The film opens with Maurice Chevailer having the cuckolded walk in on
him and his mistress. The woman shoots herself. The husband shoots
Maurice. Having survived, Maurice summarizes that the gun is loaded
with blanks. The husband, duly relieved, takes his wife in his arms and
out of the room. MC tosses the gun into a drawer filled with similar
numbers.
This is the definition of the Lubitsch touch.
MC has to leave town. he sings to the nieghborhood women, who will miss
him. Then, so does his butler. Then, so does his dog, and then the three
join in for the final verse. The dog sings to his lovers.
There’s
something so appealing about a film for Americans that makes
foriegn-ness a hot thing, an exciting thing. Eugene Pallete is also one of the greatest things to ever happen to the
world of cinema. If you haven’t seen him in The Lady Eve, then you’re
not living life to its fullest. Fury is a form of flirting in the film. Everything
is a form of seduction. The film ends with the sublimation
of the woman/queen, or the earnest embrace of partnership by both
parties. Depends on how you want to read it. As long as the characters are happy in bed together, everything else can be sorted out, according to Lubitsch.