User reviews

Oyster-king Quaker cannot be impressed anymore. He is so rich that he even has a special butler holding his cigar while he is smoking. The only thing Quaker would be impressed by is if his daughter Ossi were to marry a real prince. He makes an offer to the poor prince Nucki, who sends his friend Josef to get a clear idea of the woman.

While this is an excellent comedy, what really shines is its satirical commentary on race and class. Race because of how the Oyster King has black servants, something that was not uncommon at the time (despite slavery officially ending some time earlier). And class because of how extravagant the king lives. Surely he is an exaggeration or caricature -- could anyone be this opulent?

The very idea is interesting because today if you want to attack excess wealth on film, you have to be more subtle about it, more clever. Exactly why I am not sure...

When one considers the age of this film and Lubitsch's failure as a dramatic director, especially with his ponderous MADAME DU BARRY (PASSION) that same year, it's both a delight and a relief to experience him finding his comic niche and beginning to blossom with his delightful little "touches." It is crude as were most films of 1919, but it is full of invention, delightful absurdities and nonsense. It all adds up to a frothy comedy that is most enjoyable. The fox trot mania sequence is particularly endearing. Seek this one out.

A terrific silent film in which the spoiled daughter of the immensely wealthy Oyster King throws a jealous fit 'cause the daughter of the "shoe-cream king" has married a count. Daddy says he'll "buy her a prince", and promptly seeks out a local matchmaker. A prince is quickly found, who happens to be broke but not that ready to marry, it seems - so he sends his friend to scout her out and the friend introduces himself under the guise of the prince's name!

This is a great film, very inventive and different - I've never seen anything quite like it. The photography is done in an interesting style, and everything in the film is visually surreal from the oddball rooms to unusual styles of dress worn by the various characters (what's with the dad's hair?!). The film is really full of charm and is also quite amusing - especially the scenes featuring an absolute army of servants who pour all over the house, even though only father and daughter appear to live in this gigantic household of strangely decorated rooms. There is also a very amusing foxtrot dance scene, and I even like the little sly grins and side to side glances each actor gives when they are introduced in the opening credits. The DVD of this film features a clear black and white print with excellent contrast and an extremely well-done, perky music score that suits this film to a tea. Superb!

"Die Austernprinzessin", a film directed in the silent year of 1919 by the great German director Herr Ernst Lubitsch, is a very suitable silent film for a decadent Teutonic aristocrat because it is a superb collection of excesses and obviously where there are excesses, there is a German aristocrat.

"Die Austernprinzessin" is a mad Teutonic comedy, absolutely brilliant in its artifice. It tells the frantic story of Dame Ossi ( Dame Ossi Oswalda, who played the German flapper roles in Herr Lubitsch's early comedies like this one ) the whimsical daughter of Herr Quaker ( Herr Victor Janson ), the Amerikan oyster king. He and Dame Ossi are well aware that the shoe cream king's daughter has married a count ( that fräulein has style, ja wohl! ), so Dame Ossi must, at any cost , at least find a prince to wed ( tsk, tsk, tsk…) This is the beginning of a peculiar film full of hilarious, grotesque, surreal and inventive scenes. Of course, by the end of the film, Dame Ossi achieves her matrimonial goal.

Herr Lubitsch spared no effort to accomplish his artistic goals; in the oeuvre there are astounding and modernistic settings by Herr Kurt Richter that give the film an atmosphere of exaggerated grandiloquence revolving around the daily lives of the main characters. The luxurious art direction reflects the luxurious and carefree style of those nouveau rich ( and what can be worse than money at the service of bad taste?), exaggerated to the point of fantasy; for example, the bath scene in which Dame Ossi needs a lot of servants in order to take a bath properly, or the wedding banquet scene in where there are as many servants as different dishes, including one for desserts, coffee and cigars. Such shameless opulence in those hard Weimar days aims at getting the audience to briefly forget their troubles and laugh out loud at Herr Lubitsch's wildly nonsensical ideas.

