The Wildcat

source: The Wildcat

Moviecut—The Wildcat

Die Bergkatze

THE WILDCAT is another silly movie by Ernst Lubitsch, and I wasn't expecting that I would like it that much, considering some of his other silly silent movies are too odd for my taste - and the first act of this one admittedly had me further confirming my prejudices, as I was continuing to expect an awful end result. But THE WILDCAT is actually pretty sweet, it had nice landscapes, had me chuckle many times and it is above all nice and silly.

"Die Bergkatze" or "The Wild Cat" is a German 80-minute silent film from almost 100 years ago. This was directed by filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch when he moved from acting to directing (and writing in this case too), but still a couple years before his big breakthrough in Hollywood. Lead actress and title character is Pola Negri in here, who was already quite a star back then despite her young age. And of course, it is a black-and-white film. There are some dramatic moments in here, but it is mostly a comedy. Unfortunately I must say I never thought this was a truly funny or entertaining watch. Most of the moments felt like unfunny scenes from Chaplin or Lloyd films from a couple years earlier already. Fairly disappointing overall and I do not recommend the watch. Negri also did not impress me much and the only memorable thing here is how much she resembles the young Helena Bonham Carter. Not recommended.

Very early and primitive comedy, amateurishly photographed on Dr. Caligari-esque sets (many of the outdoor shots look more like home movies) and with a few too many Keystone Cops-like running around antics for it to have dated well. Having said that, there are flashes of the Lubitsch Touch, with witty title cards and plenty of his patented subversive naughtiness in a number of scenes, the best being the dashing lieutenant departing for his new assignment and being waved off by literally hundreds of his ex-lovers (and children). The lieutenant himself, though, is not nearly attractive enough, and you can feel how badly Ernst was in need of a lead with the charm and star power of Maurice Chevalier. Perhaps best viewed as a film student project of a great later director, The Wildcat is still a likeable and sporadically amusing bit of fun, even a hundred years on.

Viewing "The Wildcat," is like watching a live action Max Fleischer cartoon. Like those early animated wonders, this comedy is full of goofy characters and creative direction. The cast, especially Pola Negri and Paul Heidemann show no fear in bringing Lubitsch's wild vision to life, which include some truly laugh out loud moments. While the Fleischer cartoons are only around seven minutes long, "The Wildcat," struggles at times to maintain its energy for a feature length film. The pros of this movie far out weigh the cons, though, and if you're looking for a non-traditional silent film that will put a smile upon your face, then you need to search no further.

A military fort is waiting for the arrival of their new lieutenant, but he is captured on his way by a gang of outlaws. To make matters worse for everyone involved, the outlaw leader's daughter has taken a shine to the man. The Kino DVD calls this film a "playfully subversive satire of military life" and claims that it not only foreshadows the later Lubitsch films (which is obvious), but could be called an "ancestor" to Monty Python and Woody Allen. That may or may not be a fair assessment. This is, in my estimation, not the best Lubitsch comedy, even amongst his early work. I much preferred "The Oyster Princess". Either way, 1920s silent comedy is usually seen as dominated by Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, with Harold Lloyd sometimes getting an honorable mention. We need to mention Lubitsch more. He may not have had the physical comedy in his films that these other three did, but he was no less of a genius.

One of the better of Lubitsch's rough mountain comedies, with Pola Negri as the wild daughter of the bandit chief (all of the the bandits' possessions are festooned with skulls, to show how dangerous they are) who falls in love with the handsome lieutenant brought in to marry the daughter of the corpulent and ineffectual colonel of the fort. Like his other mountain comedies -- MEYER FROM BERLIN, ROMEO AND JULIET IN THE SNOW and KOHLHEISEL'S DAUGHTER -- it is a very broad comedy, with much falling down in the snow. In those days, Lubitsch would shoot half a dozen films a year for UFA, and one would always be a mountain comedy shot on site in Bavaria, where he liked to take a working vacation every winter. They were not polished and witty pieces like The Oyster Princess and The Doll, but they were very popular.