ERNST LUBITSCH

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB.5.  

USA, 1932.  Paramount Pictures.  Screenplay by Samson Raphaelson, adaptation by Grover Jones, based on the play The Honest Finder by Aladar Laszlo.  Cinematography by Victor Milner.  Produced by Ernst Lubitsch.  Music by W. Franke Harling.  Production Design by Hans Dreier.  Costume Design by Travis Banton.  

Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins fall madly in love over a shared interest: thievery. After a romantic entanglement in Venice, the pair go live with an aristocratic woman and become her employees, Marshall feigning love for the lady while the two of them plan to make off with her money. A routine plot is made delightfully fun by terrific performances and the trademark look of Ernst Lubitsch films: glinting silver drips from practically every shot. It’s also a great example of pre-Code Hollywood, with its sexy negligees, lascivious glance and a rather obvious transition shot that spells sex out so clearly you can practically hear the cascade of belt buckles and garters.

The Criterion Collection:  #170