There is a curiosity in "Die Austernprinzessin"; at the end of the film, Herr Lubitsch betrays his most sacred film precept, in the scene where Herr Quaker spies on his just married daughter through the bedroom door keyhole. Herr Lubitsch, fortunately wouldn't repeat this mistaken voyeurism later in his career because the great German director came to know very well that malicious suggestion is preferable to showing plainly what happens behind a closed door…

And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must eat two dozen oysters while being careful not to swallow the pearls inside.

The old adage about jokes has it that "It's the way you tell 'em", and this applies to visual gags as well as verbal ones. Almost anything can be funny depending on how you present it. The German comedies of Ernst Lubitsch are like a master class in how to "tell" jokes on the silent screen.

What makes these pictures very different to their American counterparts, is that in Hollywood silent comedies revolved around a star. Germany had no Chaplin, Keaton or Lloyd, but they had a lot of decent comedy supporting players, and they had the brain of Lubitsch. In Lubitsch's best comedies (and this is one of his two or three finest) the humour is all derived from arrangements and exaggeration. He was, in effect, a choreographer of comedy.

We all know about the necessity of comic timing. But comic space is equally important. Lubitsch often makes a joke out of suddenly changing the way we view something. For example, we see from the side-view Nucki and Josef hurriedly tidying their little apartment, and then when they finally allow the matchmaker to enter, we switch to the angle from the doorway, and are suddenly hit with the inventively effective makeshift throne room they have thrown together. But Lubitsch's greatest and most unique moments are the ensemble gags. You see, if Mister Quaker had one servant following him around wiping his nose and carrying his cup of tea, it might be kind of funny. But to have four identically dressed servants trotting after him, each one doing a different menial task, is hilarious. The jewel in the Oyster Princess's crown has to be the "foxtrot epidemic" which is absolutely beautiful in its precise comic construction.

Lubitsch has melded this thing from the most wonderful of components. Writer Hanns Kraly has given him a tight and fast moving plot, ideal for the lightning supply of gags (apparently in their many collaborations Lubitsch would get the basic idea for a story, and Kraly would shape it into something workable). The Oyster Princess is a particularly absurd spin on a well-known theme – a marriage of convenience between nouveau riche and bankrupt aristocracy. There's also a dash of Cinderella thrown in, with Josef's impersonation of Prince Nucki making him the Dandini figure. These are familiar themes, and thus ones easy for Lubitsch to tweak into crazed but affectionate parody.

And the cast, while not quite the attention-holding clowns that formed the centre of Hollywood silent comedy, are all competent at their game and worthy of a chuckle. Harry Liedtke pratfalls nicely and does an amusing drunk act. He has a great face for a comedy lead man; handsome, but with his wide eyes looking perpetually a little sick or worried. Ossi Oswalda was one thing the US didn't have – a young and pretty female comic lead who is actually comical in her own right. The possible exception to this would be Mabel Normand, but even she didn't get stuck into these roles the way Ossi does. Oswalda's spoilt brat act is absolutely priceless. Meanwhile Julius Falkenstein is delightfully playful, and Victor Janson's stone-faced pessimism is almost reminiscent of Keaton.

Pictures like the Oyster Princess may be a far cry from the "sophisticated" bedroom comedies of the 1930s for which Lubitsch is best known, but they have a "Lubitsch touch" of a very different kind, that of the bizarre, the over-the-top; the touch of a unique and inspired comic genius. And who says the Germans have no sense of humour?

Ernst Lubitsch helped open the American market to German cinema with "Madame DuBarry", re-titled "Passion" there, and the director himself emigrated to the US early in the 1920s to direct Mary Pickford and where he continued to have a successful career. "The Oyster Princess", released the same year in Germany as "Madame DuBarry", makes fun of the director's would-be new homeland. Although tongue-in-cheek, the film shows that a rich aristocracy with their excessive luxury exists in the US and wasn't peculiarly part French or European history—an aristocracy created by industry. All that's missing is the traditional title, which is just what the oyster princess in the film seeks through marriage. Victor Janson is especially amusing as the fat, lazy and straight-faced oyster king of America, who is no longer impressed and who has herds of servants to do every small task for him. Besides the American parody and absurdity, much of the film's comedy and plot stem from mistaken identity, which was also the case in Lubitsch's other early comedies: "The Merry Jail" (1917), "I Don't Want to Be a Man" (1918-20) and "The Doll" (1919), as well as others.

