Kohlhiesels Töchter

Amongst the most commercially successful of Lubitsch’s German films, this is an “adaptation” of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew transposed to 19th-century Bavaria. The film follows two sisters; Gretel is pretty and agreeable; Liesel is plain and obstinate (Henny Porten plays both). Tradition dictates that the younger sister cannot marry before the older and something must be done before both sisters are condemned to spinsterhood! Theodor Sparkuhl’s innovative camera techniques add extra punch to this underrated early Lubitsch film. With Emil Jannings.