Ich möchte kein Mann sein

Quite transgressive crossdressing comedy with some fun drunken antics and barely contained homoerotism. Not Lubitsch's best work even from this early era but still very watchable. Compartively weak narrative structure & pace but Ossi Oswalda is good enough to carry this kind of material. The way it satirises gender roles is interesting even when dreadfully dated and not that funny.

The plot's straightforward, the three-act structure is unnecessary, and the 45 minute runtime means everything's wrapped up quickly. But I was shocked at just how relatable, engaging, and genuinely funny this is almost 100 years later. Enjoyable time.

There may be various things which Ossi Oswalda (that ever-favored lead of Lubitsch's early days) may want to be or not to be at various points here, but my, are all of them inhabited with gusto in an all-smoking, all-drinking, all-dancing silent where "proper young lady" is the one identity off the menu. (In this film's truest orthogonality to convention, Lubitsch scandalously swings up-and-down for the rocking boat gag rather than side-to-side while shipping off Ossi's uncle.)

Pretty enjoyable early silent Lubitsch. I'm not sure how much of this kind of comedy was getting made at this time. Most of the comedy from this period I'm familiar with is in the Arbuckle/Keaton/Chaplin mold, but this is very much Lubitsch, a comedy of errors/social comedy covering some ground and taking some chances that are pretty shocking for a 100+ year old movie. Obviously some of that doesn't hold up great (though better than you might think), but it's an interesting film.

Viewed June 7, 2021.

This was a very fun little romantic comedy that came out in 1918 and the set up and Hijinx are still being used today. Girl pretends to be a boy, meets a boy, kisses boy and the. The boy finds out that the boy he kissed is really a girl the end.

Enjoyable and surprisingly subversive with a man kissing a (girl dressed up as) young man.

Goofy gender-swapping romp. The humor doesn't hold up so well but it's well-paced and short with a few very funny moments to carry it through.

Wow! Lots of fun. Crossdressing and homoeroticism and intense amounts of sheer giddy delight from the leading lady. Very recommended.

Interesting how 95 years can turn a seemingly progressive movie into something slightly less so. For every effective aspect of the social commentary there's an awkwardly dated one unconsciously reinforcing gender roles. It's still an interesting aspect to the film. The comedy, though, remains incredibly strong so it's a pretty great film overall, even if it shows its age a bit.

Surprisingly daring for a 1910s film about homosexuality and cross-dressing, pretty entertaining also.