The 35mm restored print from the F.W. Murnau Foundation is vastly superior to the copy I'd seen years ago on video; through it, Lubitsch's already-by-1919 polished filmmaking is more apparent (although, of course, lesser so than his later work). There's a triptych shot of dancing feet, some good visual comedic timing through editing, reaction shots and detail close-ups of characters, and some good staging throughout. Even the keyhole shots and the jump cuts during the unison waiting at dinner look okay. An extended fox trot sequence stands out, especially for being a musical dance in a "silent" movie. Although by, at least, the end of the silent era, musical numbers were becoming common despite the lack of synchronized sound; additionally, Lubitsch made musicals once the talkies came. The humor is sometimes broad and very unsubtle, and the filmmaking isn't always technically perfect, but this is an appealing and amusing early effort by Lubitsch.

Saw this yesterday at the "Konzerthaus", Vienna, with live music provided by a jazzy Belgian group called "Flat Earth Society". Without a doubt the best movie I've seen in quite a while. Highlights in this quasi-surrealistic romp (running a mere 63') include a meticulously choreographed "foxtrott epidemic" and a mass boxing-match amongst a benevolent society of billionaire's daughters. Ossi Oswalda (great name by the way), as the daughter of the titular "Oyster King", somehow manages to be tempestuous, spiteful, spoiled, endearing, lovable and sexy at the same time. A miracle of screen acting and directing. Stemming from 1919, the film reflects the coming of a new age of relative sexual freedom, female self-determination and the resignation of the aristocracy as the determining force of Central European society after the defeat of the World War ("Prinz Nucki", Ossi's intended, has fallen into the squalor of a one-room apartment). Lubitsch, at 27, reaching the pinnacle of his art from which he would not descend for the rest of his unique career.

This wildly satiric four-act film stars Victor Janson as Quaker, an extremely rich American whose every need has been catered for. He doesn't have to do a thing: servants carry him around from place to place, another servant serves him tea, while a third puts a cigar up to his lips on a silver salver. Desperate to get rid of his unruly daughter (Ossi Oswalda), he arranges for her to marry someone suitably rich and socially advantaged. However things do not turn out as planned ... DIE AUSTERNPRINZESSIN (The Oyster Princess) offers a satiric view of Americanism at a time when the German economy was in a particularly weak state. The Quaker family are characterized as rich and wasteful; they fully deserve to become the victims of a comic trick. The film includes some characteristically zany sequences, notably a boxing-match involving Oswalda and a gaggle of female friends, who line up opposite one another and fight, proving, no doubt, that they are as strong (and as pig- headed) as their male counterparts. The film moves towards its expected happy ending, but not without offering some interesting suggestions as to how to contract an advantageous marriage without love even assuming any significance.

The Oyster Princess (1919) - 7.0

Some legit mentally good filmmaking going on here with some interesting shots

Absurdist humor that doesn't feel completely dated

Well put together sets with a solid narrative

Impressive film for the time

Today, those who love the films from Hollywood's Golden Age of the 1930s and 40s are no doubt familiar with director Ernst Lubitsch and his famed 'Lubitsch touch'. He was able to create a wonderful and almost magical romantic-comedy atmosphere that was tough to beat and he became one of the country's top film makers after leaving his native Germany. However, gaining the touch was NOT an immediate thing--it took him years to hone his craft--working from a dance hall performer to director of low-brow comedies to a true craftsman. This is NOT a criticism--just the observation that even the greatest film makers didn't just receive a gift from the gods--it took hard work to build up to that point in their careers.

"The Oyster Princess" is a magnificent example of an early Lubitsch film before he developed the famed touch. While it has evidence of cleverness, the film also is about as low-brow as you get--and certainly, unlike the touch, far from subtle.

