Эрнст Любич: Голливудтың тарлан суретшісі

German American film director

Ernst Lubitsch ('/l//uː//b//ɪ//tʃ/; January 29, 1892November 30, 1947) was a German born American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch". Among his best known works are Trouble in Paradise (1932), Design for Living (1933), Ninotchka (1939), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), To Be or Not to Be (1942) and Heaven Can Wait (1943). He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director three times for The Patriot (1928), The Love Parade (1929), and Heaven Can Wait (1943). In 1946, he received an Honorary Academy Award for his distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture.

Lubitsch was born in 1892 in Berlin, the son of Simon Lubitsch, a tailor, and Anna (née) Lindenstaedt. His family was Ashkenazi Jewish; his father was born in Grodno in the Russian Empire (now Belarus), and his mother was from Wriezen outside Berlin. He turned his back on his father's tailoring business to enter the theater, and by 1911 was a member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater.

In 1913, Lubitsch made his film debut as an actor in The Ideal Wife. He gradually abandoned acting to concentrate on directing. He appeared in approximately 30 films as an actor between 1912 and 1920. His last film appearance as an actor was in the 1920 drama Sumurun, opposite Pola Negri and Paul Wegener, which he also directed. In 1918, he made his mark as a serious director with Die Augen der Mumie Ma (The Eyes of the Mummy), starring Pola Negri. Lubitsch alternated between escapist comedies and large scale historical dramas, enjoying great international success with both. His reputation as a grand master of world cinema reached a new peak after the release of his spectacles Madame Du Barry (retitled Passion, 1919) and Anna Boleyn (Deception, 1920). Both of these films found American distributorship by early 1921. They, along with Lubitsch's Carmen (released as Gypsy Blood in the U. S. in 1921) were selected by The New York Times on its list of the 15 most important movies of 1921. With glowing reviews under his belt and American money flowing his way, Lubitsch formed his own production company and set to work on the high budget spectacular The Loves of Pharaoh (1921). Lubitsch sailed to the United States for the first time in December 1921 for what was intended as a lengthy publicity and professional factfinding tour, scheduled to culminate in the February premiere of Pharaoh. However, with World War I still fresh, and with a slew of German "New Wave" releases encroaching on American movie workers' livelihoods, Lubitsch was not gladly received. He cut his trip short after little more than three weeks and returned to Germany. But he had already seen enough of the American film industry to know that its resources far outstripped the spartan German companies.

Lubitsch finally left Germany for Hollywood in 1922, contracted as a director by Mary Pickford. He directed Pickford in the film Rosita; the result was a critical and commercial success, but director and star clashed during its filming, and it ended up as the only project that they made together. A free agent after just one American film, Lubitsch was signed to a remarkable three year, six picture contract by Warner Brothers that guaranteed the director his choice of both cast and crew, and full editing control over the final cut. Settling in America, Lubitsch established his reputation for sophisticated comedy with such stylish films as The Marriage Circle (1924), Lady Windermere's Fan (1925), and So This Is Paris (1926). But his films were only marginally profitable for Warner Brothers, and Lubitsch's contract was eventually dissolved by mutual consent, with Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Paramount buying out the remainder. His first film for MGM, The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927), was well regarded, but lost money. The Patriot (1928), produced by Paramount, earned him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Directing.

Lubitsch next directed That Uncertain Feeling (1941), a remake of his 1925 film Kiss Me Again; an independent production by Lubitsch with Sol Lesser, it was not a commercial success. Lubitsch followed with a film that has become one of his best regarded comedies, To Be or Not to Be, a witty, dark and insightful film about a troupe of actors in Nazi occupied Poland. He spent the balance of his career at 20th Century Fox, but a heart condition curtailed his activity, and he spent much of his time in supervisory capacities. His next picture was Heaven Can Wait (1943), his first color film and another Raphaelson collaboration. His last film, That Lady in Ermine with Betty Grable, was completed by Otto Preminger and released posthumously in 1948. When leaving Lubitsch's funeral, William Wyler said "No more Lubitsch." Billy Wilder responded "Worse than that. No more Lubitsch pictures." Lubitsch is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. On February 8, 1960, Lubitsch received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the motion pictures industry, at 7040 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

In 1946, he received an Honorary Academy Award for his distinguished contributions to the art of the motion picture. He was nominated three times for Best Director.