Desire

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Desire; long-lost Lubitsch picture
Topic Started: Oct 22 2009, 10:17 PM (159 Views)
panzer the great & terrible	Oct 22 2009, 10:17 PM Post #1
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,354 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	Everybody who knows me knows that my favorite directors are Ernst Lubitsch and Preston Sturges, although there are some furriners who are hot on their heels. Lubitsch, in any case, is my favorite of all, and here's a Lubitsch picture I thought was lost. As far as I know it's never been on TV, not where I was anyhow. It's obviously a Lubitsch picture, script and everything, but Frank Borzage got director's credit. Now I have no objection to Borzage -- we share the same birthday and think alike -- but the first 40 or so minutes of this movie were obviously directed by Lubitsch, who took a producer's credit. So -- and this is just conjecture, I have no special knowledge and my Lubitsch books are both in storage -- I think that something happened, medical or financial, and Lubitsch called Borzage in to finish filming, a wise choice because the ending is impossibly romantic and that was Borzage's strong suit. I like the movie a lot. It's the most human performance Marlene Dietrich ever gave, and Gary Cooper was as Gary Cooper as he could possibly be. It's a real shame Dietrich and Borzage never worked together again: he took he off the pedestal so you could empathize with her. She's stolen some pearls in Paris, see, (with a cool scheme) and fleeing to Spain runs into Cooper. At customs she's scared she'll get searched so she slips the pearls into his pocket and there's your plot. Trying to get the pearls back she steals his car, they fall in love, and all that stuff. One of the best Thirties non-screwball comedies. As far as I know, only available from Amazon UK, meaning you'll need an all-region player. But if you have one, or want one, this is a must. 4 1/2 stars on the Panzermeter. Not quite as good as The Shop Around the Corner, but damn good. Edited by panzer the great & terrible, Oct 22 2009, 10:23 PM.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Oct 23 2009, 03:10 AM Post #2
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,178 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	I'm glad you got around to posting a movie review, I always liked 'em... Thanks Now if we can get Gravy to post something like Star Trek, or Lost In Space... Anything but funnybooks that are worth less now than when they originally came out.
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Frank Hale	Oct 23 2009, 06:05 AM Post #3
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	"Desire" played on WCBS in New York all the time in the early 60’s, but it’s been mighty scarce ever since. Fun film. John Halliday made a great crook as I recall.



panzer the great & terrible	Oct 23 2009, 09:53 AM Post #4
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,354 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	A lot of the early Thirties Paramounts seem to have fallen between the cracks. It's a pity because Paramount was far and away the best studio in those days. When Desire was made Lubitsch was actually chief of production, the one and only time a creative person had that job at any studio.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


JazzGuyy	Oct 23 2009, 10:51 AM Post #5
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 2,179 Group: Members Member #110 Joined: June 1, 2006	panzer the great & terrible Oct 23 2009, 09:53 AM A lot of the early Thirties Paramounts seem to have fallen between the cracks. It's a pity because Paramount was far and away the best studio in those days. When Desire was made Lubitsch was actually chief of production, the one and only time a creative person had that job at any studio. Didn't Zanuck start as a writer? That's a creative role, IMO.



Frank Hale	Oct 23 2009, 12:58 PM Post #6
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	I wouldn’t argue that Paramount was the best studio of that period, but it had a unique voice. In the early 30’s, ALL the studios were great!



CliffClaven	Oct 23 2009, 10:42 PM Post #7
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 231 Group: Members Member #712 Joined: March 30, 2009	Paramount was home base to W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers and Mae West in their non-domesticated prime, Bob Hope seemed to make most of his films there, and Jerry Lewis (with and without Dean Martin) was there to turn out the lights on the old school. On the late night movies of my youth, Paramount was to comedy what Universal was to monsters.



panzer the great & terrible	Oct 24 2009, 02:26 PM Post #8
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,354 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	And the Paramount comedies sparkled, unlike those at MGM (with a few rare exceptions like Ninotchka). Warners comedies were mostly awful. Columbia made some good ones directed by Hawks and Capra, and RKO did a few good ones too, still overall I'd say that Paramount was the best comedy studio. But besides that, Mitchell Leisen did wonderful dramas and comedies there, Lubitsch made all but one of his musicals there, one fine drama and a number of excellent comedies. Josef Von Sternberg did most of his best talkie work there. It was a great studio for B pictures too -- Robert Florey, king of the B's, did his best work there. I did a long piece about Paramount at the Serial Squadron -- maybe it's still up unless Eric had one of his fits and deleted it. I had forgotten Zanuck was a writer if I ever knew it. Was he any good?
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


Frank Hale	Oct 24 2009, 03:37 PM Post #9
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 828 Group: Members Member #59 Joined: October 6, 2005	One thing about Paramount in the 30’s, they had absolutely the best automobiles. Those wonderful long boats with the exhaust tubes on the side. As I recall Gary Cooper was driving a ‘Bronson 8’ in “Desire”. I don’t remember what it looked like, but I’ll bet it was terrific.



panzer the great & terrible	Oct 25 2009, 10:36 AM Post #10
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,354 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	Sure was -- there's a lot of car plot in the movie.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


CliffClaven	Oct 26 2009, 11:21 AM Post #11
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 231 Group: Members Member #712 Joined: March 30, 2009	A Lubitsch I didn't know about cropped up on the Fox Movie Channel: That Lady in Ermine. It was a fantasy about an 19th century castle occupied by Hungarian hussars, led by the highly civilized Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Betty Grable is the newlywed countess in residence, and doubles as the famous ancestor who once saved the castle by, ah, being friendly. Ceasar Romero plays Grable's jealous new husband, who discreetly flees before the hussars arrive but returns disguised as a gypsy. It feels like an effort to capture the magic silliness of Lubitsch's earliest musicals, but the plot is muddy (Fairbanks seems to be flipping between the countess and her ancestor) and Grable is has to sell some weak songs. On the plus side, all three stars are appealing and the whole film is very funny, even when there's no clear point. The Maltin book says Lubitsch died during production and another director finished it; I sort of wonder if Lubitsch was quite finished with the script. "HOVAK!" "Yes, sir?" "The people here are all crazy!" "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."



panzer the great & terrible	Oct 26 2009, 11:55 AM Post #12
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,354 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	Otto Preminger finished it, and he wasn't good at comedy, so the movie isn't all it should be.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


maldor	Oct 28 2009, 05:28 PM Post #13
Balcony Gang, Foist Class Posts: 50 Group: Members Member #179 Joined: February 28, 2007	Remember seeing Desire on TCM a few yoears ago and enjoying it. Might pop up there again soon.


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