The dazzling pirouettes of Lubitsch's visual style throughout The Oyster Princess are always in the service of pure humor rather than self-concious artistry, though unforced cinematic artistry is present in abundance.
--Joseph McBride, How Did Lubitsch Do It?
Although I have admiration for Lubitsch's German films I don't think they come even close to the beauty and style of his American films, which began with Rosita in 1923. The Oyster Princess has some successful satire of the wealthy, as the princess (touchingly played by Ossi Oswalda) and her father (Victor Janson) are attended to by dozens of servants for every purpose, including holding the father's giant cigar between puffs, and the importance of nobility, as the princess wants to marry a prince, no matter how poor. There are many of Lubitsch's touches throughout the film but they exist for their own sake rather than as integral to the plot and style of the film, as they became in the American films. We even see a precursor to the delightful dancing in Lubitsch's American films (such as 1934's The Merry Widow) in "the Foxtrot Epidemic" in The Oyster Princess, with wild dancing by the wedding guests as well as the cooks and servants, led by the incredible gyrating of the orchestra leader. Oswalda is charming indeed but too much of the humor consists of episodic dipsomania as well as peeking through keyholes.
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