“Although not yet perfectly shaped or finished, this group (of films) shows how quickly Lubitsch developed a film style, with witty direction of actors, an ever-growing awareness of the importance of settings and a predilection for risqué situations.... Here we see Lubitsch beginning to make ‘musical' films!” --John Gillett, British Film Institute
The Merry Jail (Ein Fideles Gefängnis)
Set in pre-World War I Vienna, The Merry Jail is based on the Strauss operetta, Die Fledermaus, and features Emil Jannings, Lubitsch and Ossi Oswalda. Enno Patalas notes, "The reworking of Die Fledermaus, with Emil Jannings in the jailer's role, is the second Lubitsch film with this actor, who was to become his 'alter ego' on the screen. Jannings' stoutness was a visual and dramatic element for Lubitsch--as were the masses of extras in his later film epics. As the critic Herbert Jhering observed, his structural concept determined what his camera saw."