Ernst Lubitsch's Rosita (1923)

Rosita has an engagingly vivacious central character, some amusing sexual intrigue, and emotional scenes that alternate between the overwrought and the quietly touching. 

Joseph McBride, How Did Lubitsch Do It?

Mary Pickford in the 1920's was one of the most powerful people in Hollywood and was responsible for bringing Lubitsch to America from Germany  Originally they were going to make a version of Goethe's Faust but for various reasons -- including anti-German sentiment still alive after the world war -- they settled on Rosita instead, based on a play by Phillipe Dumanoir, taking place in a mythical 18th century Seville.  For reasons still unclear Pickford disliked the final film and didn't save a print, as she did with all her other films.  It was considered a lost film (like 90% of silent films) until a print was discovered in Russia and restored by the Museum of Modern Art.  This was the Rosita that was recently shown on Turner Classic Movies.

Rosita is a combination of humor and drama as only Lubitsch could do it.  Pickford is a street singer who mocks the king for his high taxes.  The king (played by Holbrook Blinn, who looks rather like Lubitsch) hears her sing and brings Rosita and her impoverished family to the palace (beautifully designed by Seven Gade and William Cameron Menzies) in an attempt to make her his mistress.  But Rosita falls in love with Don Diego (George Walsh), who saved her life and who the king had condemned to death.  Rosita pleads for Diego's life and the king agrees to spare it and then changes his mind when he realizes how attracted to Diego Rosita is.  But the queen, who is aware of the king's passion for Rosita, countermands the king's order and Rosita and Diego are reunited.

This was Pickford's attempt to play a grownup after years of playing young girls.  Although she is delightful in the film, which was financially successful, she felt it wasn't what the public wanted and clashed with Lubitsch, who stuck to his own vision of the work, with its subtle behavioral nuances, such as Pickford's circling a bowl of fruit when she is first brought to the palace, unsure whether it's okay to eat a piece. The film is beautifully lit and photographed by Charles Rosher, who three years later was the cinematographer for Murnau's Sunrise.