Schuhpalast Pinkus

 In the opening titles already, Ernst Lubitsch in the role of Sally Pinkus sets his sights on the audience in impertinent fashion. He looks at the audience in similar fashion to show he’s got the upper hand when he – pretending to be an experienced shoe seller – pulls off a marketing coup in the Meyersohn shoe salon. Opening his own store is now only a question of time or rather his own investment – Sally, only a short while ago just a failing student, will do anything for money. The comedy too can sometimes allow itself to bridge the gap between film and cinema auditorium in tongue-in-cheek fashion. Lubitsch’s look only serves to amplify the gags and is supposed to make those in the cinema root for the charmingly dubious opportunist. Yet “Sally Pinkus is an ad and a commodity rolled into one, a promise made flesh. Ernst Lubitsch embodies the sensual surplus that cinema always promises and seldom provides.” (Karsten Witte) (mg)