobinski (Robert Stack) who is called to duty when Germany invades Poland. Meanwhile, Nazi spy Professor Siletsky (Stanley Ridges) has plans to destroy the Warsaw resistance movement, and Sobinski tries to interfere with plans for Siletsky to meet with Nazi Col. Ehrhardt (Sig Ruman). Now, the Shakespearian actors impersonate Nazi officers to outwit the Germans. This was Carole Lombard's last film.
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Trouble in Paradise 1932 N/R, 83 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis, Herbert Marshall, Charles Ruggles, Edward Everett Horton, C. Aubrey Smith, Robert Greig, Luis Alberni, George Humbert, Rolfe Sedan
World-class thief Gaston (Herbert Marshall) teams up with pickpocket Lily (Miriam Hopkins) and they are not only successful but also fall in love. However, when they get employed by the rich and beautiful Madame Colet (Kay Francis) and it appears that love is blooming on that front, there is Lily's jealousy to contend with. This sophisticated comedy is very well done.
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| 1. Angel (1937)
2. Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)
3. Broken Lullaby (1932)
aka: The Man I Killed
4. Cluny Brown (1946)
5. Design for Living (1933)
6. Eternal Love (1929)
7. Forbidden Paradise (1924)
8. Heaven Can Wait (1943)
9. If I Had a Million (1932)
10. The Love Parade (1929)
11. The Marriage Circle (1924)
12. The Merry Widow (1934)
aka: The Lady Dances
13. Monte Carlo (1930)
14. Ninotchka (1939)
15. One Hour with You (1932)
16. A Royal Scandal (1945)
17. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
18. The Smiling Lieutenant (1931)
19. So This Is Paris (1926)
20. That Lady in Ermine (1948)
21. That Uncertain Feeling (1941)
22. To Be or Not to Be (1942)
23. Trouble in Paradise (1932)
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