richard-camhi

Firstly, although Lubitsch had a pretty broad repertoire when it came to genres, there was nothing much he could bring to this particular one. The whole thing was already laid out for him, with the great settings (very convincing Swiss village and mountain scenery), and the whole story in place. Perhaps the one most significant thing one could attribute to Lubitsch was the shot of a lusting Barrymore panning slowly to the pile of clothes (I'll say no more so as not to spoil it). But the other odd thing was Barrymore, for me miscast as a pining young Swiss mountaineer. I think Lubitsch would have done better to cast Ramon Novarro, whom he had already used so beautifully in "The Student Prince." In short, the film is just a bit off kilter. Also contributing to the oddness is the film score of Hugo Riesenfeld, who contented himself with endless repetitions of two Brahms pieces, a piano intermezzo and the song "Von ewiger Liebe" (appropriately "About eternal love"), both rescored for orchestra. Were these at Lubitsch's suggestion? In the end, I'm wondering if the studio was trying to emulate some of those Heimatfilme being made in Austria and Germany by the likes of Leni Riefensthal.

Everything about this film, from the writing, to the sets and costumes, to the cinematography, to the acting by all concerned, to the unbelievable musical soundtrack, is astonishing. This was the epitome of the silent film era, in which creative geniuses had the upper hand and the means to realize their visions. Watch this film, and take note of the musical accompaniment - if you think Max Steiner and Korngold were the first real film composers, you will have to think again! If you can, boost the bass and treble, and what you will hear totally belies what you thought musical reproduction was capable of in 1927.

I agree with most of the reviews rated 5 stars or below, but would like to add something they haven't mentioned: this film makes it very obvious that "education," then and now, was about memorizing useless information and passing tests, and being obedient to authority. Miss Dove is a geography teacher whose whole purpose in life is to drill textbook facts and figures into her charges, information that is not only irrelevant to their lives, but also is outdated within a few years. What is my idea of proper education? Developing the curiosity, intuition, spontaneity, creativity, and joy that is already there in most kids. If this sounds radical to you, it means the Miss Doves of the world have done a great job.