Showing posts with label trouble in paradise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trouble in paradise. Show all posts

13 November 2012

Trouble In Paradise DVD Review (Masters Of Cinema)

No comments:
Trouble in Paradise is an early screwball comedy by Ernst Lubitsch, which has some crime elements. It’s his most well known and respected him and one of the few in his lifetime that got classic status. Lubitsch influenced such noted directors such as Woody Allen and Billy Wilder among many others. This edition of Trouble with Paradise come from Eurkea’s Masters of Cinema who are so hung up on Lubitsch they previous released a boxset dedicated sorely to his German films of the 1920s which has a impressive 6 discs of films.

Trouble in Paradise is set in Venice and 2 team of pickpockets, one a gentleman thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) and his lover Lily (Miriam Hopkins) who decided to rob a perfume window Madame Mariette Colet (Kay Francis). They start with planning to rob her purse at the theatre, which they do. The Madame is asking for a reward for the purse because it’s value and naturally Gaston returns the purse but at the same time, he worms his way into working for the Madame. The Madame starts to flirt with Monescu and he starts having some feelings towards her much to the displeasure of his partner in life and crime.

The film is a brilliantly written witty script with some memorable dialogue. It was written by noted screenwriter Samson Raphaelson also worked with Hitchcock on Suspicion wrote it. He worked with Lubitsch who over and over for the 2 decades, He also wrote The Jazz Singer and was also the cousin of the great Bob Rafelson who started the great innovative BBS studios and directed such classics such Head, Five Easy Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens. The film pre-dates the screwball boom of the 30/40s especially the Cary Grant and Howard Hawks collaborations such as Bringing Up Baby and His Girl Friday.

The film was also pre-production code which means the sexual innuendo of later films of the 30s is much more explicit. Masters of cinema has of late been doing a lot of this such as masterful Island of Lost Souls and Cecil B. DeMille’s Cleopatra. This ended up being a big issue a few years later when Paramount wanted to reissue the film and also when they wanted to make a MUSICAL version in 40s.

Overall the film is wonderful glass of champagne of a film, fluffy but in a good way which boost a wonderfully witty script, cool art deco sets and some great performances.

Ian Schultz

★★★★

Rating:N/C
DVD Release Date: 12th November 2012(UK)
Directed ByErnst Lubitsch
CastMiriam HopkinsKay Francis , Herbert Marshall
Buy:TROUBLE IN PARADISE (Masters of Cinema) (DVD) [1932]