The film begins with a spoiled young rich girl (Ossi Oswalda) throwing one of the lamest tantrums in film history. It's supposed to be comical, but to me it was way too broad--like a cheap burlesque performance--even for a silent film. She's mad because another spoiled daddy's girl just married a count and she wants to marry a member of the royalty, too. Daddy promises her a prince and goes about trying to get her one--even if it's a poor one in need of cash. The film is a not too subtle jab at the 'nouveau riche'--industrialists who thought they could buy respectability and social standing even though, at heart, they and their kids were clods! While there were a few moments that were a bit funny, the overall effect is cheap--not a quality film you'd expect to see from Germany's UFA studios (a real class act). And, the only reason I gave it a score as high as 5 is that I liked Lubitsch's crazy surreal touches--like the four uniformed black men who slavishly took care of the boss as well as the way the household staff marched about like the folks in "Duck Soup"--but sadly, there was way too little of these sort of touches. Not a bad film at all...just not a particularly outstanding one and lousy over the top performances abounded.

Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (1919) : Brief Review :

A Superb and Hysterical Lubitsch Comedy beyond farce level of its time. The things happened before "Lubitsch Touch" are overwhelming to be frank, while his late works are little underwhelming. When i saw his 30s and 40s comedies i found couple of them overhyped and overstated while some of them were really Classics. But when i begun watching his early works ie. silent films i realised that these films are highly underrated. The Doll (1919) was such a great comedy for its time and is for today's time too and in the same year he made another fantastic comedy- The Oyster Princess. It is a grotesque comedy in 4 acts about an American millionaire's spoiled daughter's marriage that does not go as planned. Like The Doll, this one also has comic Humour created from the mistaken and improbable situations so the atmosphere all around becomes funny, automatically. The film is also noted for intangible use of style and sophistication which was later termed as "The Lubitsch Touch" but believe me this one is better than those 30s Popular comedies. Ossi Oswalda is hilarious and wild in this film and it allows her to be free, nasty yet funny. Julius Falkenstein was very funny too and considering the importance of his role, he's even better than the so called hero of the film. In supporting roles, Victor Janson and Harry Liedtke are just as good as the other two. There is something about Lubitsch many people don't know and those who know it, knows entirely different from each other. I am one of those who loved his farcical treatments but more than that loved his sensible flicks. The Oyster Princess is among those. Although, it is hysterical and completely madcap comedy it makes more sense than his popular comedies of 30s such as 'Trouble In Paradise' (1932) and 'Ninotchka' (1939).

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest

If to be perfectly honest, and this is most likely true for a lot of fellow fans, there is a vast personal preference for Ernst Lubitsch's late-20s onward films where he had properly found his distinctive style. That by then was fully established and he was comfortable in it. His German period silents are by all means interesting to watch too, but were more variable in quality. Also they were made in a period where his style and comfort zone had not emerged yet.

Of course most of Lubitsch's German films are actually worth watching, though it is hard to not compare to later on. There were films from this period though where his style, while not completely found, was starting to emerge and were actually outstanding as far as Lubitsch silents and 1910s silent films go. One was 'The Doll'. The other was this, both made in 1919, just as charming and even funnier than that film while not being quite as imaginative or wonderfully strange.

'The Oyster Princess' for me was so good and entertaining, that like 'The Doll' it didn't matter that the story was a silly one. It was also very breezily paced, lots of fun, immensely charming and never got too predictable, the silliness was not over the top and was a case for me of being endearingly so. Also loved how it was written and like 'The Doll' it should appeal and be accessible to children and adults alike. It is never too childish for adults, and actually they'll understand the satirical element and social commentary quite a bit more, and it isn't too complex or unsettling for younger audiences.

Humour was seldom this sharply biting or funny in silent film and the commentary is very intelligently done and not preachy. It's cute also without being saccharine and nothing feels creaky. It may lack the imagination of 'The Doll' but the entertainment value and charm of that film is there too. As is the opulent and deliciously elaborate production values, without being too exaggerated. Nothing static or overblown here.

Also liked the performances, with another very winning performance particularly from Ossi Oswalda. Lubitsch's direction has wit and sophistication.

In summary, wonderful and one of the few German Lubitsch films that are proper must sees. Easily one of his best early films. 10/10

"A foxtrot epidemic suddenly breaks out during the wedding."

