Directing

Ernst Lubitsch

Born January 28, 1892 · Berlin, Germany

Died November 30, 1947 · aged 55

Ernst Lubitsch (January 29, 1892 – November 30, 1947) was a German film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch". Lubitsch is best known for screwball comedies and romantic comedies, such as Trouble in Parad…

Known For

The Shop Around the Corner

The Shop Around the Corner · 1940

The Shop Around the Corner

MovieComedyDrama

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

Dragonwyck

Dragonwyck · 1946

MovieDramaRomance

A simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.

The Last Command

The Last Command · 1928

The Last Command

MovieDramaHistory

A former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.

Ninotchka

Ninotchka · 1939

MovieComedyRomance

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

To Be or Not to Be

To Be or Not to Be · 1942

To Be or Not to Be

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

Desire

MovieRomanceCrime

Madeleine steals a string of pearls in Paris and uses American engineer Tom, who is driving on his vacation to Spain, to get the pearls out of France. But getting the pearls back from him proves to be difficult without falling in love.

To Be or Not to Be

To Be or Not to Be · 1983

To Be or Not to Be

A bad Polish actor is just trying to make a living when Poland is invaded by the Germans in World War II. His wife has the habit of entertaining young Polish officers while he's on stage, which is also a source of depression to him. When one of her officers comes back on a Secret Mission, the actor takes charge and comes up with a plan for them to escape.

Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise · 1932

Trouble in Paradise

MovieComedyCrime

Thief Gaston Monescu and pickpocket Lily are partners in crime and love. Working for perfume company executive Mariette Colet, the two crooks decide to combine their criminal talents to rob their employer. Under the alias of Monsieur Laval, Gaston uses his position as Mariette's personal secretary to become closer to her. However, he takes things too far when he actually falls in love with Mariette, and has to choose between her and Lily.

Movies

The Shop Around the Corner

The Shop Around the Corner · 1940

The Shop Around the Corner

MovieComedyDrama

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

Dragonwyck

Dragonwyck · 1946

MovieDramaRomance

A simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.

The Last Command

The Last Command · 1928

The Last Command

MovieDramaHistory

A former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.

Ninotchka

Ninotchka · 1939

MovieComedyRomance

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

To Be or Not to Be

To Be or Not to Be · 1942

To Be or Not to Be

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy.

Desire

MovieRomanceCrime

Madeleine steals a string of pearls in Paris and uses American engineer Tom, who is driving on his vacation to Spain, to get the pearls out of France. But getting the pearls back from him proves to be difficult without falling in love.

To Be or Not to Be

To Be or Not to Be · 1983

To Be or Not to Be

A bad Polish actor is just trying to make a living when Poland is invaded by the Germans in World War II. His wife has the habit of entertaining young Polish officers while he's on stage, which is also a source of depression to him. When one of her officers comes back on a Secret Mission, the actor takes charge and comes up with a plan for them to escape.

Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise · 1932

Trouble in Paradise

MovieComedyCrime

Thief Gaston Monescu and pickpocket Lily are partners in crime and love. Working for perfume company executive Mariette Colet, the two crooks decide to combine their criminal talents to rob their employer. Under the alias of Monsieur Laval, Gaston uses his position as Mariette's personal secretary to become closer to her. However, he takes things too far when he actually falls in love with Mariette, and has to choose between her and Lily.

The Eternal Jew

The Eternal Jew · 1940

The Eternal Jew

MovieDocumentary

A Nazi propaganda film made to promote anti-Semitism among the German people. Newly-shot footage of Jewish neighborhoods in recently-conquered Poland is combined with preexisting film clips and stills to defame the religion and advance Hitler's slurs that its adherents were plotting to undermine European civilization.

