First of the major German directors brought to Hollywood, Ernst Lubitsch did a quick pivot from FAUST to much lighter fare when Mary Pickford’s mother discovered Goethe’s play was considerably darker than the Gounod opera. (She murders her own child!) Internationally famous at the time for epics that gave hormones to historical figures, here Lubitsch goosed Pickford’s career out of the doldrums. It worked so well, commercially and critically, Mary later came to resent its success.* Seen now, without that background, the first two acts, while excitingly staged on gorgeous sets (dynamic masses filling the streets of Old Seville), and knowingly played as Mary’s feral street-singer attracts the wandering eye of libidinous King Holbrook Blinn, it’s pretty lightweight stuff. Or is until the stakes get raised in a third act largely stolen from TOSCA. (Less the Puccini opera than LA TOSCA, the Sardou/Sarah Bernhardt play.) Suddenly with something dramatic to play (King promises a 'mock execution' of a political prisoner to gain Mary’s sexual favors, then secretly reneges on the deal), it all comes spectacularly alive in unusual vertical compositions that place principals in the lower third of the frame to accentuate the massive sets. (Cinematographer Charles Rosher seamlessly working in matte shots and various optical tricks.) That’s Raoul Walsh’s kid brother George as the handsome prisoner and Irene Rich as a knowing Queen to put things right for a happy ending Sardou never thought of.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: And paid fast, as MoMA’s restored print (see LINK below) is available to museum members online for free only till Nov. 3rd. Hopefully, a proper video release will follow.
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY/LINK: *Pickford turned against ROSITA in later years (perhaps having ceded artistic control made it all too hard to swallow the critical & commercial success) and it became one of the few titles she didn’t bother to maintain properly. The sole surviving print, from a Russian archive, has been miraculously resurrected and is introduced by MoMA film curator Dave Kehr on this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ2iZ9Sofl4
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