There's something clearly ahead-of-its-time modern about Ernst Lubitsch's Trouble in Paradise. In watching old films from the 1920s, 30s and 40s, I find that dramas such as Renoir's The Rules of the Game (1939) and Lang's Metropolis (1929) tend to be much more watchable today than comedies from these decades. Perhaps there is something in the nature of humor and comedy that is era-centric. What is biting and witty to one generation becomes cliche and kitsch to the next generation.
Trouble is one of the exceptions to this rule. Filled with biting sarcasm and double entendres, Trouble plays like a Shakesperian comedy and keeps the viewer engaged and laughing throughout. The so-called "Lubitsch touch" as it pertains to this film is a directorial pacing which keeps the story moving at a fun and light pace as well as visual witticisms such as the opening of the film which shows the words "Trouble in" and shows an empty bed for two, followed seconds later by the word "Paradise" (check it out at the 40 second mark of this link).
This attention to detail and subtle directorial style causes Trouble to remain one of the great comedies even today.
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