Kiss me one more time

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Movie
German title Kiss me one more time
Original title Kiss Me Again
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1925
Rod
Director Ernst Lubitsch
script Hanns Kräly based
on the play " Divorçons! " (1880) by Émile de Najac and Victorien Sardou
production Warner Bros., Burbank, Cal.
camera Charles Van Enger
occupation

Kiss me again is an American silent film love comedy from 1925 by Ernst Lubitsch .

action

Paris, in the 1920s. Gaston and Loulou Fleury are married to each other and live a solid married life seemingly without ups and downs. One day his wife Loulou, who was always a little flighty and dissatisfied, fell in love with an impoverished piano player named Maurice Ferriere, who for her initially meant a new challenge and a change from her love life, which was perceived as a deadlock. In the high intoxication of her newly awakened feelings, Loulou finally even demands a divorce from Gaston. But the gallant and shrewd Gaston, who knows his wife inside out, reacts differently than expected: not only does he not get upset, he even thinks about it in the presence of the lawyer Dr. Dubois, how best to get a divorce. A reason for divorce is needed. How about if he slapped his wife the moment the stenographer entered the room. Loulou is stunned that Gaston is obviously so calm. When the young Grizette then steps in as an impartial witness to the incident, Gaston is no longer able to commit this small "act of violence". Again and again he twitches his hand, which doesn’t want to hit his wife’s cheek, and… slides past Loulou. No, you have to find another reason for the alleged breakdown of the marriage, and after all, neither of the two spouses wants to sit in front of the bench as a defendant.

When Loulou goes out to dinner with her Maurice, Gaston quickly grabs the sweet, very young Grizette to imitate his wife. Gaston has been staying in a hotel while the divorce is ongoing. Since he needs his evening suit for supper with Grizette and it is still hanging in his dressing room at home, he has no choice but to sneak secretly into his old domicile. To make matters worse, Loulou and her Maurice are right next door, in the salon. It is unmistakable that Loulou is already bored with her new conquest and wants to get rid of Maurice as quickly as possible. This is just right for Gaston, but he doesn't want to make it too easy for his wife and plays the Gockel, who falls in love with Grizette, when the two couples suddenly meet later in the restaurant. When the financially struggling Maurice searches the wine list for the cheapest booze, you can easily tell on Loulou's facial expression: she has finally had enough of the guy. From then on, she does everything she can to get rid of her short-term lover and win back Gaston. It happens as it has to: one day Loulou pleads with Gaston to take it back. He acts generously, but then doesn't let her fidget any longer and takes his wife in his arms. There is a great reconciliation.

Production notes

Kiss Me Again premiered on August 1, 1925 in the United States. According to the IMDb, the film premiered in Germany in December of the same year; However, the program booklet of the Illustrierte Film-Kurier (No. 403) published at the beginning of 1926 (probably February 1926) suggests a later German premiere.

The film, a by-work by Lubitsch, is considered lost. In 1940 he made a remake of his own film with Melvyn Douglas and Merle Oberon under the title Marriage Comedy .

Reviews

In the New York Times , star critic Mordaunt Hall dealt with the Lubitsch film. There it said on August 3, 1925: "Kiss Me Again" has numerous nifty and delightful moments, the most outstanding when Mr. Lubitsch lets a rain shower arise naturally. The average director lets a whole flood of rain come along shortly after a cursory glance the sky covered by dark clouds, which was torn open by flashes of light. Mr. Lubitsch cleverly shows us only a few puddles of rain on the pedestrian path, and even when the shower begins, it is described as a very ordinary precipitation and not as a downpour. (... ) This is an admirable production in which you can see Lubitsch's genius. It's just a shame that the story is so easy to read. "

Halliwell's Film Guide characterized the film as follows: “Excellent silent film comedy based on an old tabloid farce”.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kiss Me Again in the New York Times
  2. ↑ In the original: "" Kiss Me Again "has many deft and delightful touches, the outstanding one being where Mr. Lubitsch depicts a rain shower in a natural way. The average director resorts to a deluge after a glimpse at darkening skies torn by streaks of lightning. Mr. Lubitsch craftily shows a few spots of rain on the pavement, and even when the shower comes it is pictured as an ordinary rainfall and not as a cloudburst. (...) This is an admirable production in which one sees Lubitsch's genius. The only pity is that the story is so transparent. "
  3. ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 564.
  4. ↑ In the original: "Excellent silent comedy from an old boulevard farce."

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