Ernst Lubitsch’s meteoric German career spanned ten years, with him acting in about a dozen films before directing several dozen shorts and twelve features. The shorts Lubitsch featured in or directed were mainly comedies or parodies, while his features alternated between comedies and historical melodramas. Lubitsch’s career in Hollywood would last 24 years during which [...]
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Michael Koller
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Michael Koller is the executive programmer for The Melbourne Cinémathèque.
Articles by Michael Koller:
This article was first published in Cinema Papers no. 102, December 1994, pp. 10-11. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of the author. Waterfall (Arthur and Corinne Cantrill, 1984) is a true film-maudit: an Australian film in an art form dominated by “entertainment” films from America or “serious” works from Europe; a short [...]
WARNING: This article divulges most of the film’s major plot elements. “Don’t step on it, it might be Lon Chaney.” – A 1927 quip. As in any art form, the history of cinema contains many works that are, for whatever reason, overlooked and underrated. Tod Browning’s The Unknown (1927) is definitely one of these works, [...]
La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc/The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927 France 90 mins) Prod Co: Société Générale de Films Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer Scr: Dreyer, Joseph Delteil based on the original records of the trial (& supposedly the novels Vie de Jeanne d’Arc & La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc by Delteil) Phot: Rudolph Maté [...]
Queen Kelly (1928 USA 96 mins) Prod Co: Gloria Swanson Pictures Corporation/United Artists Prod: Erich von Stroheim, Joseph P. Kennedy [uncredited], Gloria Swanson [uncredited] Dir, Scr: Erich von Stroheim Phot: Paul Ivano, Gordon Pollock Ed: Viola Lawrence Art Dir: Harold Miles Mus: Adolf Tandler Cast: Gloria Swanson, Walter Byron, Seena Owen, Wilhelm von Brincken, Madge [...]
The Joyless Street/Die Freudlose Gasse (1925 Germany 145 mins) Source: Munich Film Archive Prod Co: Sofar-Film Dir: G.W. Pabst Scr: Willy Haas, based on the novel by Hugo Bettauer Phot: Robert Lach, Curt Oertel, Guido Seeber Ed: Marc Sorkin (uncredited) Art Dir: Otto Erdmann, Hans Sohnle Ass Dir: Marc Sorkin, Anatole Litvak Cast: Asta Nielsen, [...]
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1932 Germany 122 mins) Source: NLA/ACMI Prod Co: Nero-Film Prod: Seymour Nebenzal Dir: Fritz Lang Scr: Thea von Harbou, Fritz Lang, from the novel by Norbert Jacques Phot: Fritz Arno Wagner Ed: Lothar Wolff, Conrad von Molo Art Dir: Karl Vollbrecht, Emil Hasler Mus: Hans Erdmann Cast: Oscar Beregi, Rudolf [...]
Faust (1926 Germany 85 mins) Source: Murnau Stiftung/Transit Film Prod Co: UFA Prod: Erich Pommer Dir: F. W. Murnau Scr: Hans Kyser, based on the play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Phot: Carl Hoffmann Ed: Art Dir: Robert Herlth, Walter Röhrig Cast: Emil Jannings, Gösta Ekman, Wilhelm Dieterle, Eric Barclay, Hans Brausewetter, Camilla Horn, Yvette [...]
So This is Paris (1926 USA 66mins) Source: ACMI/NLA Prod Co: Warner Bros. Prod, Dir: Ernst Lubitsch Scen: Hans Kraly, based on the play Reveillon (1872) by Henri Meilhac, Ludovic Halévy Phot: John J. Mescall Art Dir: Harold Grieve Ass Dir: George Hippard, Ernst Laemmle Titles: Robert Wagner, Robert Hopkins Electrical Effects: F. N. Murphy [...]
I Don’t Want to be a Man! (Ich Möchte Kein Mann Sein) (1918 Germany 48 mins @ 18fps) Source: ACMI/NLA Prod Co: Union Atelier Prod: Paul Davidson Dir: Ernst Lubitsch Scr: Hans Kräly, Lubitsch Phot: Theodor Sparkuhl Sets: Kurt Richter Cast: Ossi Oswalda, Ferry Sikla, Margarete Kupfer, Kurt Götz, [Victor Janson] Ernst Lubitsch’s meteoric German [...]
(1) Die Spinnen (The Spiders) Part One. Der Goldene See (The Golden Lake 1919 Germany 112 mins) Source: Deutsches Institue für Filmkunde Filmarchiv, Wiesbaden. Prod Co: Decla-Bioscope Prod: Erich Pommer Dir, Scr: Fritz Lang Phot: Emil Schünemann Art Dir: Otto Hünte, Carl Ludwig Kirmse, Hermann Warm, Heinrich Umlauf Cast: Carl de Vogt, Ressel Orla, Lil [...]
The Long Riders (1980 USA 100 minutes) 35mm Source: Chapel Prod Co: Huka Films for United Artists Prod: James Keach, Stacy Keach Dir: Walter Hill Scr: Bill Bryden, Steven Phillip Smith, Stacy Keach, James Keach Phot: Ric Waite Ed: David Holden, Freeman Davies Art Dir: Jack T. Collis Mus: Ry Cooder Cast: David Carradine, Keith [...]
