Lady Windermere's Fan (1925)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Ernst Lubitsch

Writers:

Oscar Wilde (play)
Julien Josephson (adaptation)

Release Date:

26 December 1925 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Mrs Erlynne, the mother of Lady Windermere - her daughter does not know about her - wants to be introduced in society...

Plot Keywords:

Mother | Fan | Society | Motherhood | Racetrack

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Ronald Colman	...	Lord Darlington
May McAvoy	...	Lady Windermere
Bert Lytell	...	Lord Windermere
Irene Rich	...	Mrs. Erlynne
Edward Martindel	...	Lord Augustus Lorton (as Edw. Martindel)
Carrie Daumery	...	The Duchess of Berwick (as Mme. Daumery)

Runtime:

Denmark:120 min | USA:120 min (2004 National Film Preservation Foundation print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Canada:G (Ontario) | Portugal:17 (director's cut)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

One of the 50 films in the 3-disk boxed DVD set called "More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894-1931" (2004), compiled by the National Film Preservation Foundation from 5 American film archives. This film is preserved by the Museum of Modern Art, has a running time of 89 minutes and an added piano music score.

Quotes:

Opening title card: Lady Windermere faced the grave problem of seating her dinner guests.

Movie Connections:

Version of El abanico de Lady Windermere (1944)

good, but not Lubitsch's best

I agree with the other reviewers that Lubitsch did a great job reworking parts of Wilde's play to make it suitable for silent film, and adding some of his signature touches. But I don't think the movie stands up to some of his later pieces, such as "Trouble in Paradise" and "Design for Living" (also reworked from a famous play, to good advantage). "Lady Windermere's Fan" is much more slow-paced, which can make it hard for a modern viewer, and not all of the characters are as interesting. However, the performances are good, especially the marvelous Irene Rich (whose high-fashion costumes are endlessly entertaining), the production values are high, and if you have the patience, you will be rewarded with some nice little bits of Lubitsch's social observation. It's interesting to consider how drastically attitudes toward male-female relations have changed over the decades: the film's plot depends on beliefs that have mostly, and rightfully, vanished. In contrast to convention, Lubitsch obviously enjoyed helping Rich create an older woman who was fascinating and sexually powerful.