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Rating:  - "If you behave like a gentleman, I'll break your neck!"
Trouble in Paradise is a great example of a sophisticated pre-code. It revolves around some thieves played by Herbert Marshall (Gaston) and Miriam Hopkins (Lily). Gaston manages to steal a wealthy woman's purse (Kay Francis) and when she offers a reward for its return, he goes to her and not only secures her trust, but gets a job managing her finances. This is the perfect setup for him and his girlfriend, but when he begins to fall in love with his benefactor, there is trouble.
The high-class humor surrounding the risqué topics are characteristics of director Ernst Lubitsch. His subtle wit floods the film, but it is difficult to describe the entire effect he had on film-making. It is obvious by the documentary-like introduction by Peter Bogdonovich, the audio commentary by Scott Eyman, and the tributes to Lubitsch by various Hollywood figures that his unique touch has left films since the director's death, an unfortunate occurrence.
The 1917 silent film Das fidele Gefangnis (The Merry Jail) is also included. Directed by Lubitsch in Germany, this film is slightly ahead of its time in style. The sets are enormous, especially the home of the couple, though it is not necessary. The cast is very good, particularly Kitty Dewall whose pretty smile lights up the screen. When a husband whose hobby is nightclubbing is sentenced to a night in jail, he decides to skip the jail time for another party. His wife tricks an admirer into serving the time for him while she masquerades as a stranger at the party to see just what her husband is up to while she stays up at night waiting for him.
Rating:  - A frivolous masterpiece
What a film! There is absolutely nothing to compare nowadays to the subtle, insinuating, sexy comedy of Ernst Lubitsch. This landmark film is now readily available through this superb Criterion package. The film is perfectly constructed and executed, to be viewed again and again and discover more tricks and nuances each time.
Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall play two thiefs who infiltrate the life of Kay Francis to fleece her. However, Marshall falls for Francis and complications ensue. All the players are terrific. Miriam Hopkins, who always overacted, works well here in the artificial setting. Marshall is suave and handsome but it is Kay Francis who steals the film. She is superb.
The DVD print is very good and there is an excellent commentary which identifies carefully throughout the film the director's touch while noting the contribution of writer Samson Raphaelson, Lubitsch's main collaborator. In addition, the DVD contains a very funny radio program in which Lubitsch himself appears with Jack Benny and Claudette Colbert. Also included is an interview with Peter Bogdanavich which summarises the importance of Lubitsch, also reflected in the written comments about the director from famous colleagues, directors and historians. Finally, the package includes a rarely seen German silent film, directed in 1917 by Lubitsch. The film is a marital farce and quite funny, an early demonstration of the skill of the director.
Rating: - Do You Believe in Magic?
Supremely light in touch, with an unequalled delicacy and compassion for its characters. The effect is achieved not so much through the acting (the actors are the requisite beautiful, attractive people) as by carefully framed shots that create mood, enhance ambience, develop narrative and express a sophisticated, uncompromising and self deprecatory view of life and the place of human beings within it. A romantic comedy where the romance and the comedy are perfectly balanced - with a little bit of magic as well.
Rating: - Trouble in Paradise
German-born Ernst Lubitsch specialized in soufflé-light, sophisticated comedies that poked sly fun at conventional mores. "Trouble" is one of his best outings, cheerily touting the marvels of sex and riches. Along with the rarefied atmosphere, the snappy dialogue and witty ripostes exemplify what came to be called "The Lubitsch Touch." If you like your chuckles with a touch of class, here's your movie.
Rating: - Trouble in Paradise
Gentleman thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall), gentlewoman thief Lily (Miriam Hopkins) and perfume heiress Madame Mariette Colet (Kay Francis) comprise an elegant romantic triangle in a tale of amour and larceny.
They don't make `em like Ernst Lubitsch's TROUBLE IN PARADISE anymore. The characters are refined and decorous, the script is sophisticated and witty, the movie is made by adults for other, intelligent adults. To paraphrase Peter Bogdanovich in his introduction - How far we have fallen! Watch, listen and read all the extras on this dvd and you too will mourn the passing of the `Lubitsch touch,' even if you're like me and still are a little unclear what exactly the `Lubitsch touch' is. Perhaps Lubitsch was a recognized auteur before there was an auteur theory. In any event, TROUBLE IN PARADISE is a (very good) cocktail-at-the-Ritz movie, and should be seen by anyone who appreciates old movies.
Also on the dvd is DAS FIDELE GEFÄNGNIS (THE MERRY JAIL) 1917, a silent film Lubitsch that must have been made before he was a genius. It's about a drunken wastrel of a husband who is summoned to spend a night in jail. Instead, he attends a party where his disguised wife plays a trick or two on him. Meanwhile one of the wife's suitors, through a series of events not worth relating, spends the night in jail in the husband's stead. The oddest character in this odd and vaguely offensive movie is the jail warder, played by Emil Jannings, whose character is potted throughout the film and spends a fair amount of time kissing and making passes at the male inmates.
The 1940 Screen Guild Theater program is a little more refreshing, especially if you're a fan of Jack Benny, who dominates the proceedings. Lubitsch plays himself in the program, as do the others - Claudette Colbert, Basil Rathbone, and Benny.
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