Ray Pride

For those who missed Ernst Lubitsch's pretty much perfect romantic comedy at the Siskel Film Center last week, "Trouble In Paradise" is now out in a shimmering transfer on a dual-layer Criterion DVD. Working from a script by structure-master Samson Raphaelson, Lubitsch teases every suggestive bit he can from a story about two jewel thieves who fall in love, under false pretenses, while trying to drain the water from Venetian society. Herbert Marshall and Miriam Hopkins are delicious, the complications a pleasure. The DVD includes a decent commentary track by Lubitsch biographer Scott Eyman. Extras include the entirety of Lubitsch's seventeenth film, the 1917 short "The Merry Jail," starring Emil Jannings. There are also brief tributes to Lubitsch from Cameron Crowe, Billy Wilder, Roger Ebert, Wes Anderson and others. The weirdest addition is a video introduction by Peter Bogdanovich, wide-eyed behind owl glasses, dispensing broad, lame impersonations of figures he once met, like French director Jean Renoir. Nothing to complain about, however: one of the most elegant movies you'll ever see looks and sounds better than it ever has on home video.

"Trouble in Paradise" is available now as a Criterion DVD.

(2003-01-08)

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