How Ernst Lubitsch "Invented Modern Hollywood"

Look, I don't proclaim to be the best Hollywood historian out there, but I know that if you're laughing at a comedy, shuddering at a horror movie, or on the edge of your seat in a thriller, you have to get in the way back machine and thank Ernst Lubitsch, who gave us the DNA of modern Hollywood.

I learned all that by watching a ton of the Criterion Collection.

But also from their incredible YouTube videos, where they collect interviews with directors and writers about how Hollywood was formed.

Today, I wanted to show you one in particular, where they talk to legendary director and film historian Peter Bogdanovich, who specifically explores how Lubitsch transformed American cinema from the heavy-handed melodrama of the silent era into the witty, "continental" powerhouse that defined Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Let's dive in.

• YouTubewww.youtube.com

The Legend of the "Lubitsch Touch"

Bogdanovich kicks things off by quoting Jean Renoir, which feels like such a Criterion thing to do. It was Renoir who straight-up credited Lubitsch for creating modern Hollywood.

Before Lubitsch showed up in the mid-20s, American movies were stuck in a "Griffith world."

They were all very melodramatic and a bit heavy. But Lubitsch changed all that by bringing a European vibe that was much more continental, witty, and sophisticated.

It had some class and some nuance that American movies were missing.

You’ve probably heard the phrase "The Lubitsch Touch" before, and that's what they mean by it.

Bogdanovich explained that it was originally a publicist's line, kind of like calling Hitchcock the "Master of Suspense," to describe that special, indefinable quality his movies had that made them different than the rest.

The "Touch" was really about how he handled things like sex. He found a way to be nuanced. And he avoided those early American Puritanical people by being suggestive.

He also made movies that were charming. He knew how to provoke the audience, but he did it with so much class that you couldn't help but love it.

Bogdanovich points out a perfect example of the "Touch" in the opening of the 1932 movie Trouble in Paradise.

The title fades in, saying "Trouble in..." right over a shot of a bed. Before the word "Paradise" even pops up, the audience already gets the joke: Trouble in bed.

• YouTubewww.youtube.com

Billy Wilder’s Obsession

Billy Wilder was obsessed with these Lubitsch movies. They had a massive effect on him, who was also a fellow immigrant to America.

Wilder actually had a sign over his office door that said, "How would Lubitsch have done it?"

Wilder basically felt he owed his entire career to Lubitsch’s influence and all the lessons and groundwork he taught/made with his films.

It’s wild to think Lubitsch was arguably the most famous director from the late 20s through the 40s, but because he died so young, at 55, he’s not as much of a household name today.

If we had gotten a few more modern movies, maybe we'd talk about him more.

Summing It All Up

As filmmakers, we often lean on explicit dialogue or heavy exposition to convey desire or conflict. But if you study Lubitsch, you see the power of indirection.

Your audience is smart; if you let them in on the joke, they'll go anywhere with you.

If you want to level up your visual storytelling, start by asking: "How would Lubitsch have done it?"

And let me know what you think in the comments.