The Oyster Princess

The Oyster Princess (German: Die Austernprinzessin) is a 1919 German silent comedy film directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Victor Janson, Ossi Oswalda and Harry Liedtke. It is a grotesque comedy in four acts about an American millionaire's spoiled daughter's marriage that does not go as planned.[1][2][3][4] It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin.[5] The film's sets were designed by the art director Kurt Richter, a frequent collaborator of Lubitsch.

The Oyster Princess
Directed byErnst Lubitsch
Written by
Produced byPaul Davidson
Starring
CinematographyTheodor Sparkuhl
Music byAljoscha Zimmermann
Production
company
Distributed byUFA
Release date
  • 26 June 1919 (1919-06-26) (Germany)
Running time
60 minutes
CountryWeimar Republic
LanguageSilent film

Plot

The film opens in the mansion where Mr. Quaker, the American “Oyster King,” resides with his unmarried daughter, Ossi, accompanied by a large staff of butlers. After hearing about a rival debutante's recent royal marriage, Ossi throws a tantrum. Also competitive, Mr. Quaker promises his daughter that he will find a suitable royal for her to marry. They engage a matchmaker, who locates Prince Nucki, an indebted down-on-his-luck royal, who hides his wealth from his poorer friends and his poverty from his wealthier associates. Hoping that the match could improve his financial situation, Prince Nucki agrees to send his friend Josef to meet Ossi oh his behalf.

When Josef arrives at the Quakers’ residence, he accidentally provides Prince Nucki's calling card as his own. Ossi isn't impressed with the visitor, but, eager to be married and believing Josef to be the prince, she rushes them to a priest, where Ossi is immediately married to Josef, under Prince Nucki's name. A rushed but well-attended wedding reception follows the quick marriage. Both Mr. Quaker and Ossi aren't fond of her new husband, but Josef thoroughly enjoys the rousing party, which features a “Foxtrot epidemic” that causes the whole house, including staff, to break into dance.

Meanwhile, after a night of carousing with friends, the real Prince Nucki stumbles into a carriage that takes him to a meeting of the Multi-Millionaires’ Daughters Association Against Dipsomania, of which Ossi is a member. There, the two meet and are immediately smitten. Not yet knowing each other's identities, both are distraught, she believing herself to be recently married and he believing himself to be betrothed. Josef finds them together and, laughing, asks, “Do you know that you two are married to each other?“ The happy couple celebrate with a second, much smaller reception, and in the end, Ossi, Prince Nucki, and Mr. Quaker are all pleased with the match.

Cast

Home media releases

In 2007, the film was released on DVD by Kino Lorber as part of the box set "Lubitsch in Berlin" with English intertitles. This release includes a soundtrack composed by Aljoscha Zimmermann.[6]

In 2010, it was released on DVD by Eureka Entertainment in their Masters of Cinema series, as part of the box set "Lubitsch in Berlin: Fairy-Tales, Melodramas, and Sex Comedies" with German intertitles and English subtitles. In 2017, Eureka re-released this box set on Blu-ray with the original German intertitles and English subtitles.[7]

References
  1. "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  2. "Foxtrot Epidemy - Die Austernprinzessin [The Oyster Princess] (1919) Ernst Lubitsch". YouTube. 2015-09-12. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  3. "Die Austernprinzessin - Ernst Lubitsch 1919". YouTube. 2007-11-16. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  4. "YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  5. McCormick, Richard W. (2020). Sex, Politics, and Comedy: The Transnational Cinema of Ernst Lubitsch (PDF). Indiana University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-253-04833-2.
  6. Deutsche Kinemathek profile
  7. "Lubitsch in Berlin: Six Films 1918-1921 (Blu-ray)". Eureka. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
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