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974 West Germany 45mins) Source: ACMI/NLA Prod. Co: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion Prod, Dir: Werner Herzog Phot: Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein, Francisci Joán, Frederik Hettich, Alfred Chrosziel, Gideon Meron Ed: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus Mus: Popol Vuh With Walter Steiner, Werner Herzog Herzog’s film begins with a brief slow-motion shoot of a ski-jumper floating [...]
Equinox Flower (1958 Japan 118mins) Source: NLA/CAC Prod Co: Shochiku Dir: Yasujiro Ozu Scr: Ozu, Kogo Noda from the novel by Ton Satomi Phot: Yuharu Atsuta Ed: Yoshiyasu Hamamura Art Dir: Tatsuo Hamada Mus: Takanobu Saito Cast: Shin Saburi, Kinuyo Tanaka, Ineko Arima, Keiji Sata. Watching a film directed by Yasujiro Ozu is a reassuring [...]
The Unknown (1927 USA 49mins) Source: NLA/CAC Prod Co: MGM Dir: Tod Browning Scr: Waldemar Young, Browning, Joe Farnham from a story by Browning Phot: Merritt B. Gerstad Ed: Harry Reynolds, Errol Taggart Art Dir: Cedric Gibbons, Richard Day Cast: Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford, Norman Kerry, John George, Frank Lanning. WARNING: This article divulges most [...]
The Mummy (1932 USA 72mins) Source: NLA/CAC Prod Co: Universal Studios Prod: Carl Laemmle Dir: Karl Freund Scr: John L. Balderston from the story by Nina Wilcox Putnam Richard Schayer Phot: Charles Stumar Art Dir: Willy Pogany Cast: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Edward Van Sloan, Arthur Byron. The Mummy began the third of the [...]
Destiny (1921 Germany 85mins) Source: NLA/CAC Prod Co: Decla-Bioscope Dir: Fritz Lang Scr: Lang, Thea von Harbou Phot: Erich Nietzschmann, Fritz Arno Wagner, Hermann Saalfrank Art Dir: Herman Warm, Robert Herlth, Walter Röhrig Cast: Bernhard Goetzke, Lil Dagover, Walter Janssen, Rudolph Klein-Rogge. NOTE: The article below necessarily reveals the ending of the film. Destiny was [...]
The Patriot (trailer, USA, 1928 5mins) Source: ScreenSound Australia The Patriot was directed by Ernst Lubitsch and was his second last silent film. It featured Emil Jannings as Czar Paul 1, the son of Catherine the Great and the mad Peter 1. It was the first American film that Lubitsch and Jannings made together after [...]
A frequently mentioned subtext in vampire movies is that of the vampire as homosexual. Occasionally the theme is covert as in the many adaptations of Sheridan Le Fanu’s lesbian vampire story Carmilla including such diverse titles as Hammer’s exploitation, The Vampire Lovers (1970) with its graphic lesbian and heterosexual sex scenes, Roger Vadim’s soft porn [...]
Duck Soup (1933 USA 68mins) Source: NLA/CAC Prod Co: Paramount Dir: Leo McCarey Scr: Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Arthur Sheekman, Nat Perrin Phot: Henry Sharp Ed: Leroy Stone Art Dir: Hans Dreier, Wiard B. Ihnen Mus: Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby. Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Raquel Torres, Louis Calhern, [...]
Un Chien Andalou (1928 France 17 mins) Source: CAC/NLA Prod Co: Ursulines Film Studio Prod, Dir, Ed: Louis (Luis) Bunuel Scr: Louis (Luis) Bunuel, Salvador Dali Ph: Duverger (Albert Dubergen) Assist Dir: Pierre Batcheff Art Dir: Schilzneck Cast: Simonne (Simone) Mareuil, Pierre Batchef (Batcheff), Luis Bunuel, Salvador Dali [Note on the opening credits: all names [...]
The Three Musketeers (1921 USA 139mins) Source: CAC Prod Co: Fairbanks/United Artists Prod: Douglas Fairbanks Dir: Fred Niblo Scr: Edward Knoblock, Lotta Woods Phot: Arthur Edeson Ed: Nellie Mason Art Dir: Edward Langley Cast: Douglas Fairbanks Snr., Adolphe Menjou, Eugene Pallette, Leon Bary, Marguerite De La Motte. A filmography for Douglas Fairbanks Snr. * * [...]
Nosferatu (Eine Symphonie des Grauens) (1921 Germany 70 mins) Source: NLA/CAC Prod Co: Praha-Film G.m.b.H. Prod: Enrico Dieckmann and Albin Grau Dir: F. W. Murnau Scr: Henrik Galeen, based on Bram Stoker Phot: Fritz Arno Wagner Art Dir: Albin Grau Cast: Maz Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schroeder, G. H. Schnell, Ruth Landshoff [...]
La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (The Passion Of Joan Of Arc) (1927, France, 90 mins) Source: Vigo Films Prod. Co: Société Générale de Films, Paris Dir: Carl Theodor Dreyer Scr: Dreyer, Joseph Delteil based on the original records of the trial (& supposedly the novels Vie de Jeanne d’Arc & La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc [...]
