Special Subject – Max Ophuls in Italy and the Netherlands – LA SIGNORA DI TUTTI (1934) and KOMEDIE OM GELD (1936)

For this Special Subject episode, we looked at a couple of interventions in European national cinemas by Max Ophüls, La signora di tutti (1934), made in Italy, and Komedie om geld (1936), made in the Netherlands. Although not generally associated with radical politics, or politics at all, in these two early, lesser-known films Ophüls uses melodrama and comedy respectively to explore commodification, reification, and commodity fetishism. But don't worry, there's also a five-star melodrama staircase death and a con artist with a cute dog. And in our So This Is Sarris segment, we're moved to ask Why So Sarri(ou)s, Andrew?  Time Codes: 0h 00m 20s:    Brief Ophuls Opener 0h 03m 50s:    LA SIGNORA DI TUTTI (1934) [dir. Max Ophuls] 0h 41m 13s:    KOMEDIE OM GELD (1936) {dir. Max Ophuls] 0h 59m 34s:      So This is Sarris (Andrew Sarris's The American Cinema) – Jacques Tourneur +++ * Previous Max Ophuls discussions * Duels in Max Ophuls -Liebelei, Letter From an Unknown Woman & The Earrings of Madame De… * Acteur/Auteur Special Subject– Max Ophuls & Edwige Feuillère – SANS LENDEMAIN (1939) & DE MAYERLING A SARAJEVO (1940)   Listen to our guest episode on The Criterion Project – a discussion of Late Spring * Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s * Intro Song: "Sunday" by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive) * Read Elise's piece on Gangs of New York – "Making America Strange Again" * Check out Dave's Robert Benchley blog – an attempt to annotate and reflect upon as many of the master humorist's 2000+ pieces as he can locate – Benchley Data: A Wayward Annotation Project!  Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at [email protected] We now have a Discord server - just drop us a line if you'd like to join!