Over coming weekends, Tauranga Film Society is showing a series of silent films, by German director Ernst Lubitsch, at the top of Mt Drury, Mount Maunganui.
Ernst Lubitsch made romantic comedies, which often lampooned upper-crust German society of the 1920’s.
The screenings will be held on Saturday evenings, on 22nd and 29th October, starting at dusk, 8:00pm. People can arrive early for a picnic dinner at the top of Mt Drury. It’s free admission to the general public, although a $5 donation per person is suggested to cover the costs of the projection equipment.
If the weather is wet, the films will be postponed to the following Saturdays. Please watch this blog for updates. I’ll also post more information about the films over the coming week.
Saturday 22nd October:
A double-feature running 110 minutes.
Lubitsch’s 1920 I Don’t Want to be Man.
Our heroine, Ossi, is a rambunctious young woman who smokes, gambles and drinks. When her strict new guardian clamps down on her fun she sneaks out for a night on the town disguised as an eligible young bachelor. However all that drinking, cigar smoking, and dancing with young ladies proves to be harder work than she expected.
Lubitsch’s 1919 The Oyster Princess.
Another strong willed girl, Oswalda, impulsively decides she absolutely must marry a prince – right now. The spoilt heiress, in a case of mistaken identity, ends up marrying the prince’s servant instead.
Saturday 29th October:
Lubitsch's 84 minute, 1922 feature The Wild Cat. In a merciless spoof of the military, our heroine is Rischka, the rough mannered daughter of a bandit leader. Her counterpoint is the foppish young Lieutenant Alexis, freshly transferred from a city garrison. As we earlier saw him leave the city, hundreds of tearful ladies bade him farewell, declaring “You have served us well.” His prowess is in ample evidence, as dozens of young children cheer; “Goodbye! Daddy!”
It’s a slapstick masterpiece, and it’s no exaggeration to call it a direct ancestor of Monty Python.
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