Loved the squadron of maids who bathe, primp, and massage young Ossi (Ossi Oswalda) before she meets who she thinks is her suitor (Julius Falkenstein). He's actually just the guy's friend there just to check her out and he looks "stupid" to her, but no matter, she quickly gets married to him anyway. Hilarity, 1919 style, ensues, with underlying commentary on how spoiled the wealthy are. Some of the best scenes are those involving large numbers of people - the foxtrot in the mansion, the women duking it out with some rather interesting boxing styles, and the group of friends, including the real suitor (Harry Liedtke), drunkenly tottering through a park after a spree. It's refreshing to see the young married couple winking to one another, clearly eager to go off and consummate their marriage; it's a little funny (and disturbing) to see the father then go down to the bedroom and peek through the peephole. Ernst Lubitsch, you old devil.

I watched that movie two months ago and it was so amusing. If you think of the age of the development of the film, you could maintain, that Lubitsch was one of the earliest and best producers of his time! Watch it and persuade yourself!!!

Much more in line with the urbane farce that was The Doll than the attempts at vaudeville that were the Sally Pinkus/Meyer films, The Oyster Princess is another delightful little entry in Ernst Lubitsch's early career that might not quite make the most sense but keeps its focus on the light comedic antics that drive the narrative. Demonstrating the early form of the Lubitsch Touch as well, piling punchline on top of punchlines, this is Lubitsch more firmly finding his feet as he moved from one financial success to the next.

The Oyster King, Mister Quaker (Victor Janson), sits atop his little modern fiefdom of oysters with a single daughter, Ossi (Ossi Oswalda) who is a spoiled brat and is angry that another magnate's daughter married a count. After tossing everything in her room, Quaker agrees to arrange a great match for Ossi, and he employs the services of the best matchmaker that money can buy, who quickly arranges a meeting with Prince Nucki (Harry Liedtke), a penniless prince (I would presume a deposed Russian prince considering the time of the film's making) with a manservant Josef (Julius Falkenstein).

The entire back half of the film is based on a case of mistaken identity. Prince Nucki gets called to the house of the Oyster King in order to arrange the match, but Josef gets sent in Nucki's place. After a protracted waiting period where Ossi gets made up by her army of female servants, she rushes downstairs to find Josef waiting. She sizes him up instantly, thinking he's Nucki, decides to marry him, and runs off with him to get married, the ceremony happening outside the justice of the peace's window as he uses Nucki's name. Happily married, Ossi gets her father to throw a small party in her honor, and Josef is simply happy to go along with the fiction, eating better than he has in years and getting thoroughly drunk.

There's an interesting thematic undertone to a lot of this in the contradiction of the royalty being penniless and the common being massively wealthy. It's a reflection of the growing reality of the death of the old aristocracy and the rise of the new one. There's little direct commentary on the idea with no more than Ossi's desire to marry into a title being the extent of the film's explicit statement on the matter, but I think there's an implicit statement that's interesting to grab onto. That statement is about the changing order of the world, and the inherent silliness of the underclass suddenly taking the reigns of society. The Oyster King is a bloated creature who barely moves and needs extended naps. The Oyster Princess is a spoiled brat who destroys things when she doesn't get her way. However, the contrast is Prince Nucki who is a drunk himself, can't make a living, and can barely put up the façade that his title would imply. The only one who seems to make the best of the situation is Josef, who happily grasps onto the little bit of wealth he can when it's presented to him. There's a gentle ribbing of everyone involved that never descends into maliciousness but keeps a light air of satire that, while never the point of the whole affair, maintains a slight edge to the subtext of it all.

The actual farce extends from the fact that everyone thinks that Josef is Prince Nucki, and it leads to an extended scene where Josef happily never corrects anyone as he stuffs his face. The resolution of the whole thing relies on a coincidence of Prince Nucki falling down drunk in public after an extended night with his friends (all nearly as penniless as he is despite their tuxedos) and he ends up at a tolerance meeting that Ossi leads. She gets eyes on the handsome prince and decides to take him home for a private session to help him battle his drunkenness leading to Josef discovering his friend across the hall and him announcing that he got married in Prince Nucki's name, so Ossi and Nucki are already married (I mean...okay).

