The Doll

What a silly romantic comedy. Ernst Lubitsch tells the story of young Lancelot, a man who has to get married to inherit his 300,000 franc fortune. He does so quite literally, assembling the scene himself in the very opening of the film. Lancelot runs off to a bunch of monks because he’s afraid of the maidens his uncle has assembled for Lancelot to choose from, and one of the monks has the grandest idea: why not marry a living doll? Fantasy in 1919 and a reality in 2025. Funny how that works. Anyway, the doll breaks before Lancelot receives it, so they send the actual girl the doll is based off until they can fix it; her name is Ossi. Lots of romantic hijinks ensue, all perfectly adept for a 63 minute runtime. What’s not to like here, really?