Als ich tot war (Short 1916)

Als ich tot war: Directed by Ernst Lubitsch. With Ernst Lubitsch, Louise Schenrich, Helene Voß, Julius Falkenstein. Husband is hounded by his nagging mother-in-law who lives with him and his wife. After coming home drunk one night he is kicked out by the mother-in-law. He disguises himself as a servant and gets a job at his own house.

“Ernst Lubitsch writes, stars and directs in one of his earliest features Wo ist mein Schatz—a humble and charming one-note comedy about a man stuck between his rock and a hard place; the mother-in- law. It is, I believe, his earliest surviving feature known about today, and while it doesnu0026#39;t quite showcase the future-famed directoru0026#39;s skills quite as strikingly as Madame DuBarry would just a few years later, thereu0026#39;s still enough here to make for an amusing and light-hearted half-hour. Louise Schenrich is charming and aloof as Der Gatteu0026#39;s (Lubitsch) easily-tempered wife and Lanchen Voss is notably subdued in her portrayal of a demanding and manipulative mother-in-law. Lubitsch himself is the central star however and his performance is at times a joy to watch, even if his disregard for the u0026quot;third wallu0026quot; borders on the absurd. Most importantly though, thereu0026#39;s a moral to the story here. Never share a house of matrimony with your loveru0026#39;s mother, and if your wife kicks up about your interest in attending a chess tournament until one in the morning, offer to take up being a barfly instead.”