The technicals don't seem to make the most amount of sense, and the ending relies entirely on a coincidence to get everyone together, but the comedy is consistent and pretty funny throughout. The heart of Lubitsch's comedic sensibilities in the farce, and he does it very well as the situation around Josef escalates throughout the evening, culminating in a foxtrot epidemic where everyone in the whole house, including servants, ends up dancing along.

This is a small delight again from Lubitsch early in his career. He still had a little way to go in terms of plotting things out to rely less on coincidence, but he's helping the audience have fun nonetheless.

This movie is a crazy-quilt farrago of silliness, with Ossi Oswalda the soiled daughter of oyster magnate Victor Janson. She takes it into her head that she wants to marry a prince, and penniless Harry Liedtke is selected. He sends his friend Julius Falkenstein to look the situation over. Falkenstein is mistake for Liedtke, and so they are wed. Meanwhile....

I suppose you could make the point that there is satire in the script by Hanns Kräly and Lubitsch. However, despite claims to the contrary, there is no sign of the Lubitsch touch, in which plot and character points are subtly indicated by slight things: a transom closed, or a coat buttoned. Instead it is straight, outrageous farce. And very funny.

THE OYSTER PRINCESS (1919), directed by Ernst Lubitsch, is a zany absurdist comedy revolving around Ossi (Ossi Oswalda) a spoiled America heiress, and her quest to marry a prince. Her father (Victor Janson), an oyster-shipping magnate, hires a matchmaker to assist. He finds a destitute prince (Harry Liedtke) who sends his friend Josef (Julius Falkenstein) to take a look at Ossi before he commits, but complications ensue when Josef takes a liking to her…

The story is pure, over-the-top absurdist satire of the idle rich. Anyone who thinks Germans have no sense of humor needs to see this movie! It is described appropriately as "A Grotesque Comedy", so exaggeration is the order of the day. Just about everything is, in modern parlance, turned up to 11 here, to skewer the entitled, indulgent lifestyle of the idle rich heiress and her father. There are literally armies of hundreds of servants to attend to Ossi's every need, particularly during the hilarious sequence where her maids dress and bathe her while Josef waits anxiously. Other highlights include the opening scene, where her father Mr Quaker dictates to a room full of secretaries while servants wait on him, the scene where Ossi destroys her room, the foxtrot scene, and a boxing match between girls that is played for laughs.

The performances couldn't be better. Ossi Oswalda shows great comic talent and loads of charm as the spoiled heiress. She takes a character that would usually be quite irritating and actually makes her empathetic and funny. Julius Falkenstein is also quite funny and effective as Josef, particularly during the banquet scenes. Victor Janson is also very good as the indulgent father, and he contributes some very amusing facial expressions. Everyone plays this just right – broad enough to show that they understand the ridiculousness of the scenario, but not enough to be detracting.

This movie is also very well shot. There is some panning and tracking, but for the most part visual interest is maintained through mise-en- scene (composition within scenes). Cinematographer Theodor Sparkuhl captures the large, opulent palace and the armies of servants in an inspired way. The camera work and editing really shine during the scene where Josef waits for Ossi – you see the mass of maids attending to Ossi as kind of an industrial assembly line, while Josef skips and jumps over the geometric patterns on the floor! The editing back and forth and the quality of the shots is really effective and funny here. The foxtrot scene is also a visual highlight, where the camera glides over the dancers and architecture. The banquet is another marvel, with the servants positioned and moving in a precise, military fashion.

Overall, THE OYSTER PRINCESS is a great success of absurdist satire, with fine comic performances (especially by Ossi Oswalda), a funny scenario, and inventive cinematography. Definitely worth checking out! SCORE: 8/10

Why?! The title cards are no way appropriate for the era. The music is great and appropriate but the title cards are not. I hate this! Why is IMDB forcing me to add more words for a review? Some people are more succinct than others! For Pete's sake!

