The Wildcat

Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Year Released: 1921
Rating: 1.5

An inexplicably admired lieutenant in the German army (Paul Heidemann) rolls into town and for whatever reason the panties start dropping, but trouble comes around when a female member (Pola Negri) of a gang of bandits falls in love with him: let the pillaging begin! Lubitsch, best known for his light, comedic touch, seems to be out-of-touch with this broad and half-hearted 'satire' of military mores and is too preoccupied with using distorted frame masking than developing the core romantic relationship to a satisfactory level. With The Oyster Princess, he was able to mix in humor, romance and subtext: this, not so much.