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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Die Austernprinzessin (aka The Oyster Princess) (1919)

The daughter (Ossi Oswalda) of the wealthy "Oyster King" (Victor Janson) throws a fit destroying furniture because she is yet unmarried and not only that, but she wants to be married to royalty. To this end, her father hires a matchmaker (Max Kronert) to find her a suitable match. This zany comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch is a mish mash of slapstick and sophisticated farce. Chaplin meets Feydeau so you're not supposed to look for logic or realism in the plot. The visual highlight of the film is probably the delightful wedding feast's foxtrot sequence but there's much to appreciate in this confection. At a brief running time of just over an hour, less is more. A fine example of the Lubitsch touch. With Harry Liedtke as the Prince and Julius Falkenstein as his best friend.

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