The Oyster Princess

In this acerbic Weimar-era satire, Ernst Lubitsch constructs a grotesque monument to industrial excess and the commodification of nobility. Mister Quaker, an American 'Oyster King' whose wealth has reached a point of surreal redundancy, finds himself besieged by the whims of his tempestuous daughter, Ossi. Driven by a competitive desire to outshine a rival heiress who married a count, Ossi demands a prince of her own. Enter Prince Nucki, a disenfranchised aristocrat living in squalor, who represents the decaying remnants of European tradition. Nucki dispatches his valet, Josef, to investigate the potential match, leading to a frantic comedy of errors where class distinctions are blurred by mistaken identities and sheer architectural grandiosity. The narrative unfolds within cavernous, expressionistic sets that dwarf the human form, culminating in a bacchanalian celebration of the 'Fox Trot' where the American dollar and the German title perform a dizzying, drunken dance of mutual convenience.