It's hard not to fall in love with 'Die Austernprinzessin' from the very beginning. The picture immediately carries itself with a measure of farcical madcap energy, like so many of Ernst Lubitsch's other comedies, but also a certain stark precision and carefulness in its details and in Lubitsch's direction. Yet even with the exaggerated body language and facial expressions as the silent era largely demanded, and the lively and exaggerated characterizations, the movie bears a natural ease and flow that is gratifying. Moreover, there's an unmistakable directness to the presentation - which is to say, not a lack of nuance, but a presence of great briskness in the plot development. The new score for modern releases, composed by Aljoscha Zimmermann, works all the while to sustain that zip with brilliant, upbeat music befitting the silent era and the feature. And for all that - just as immediately, 'Die Austernprinzessin' is wonderfully entertaining.

I very much admire the consideration for rounding aspects like set design and decoration, hair and makeup, costume design, and what feels like very meticulous orchestration of every scene. Frankly, the whole production design is unexpectedly but very assuredly grand, and inviting. I can't help but wonder how many takes were shot before achieving the final cut - and at the same time, the cast so readily impresses that perhaps there was no need for multiple takes. Everyone involved absolutely embraces the delightful ridiculousness of each scene and the narrative as a whole, bearing outstanding, robust physicality and personality that's a pleasure and a marvel to experience. That goes for Ossi Oswalda as the spoiled and tenacious title character; Victor Janson as the haughty and self-important Oyster King; Harry Liedtke and Julius Falkenstein as Prince Nucki and his friend Josef, both holding a playful zest in their comportment; and even the large supporting cast and many extras impress with admirable vigor and articulate poise.

Lubitsch's sharp direction is tremendous - his arrangement of scenes, his guidance of the assembled cast and crew, his keen eye for fetching shots. For that matter, all commendations as well to cinematographer Theodor Sparkuhly, and the vivid editing is just as fabulous. And even still, the screenplay is a total blast; Lubitsch and frequent collaborator Hanns Kräly once again knocked it out of the park with superb, funny writing. Every facet - characters, scenes, narrative, intertitles - are vibrant and outright intoxicating, curt and quick yet rich with detail, and full of utmost wit and intelligence. There is nothing in 'Die Austernprinzessin' that doesn't completely capture the imagination and lift one's spirits. So much astounding passion and animated vitality dominate each passing moment - I fail to see how one could possibly not fall in love with this picture.

Rife with situational humor, physical comedy, sight gags, clever wordplay and repartee, and outright absurdism, and built from top to bottom with a mind for both amusement and excellence, this is a true joy. For all the phenomenal, forgotten, overlooked, essential features of the silent era generally, and of Ernst Lubitsch's oeuvre specifically, even still 'Die Austernprinzessin' dazzles with its momentous display of exceptional skill from all involved. It's impossible to overstate how lovely a film this is, and it earns my highest, most enthusiastic recommendation: wherever and however you can watch it, 'Die Austernprinzessin' is a hilarious, endlessly enjoyable must-see!

German writer/director Ernst Lubitsch was proving to be a master of rom-coms, romantic comedies, in the late 1910's. Soon after World War One, Germany, and especially Berlin, entered a period of hedonistic pleasure in the arts with the Kaiser and his strict moralistic administration booted out of the country. No better film expresses that period of relaxation of the Germanic moral code than Lubitsch's June 1919 "The Oyster Princess."

The movie was Lubitsch's most ambitious and boldest movie yet. Coming on the heels of his cross-dressing main actress, Ossi Oswalda, as a male in "I Don't Want To Be A Man," the director reflected that wealth, as one critic claims, buys decadence--and decadence buys money.

Ossi, daughter of a wealthy oyster tycoon, wants to marry a count--or someone of nobility. The father arranges with a dating service (yes, they had them back in 1919) to garner a royal. One is found, being down on his financial luck, but he sends his assistant to find out if she is worthy. Ossi confuses the assistant for the noble, and the marriage proceeds.

Some peg "The Oyster Princess" as being in Lubitsch's top five films he produced. The director said this was his first comedy which showed something of a definite style. Certainly this is the first of his movies that displays charm, wit and humor critics label as "The Lubitsch Touch." Actress Ossi's character certainly doesn't show the sophistication of later Lubitsch heroines, but she carries the breath of the story in a mapcap, stylistic wackiness manner. One may even call this a 'screwball' movie before the term came into existence, a mixture of romance and over-the-top comedy.