Cinematic Discoveries Resonating with the Themes of The Merry Widow...

Dir: Ernst Lubitsch

Gaston finally succeeds as a dramatist and decides to leave his wife and child for another woman. When the child dies, the finger is pointed at him and he winds up as a destitute before all is revealed.

Dir: Unknown Director

The Judge needs a present for his wife's birthday, so Harry suggests a new corset. They go to the shop, but he's so embarrassed to ask the saleslady he hides in a phone booth.Harry goes in, but finds a GUY wearing one, and runs out.They both dress as women to get back in, but Mrs. Rummy gets there and chases him out.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of A Fitting Gift perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Ernst Lubitsch

After WWI, German cinema shifted from comedies to serious themes. Silent expressionist films like "Caligari" and "Carmen" gained international recognition.

Dir: Reggie Morris

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Carmen perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Richard Smith

Two female candidates for Chief of Police live across the hall from each other, and their political rivalry follows them home, leading to plenty of hi-jinks.

Dir: Ernst Lubitsch

The story of Madame DuBarry, the mistress of Louis XV of France, and her loves in the time of the French revolution.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Striking Models perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Ernst Lubitsch

A fascinating piece of cinema that shares thematic elements.

Dir: Maurice Campbell

Carver Endicott, a young sophisticate, is rejected by his fiancée for being too foppish and dull. When she feigns an interest in his father, Carver attempts to disgrace his family name by working as a farmhand and later as a busboy in a hotel. However, the newspapers only praise him for his self-sacrificing principles; and finding that he cannot bring shame to the family through menial labor, he takes up with a notorious actress. But when this maneuver also fails, he returns to his former fiancée, who has no further complaint about his being an inexperienced dullard.

A visual fragment from the archive: The thematic resonance of Lunatics in Politics perfectly mirrors the editorial trajectory of our deep dive.

Dir: Ernst Lubitsch

In Southern Bavaria, Xaver wants to marry Gretel, but her father Kohlhiesel insists his elder daughter Liesel marry first. Liesel is shunned as too brutal. Seppel suggests marrying Liesel first, ridding her, then wedding Gretel.

Dir: Ernst Lubitsch

Forced into marriage by his uncle, a man decides to fool him by marrying a life-like mechanical doll instead.