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Key words: Ernst Lubitsch, Paul Davidson, Emil Jannings, Pola Negri, Ufa, EFA, Paramount, Adolph Zukor, Mary Pickford, German silent films, Anna Boleyn, Madame Dubarry, Die Bergkatze, Das Weib des Pharao, Die Flamme, Rosita.
One episode in Ernst Lubitsch's career is covered only vaguely in the books and articles devoted to his life and films: the years 1920 and 1921, just before he left Germany to work in America.1 It was a crucial moment in German film history, because in 1921 Paramount began its attempt to conquer the German market by founding a parallel company called the Europäische Film-Allianz (EFA). This episode has not been examined in any detail, not even as part of the history of UFA or relationships between the American and German film industries in the twenties.2 The most insight into this topic to date can be found in two articles by Jan- Christopher Horak, but neither goes into much detail because of the difficulty of finding sources of information. 3 The EFA files do not seem to have survived, and so its story can only be reconstructed by studying and comparing the notices, comments and announcements that appeared in the German and American trade press. It is on the basis of those sources that this essay tries to provide a new understanding of the events that led to the "invasion" of German films into America and the first Germans coming to work in Hollywood. It also portrays an ambitious Lubitsch, who advances his career at the expense of his mentor Paul Davidson, left behind as "collateral damage".
December 1920 was a month of great importance for the German film industry, with far-reaching consequences. On the one hand, two films by its star director Ernst Lubitsch had exceptionally successful premieres: on 12 December Passion (as Madame Dubarry was called in the United States) had its American premiere at New York's Capitol Theatre, going on to break attendance records.4 In Berlin two days later, the premiere of Lubitsch's newest film, Anna Boleyn, was sold out at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo cinema and treated as a national event.5 The premiere had enormous advance publicity, including President Ebert's visit to the set while the film was being shot.6 But on the other hand, alarming news...