Heaven Can Wait

Heaven Can Wait · 1943

Heaven Can Wait

MovieComedyRomance

Spoiled playboy Henry van Cleve dies and arrives at the entrance to Hell, a final destination he is sure he deserves after living a life of profligacy. The devil, however, isn't so sure Henry meets Hell's standards. Convinced he is where he belongs, Henry recounts his life's deeds, both good and bad, including an act of indiscretion during his 25-year marriage to his wife, Martha, with the hope that "His Excellency" will arrive at the proper judgment.

Design for Living

Design for Living · 1933

Design for Living

MovieComedyRomance

Independent Gilda is resigned fo a life of married tedium when Tom and George, having gotten past their jealousy, come to America and whisk Gilda away to live an exciting polyamorous life in Paris.

Bluebeard's 8th Wife

Bluebeard's 8th Wife · 1938

Bluebeard's 8th Wife

MovieComedyRomance

American multi-millionaire Michael Brandon marries his eighth wife, Nicole, the daughter of a broke French Marquis. But she doesn't want to be only a number in the line of his ex-wives and undertakes her own strategy to tame him.

Lady Windermere's Fan

Lady Windermere's Fan · 1925

Lady Windermere's Fan

MovieComedyDrama

A society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.

The Merry Widow

The Merry Widow · 1934

The Merry Widow

MovieComedyMusic

A prince from a small kingdom courts a wealthy widow to keep her money in the country.

The Miracle

The Miracle · 1912

When a wayward nun, Megildis, deserts her convent with a knight, a statue of the Virgin Mary comes to life and takes place of Megildis, who makes her way through the world and its many vicissitudes.

Der Blusenkönig

Der Blusenkönig · 1917

Der Blusenkönig

Sally Katz begins a new job as a supervisor in the workshop of a garment maker where the boss's nasty daughter makes him advances. But the girl's father forbids him to flirt back.

The Patriot

The Patriot · 1928

MovieDramaHistory

In 18th-Century Russia, the Czar, Paul, is surrounded by murderous plots and trusts only Count Pahlen. Pahlen wishes to protect his friend, the mad king, but because of the horror of the king's acts, he feels that he must remove him from the throne.

The Eyes of the Mummy

The Eyes of the Mummy · 1918

The Eyes of the Mummy

MovieDramaHorror

Egyptians Radu and Ma milk British tourists out of their money by offering phony tours of a mummy's tomb-- Radu has the girl lend her eyes to the "mummy" from inside an empty sarcophagus. When adventurer Wendland comes to visit the tomb, Ma is rescued and falls in love with him, leaving Radu in the dust. Needless to say, her former employer / captor follows them abroad in order to exact his revenge.

Cluny Brown

Cluny Brown · 1946

MovieRomanceComedy

Amateur plumber Cluny Brown gets sent off by her uncle to work as a servant at an English country estate.

The Vagabond King

The Vagabond King · 1930

The Vagabond King

MovieMusicRomance

The story takes place in medieval France. Poet-rogue Francois Villon, sentenced to hang by King Louis XI for writing derogatory verses about him, is offered a temporary reprieve. His hanging will be postponed for 24 hours, and in that time he must defeat the invading Burgundians and win the love of the beautiful Katherine.

The Clerk

The Clerk · 1933

When clerk Phineas V. Lambert receives his check in the mail, he shows little emotion. (Originally appeared as a segment of the film "If I Had a Million", but was later presented separately as a short film.)

The Oyster Princess

The Oyster Princess · 1919

The Oyster Princess

A pampered American oyster tycoon decides to buy a husband for his daughter, but things don’t go quite as planned. Along the way there are mishaps, misunderstandings and a foxtrot sequence that must be seen to be believed.

Hitler: A Career

Hitler: A Career · 1977

Hitler: A Career

MovieDocumentaryHistory

A keen chronicle of the unlikely rise to power of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and a dissection of the Third Reich (1933-1945), but also an analysis of mass psychology and how the desperate crowd can be deceived and shepherded to the slaughterhouse.

That Uncertain Feeling

That Uncertain Feeling · 1941

That Uncertain Feeling

MovieComedyRomance

A happily married woman sees a psychoanalyst and develops doubts about her husband.