Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1922)

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January 7, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 53 Ernst Lubitsch Describes Novel Method of Preparing a Picture for Production ON Tuesday, December 27, Ernst Lubitsch, Germany’s greatest motion picture director, underwent the ordeal of answering rapid-fire questions shot at him, through an interpreter, by trade paper writers eager to make the most of the limitecl time allowed them. This alert, physically striking man, who had been represented as so painfully retiring that he had to issue his orders through a subordinate, met the test with rapid-fire replies, delivered without hesitation and with authority. Occasionally he ran his fingers through his jet black hair and left his chair to pace restlessly like Douglas Fairbanks, but never did he hesitate in replying. Passing over, for the time, Lubitsch’s views on American pictures, and his impressions of this country, let us listen first to his novel and highly interesting views on preparing for the production of a feature. “After the author submits his manuscript we two go off together to the mountains or any place where we will not be annoyed by interruptions,” he says. “Once arrived, we go over every word in the manuscript together and compare our ideas and arrive on a scenario. I make the decisions, of course, but I am always open to suggestions. “As soon as the scenario is completed and the casting has been done, I supply each artist with a general idea of the picture— just a very general idea, nothing detailed about the plot. I don’t ask them to study how to play the part assigned them; I just want them to visualize the whole. Then, when we get together on the lot, I give the players detailed instructions. “The titles are all written before the ‘shooting’ begins. As I shoot I plan how I’ll cut the picture and carefully keep a record of intended cuts, so that it usually takes me only ten days for the editing work. For instance, though I spent a year on my latest picture, ‘The Wife of Pharaoh,’ and shot 90,000 feet, I readily cut it down to between 9,000 and 10,000 feet.” Those are Lubitsch’s methods on handling actors. Truly they are new to this country, where the actor studies his script before appearing in the studio or on location. But, then, Lubitsch stages only big spectacles that take a lot of time — it was said that it usually takes him a year to make a feature — some times he completes one in ten or eleven months — and those of us who see the finished result begrudge him the time. The writer visited Lubitsch with the firm intention of learning something firsthand about economic conditions in Germany and the picture industry in particular. He planned questions about EFA and UFA and the other big organizations. By SUMNER SMITH But Lubitsch was diplomatically noncommittal. “I am a director and the making of a picture occupies all of my time,” he said. “I cannot answer your questions — you must ask some official of the Hamilton Theatrical Corporation, which brought me here on this visit.” So, with the clock aggravatingly ticking off the precious minutes, the interviewer sought the director’s opinion on American films. “I have not had the opportunity to see most of your great pictures,” he said in answer to a request to name the picture he likes best, “but I consider that, among those I have seen, ‘Broken Blossoms’ is uncomparable, and I doubt if you have any to equal it. The German people went wild over it. Griffith is a great director. This is the picture which decided me to visit your country and study your methods. Another great American picture I have seen is ‘Forbidden Fruit.’ “As for the artists, I have seen and admired Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks. Chaplin has no equal for popularity in Germany, and neither is there an actor among us who can do Fairbanks’ great stunts and delight the people with the virility that is his.” “How are American pictures regarded in Germany?” he was asked. “They have such great popular appeal,” Lubitsch replied, “that some of our directors are imitating them, especially your westerns. They go over strong. German audiences are immensely interested to see how your directors work out the themes assigned them — from the American viewpoint — and to learn your customs ERNST LUBITSCH and see what the United States looks like.” “What are your plans for the future?” “I can only say this : that, like some of your American directors, I began costume plays whenever everybody said they weren’t wanted, and we found they were wanted. I shall continue making costume plays until it is evident to me that the trend has turned toward modernity. “Don’t ask me about my latest picture. I don’t want to talk about Jit now. I’d much rather have you see it and judge for yourself. I’ll only say it introduces Dagny Servaes, a beautiful and extraordinarily emotional Austrian actress, in the leading role, and includes Harry Liedtke, known as the best lover in Germany. “And that reminds me of a joke on myself. Of all comedy parts that Germans like to play that of a young lover comes first. I wrote a scenario about a young lover and played the part myself. That was during the war, when there was a shortage of mirrors, and the picture was most unsuccessful. It cured me. You cannot be both a director and a player. In “One Arabian Night” I played the hunchback because we couldn’t get the right man.” It was annoying the way the clock kept methodically ticking away. The interpreter was restless — poor man, his had been the hardest task, and he had been at it nearly all day. “Do pretty faces count for much in German films ?” “Oh yes, we like pretty faces and youth but we will readily desert beauty and youth if there is no character and talent — by ‘we’ I mean the German audience.” Then the conversation turned to historic backgrounds. Lubitsch said they were much easier to stage abroad than here, and they were, “naturlich,” much more likely to be faithful reproductions. In this connection Paul Davidson, who is Lubitsch’s guide while here, read in a German daily paper, just received, a story of how, since the picture was completed, 250,000 German school children have made pilgrimages to the sets for “The Wife of Pharaoh” to study Egyptian architecture. These pilgrimages were arranged by the educational authorities. The clock struck 4 o’clock; the interpreter cleared his throat and bestowed a lingering glance on it. So — “Auf wiedersehn.” Ernst Lubitsch arrived on December 24. He will stay about ten days more in New York and vicinity and then visit Los Angeles. His visit in this country will consume about six weeks. In that time he expects to gather a wealth of detail about American production methods. ( Continued on following page )