Dapper ‘Trouble’ Is Golden Age Gem

Ernst Lubitsch didn’t start out as the champagne cocktail of comedy directors. His work in Europe during the silent era resulted in dramas such as “Madame Dubarry” and “Anne Boleyn,” both historical epics known for their sweep.

But Lubitsch turned to humor later in his career, especially after he came to the States and began an association with Paramount. In 1932, Lubitsch made “Trouble in Paradise” for the studio. It was the best in a string of fine comedies.

“Trouble in Paradise,” which screens Friday as part of UC Irvine’s “Tragedy and Comedy” series, wasn’t the first film that had them talking about “the Lubitsch touch,” but it came to be known as the most recognizable example of his style.

Sexy elegance, sophisticated talk, shimmering irony and artistic brevity are the features of that style. There were Gable’s ears, Garbo’s mystery and Lubitsch’s touch, all symbols of Hollywood’s so-called Golden Age.

The trouble in this particular paradise comes in the dapper forms of Gaston (Herbert Marshall) and Lily (Miriam Hopkins), a pair of slick jewel thieves who practice their trade among Europe’s elite. The picture starts out with Gaston and Lily meeting under typical circumstances. She has lifted his watch and wallet, and he has pick-pocketed her pin and garters.

After discovering they have similarly larcenous souls and are more than a little attracted to each other, Gaston and Lily team up. They pick a target almost immediately. She’s pretty Mariette (Kay Francis), a widow who runs a perfume company and just happens to need a secretary.

Gaston smooth-talks his way into the job and Mariette’s life, hoping to slip away with a sizable portion of her money. He doesn’t plan on falling for her, though, and that just adds to the trouble, especially where Lily is concerned.

There’s a light fizz to almost every scene that can be attributed to Lubitsch’s easy merging of many cinematic elements from sound to camera movement to editing to set design. The dialogue by screenwriters Grover Jones and Samson Raphaelson has verve, but Lubitsch’s main talent is in implying a feeling or explaining a situation without overstatement.

Beyond creating witty entertainment, Lubitsch is credited with helping bridge the difficult gap between silents and talkies. In particular, his use of music to create mood is considered important in that evolution.

Lubitsch, as with his contemporaries, directors such as King Vidor and Rene Clair, realized that the soundtrack could be more than just an empty space reserved for gab. His use of music--at times insistent, other times subtle and cajoling, but always true to the scene’s flavor--gave his movies a certain refinement.

What: Ernst Lubitsch’s “Trouble in Paradise.”

When: Friday, Feb. 18, at 7 and 9 p.m.

Where: The UC Irvine Student Center Crystal Cove Auditorium, Campus Drive and Bridge Road.

Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (405) Freeway to Jamboree Road and head south to Campus Drive and take a left. Turn right on Bridge Road and head onto the campus.

Wherewithal: $2 and $4.

Where to call: (714) 856-6379.