Orson Welles called Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947) “a giant” whose “talent and originality are stupefying.” Jean Renoir said, “He invented the modern Hollywood.” Celebrated for his distinct style and credited with inventing the classic genre of the Hollywood romantic comedy and helping to create the musical, Lubitsch won the admiration of his fellow directors, including Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder, whose office featured a sign on the wall asking, “How would Lubitsch do it?” Despite the high esteem in which Lubitsch is held, as well as his unique status as a leading filmmaker in both Germany and the United States, today he seldom receives the critical attention accorded other major directors of his era.

How Did Lubitsch Do It? restores Lubitsch to his former stature in the world of cinema. Joseph McBride analyzes Lubitsch’s films in rich detail in the first in-depth critical study to consider the full scope of his work and its evolution in both his native and adopted lands. McBride explains the “Lubitsch Touch” and shows how the director challenged American attitudes toward romance and sex. Expressed obliquely, through sly innuendo, Lubitsch’s risqué, sophisticated, continental humor engaged the viewer’s intelligence while circumventing the strictures of censorship in such masterworks as The Marriage Circle, Trouble in Paradise, Design for Living, Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner, and To Be or Not to Be. McBride’s analysis of these films brings to life Lubitsch’s wit and inventiveness and offers revealing insights into his working methods.

"[This] excellent, authoritative book . . . is chockful of cultivated insights." - New York Review of Books

"Named the best silent film book of 2019." - Silent London

"McBride delivers his best book yet . . . A nuanced, thorough look at an important artist and his art." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"In How Did Lubitsch Do It? Joseph McBride has written a love letter to a filmmaker . . . McBride’s detailed appreciations could serve, ideally, as a viewer’s companion to the many layers of Lubitsch’s art." - Wall Street Journal

"Film historian Joseph McBride's tome How Did Lubitsch Do It? makes a comprehensive and enthusiastic . . . case for [Lubitsch]'s importance." - New York Times Book Review

"Though some early Lubitsch films are lost, McBride rescues the director's neglected and underrated reputation, securing his legacy with critical insights and sound scholarship in one of the few full-length appreciations of the artist. Highly recommended." - Library Journal

"[McBride] reacquaints readers with the director’s genius. . . . Will be a great companion for those interested in underexplored comedies in film history." - Washington Post

"There is no better time than now for a comprehensive study of Lubitsch like McBride’s. . . McBride does much-needed work in showing how Lubitsch was one of the consummate artists America was ever lucky enough to claim as her own." - San Francisco Chronicle

"How Did Lubitsch Do It? is one of the most indispensable film books I’ve ever read, not only a rigorously researched and considered biography and an illuminating analysis of Lubitsch’s technique but a broader study of how culture affects filmmaking and vice versa." - Filmmaker Magazine

"Revered film historian Joseph McBride's new book, How Did Lubitsch Do It?, explores this master of modern comedy in scintillating detail." - LA Weekly

"A compelling case for Lubitsch as an unequaled master of elegant, sophisticated entertainments marked by sly innuendo and adult sensibilities that have stood the test of time." - DGA Quarterly

"Critical study." - Weekly Standard

"A critical study." - Wellesnet

"A critical study." - Mass Live

"Nine well-informed chapters written in McBride's familiar, accessible style." - Film International

"[A] fine book." - The Sydney Morning Herald

"A book well worth recommending. It is enjoyable, provocative and thorough." - World Socialist Web Site

"In this delightfully informative book McBride is unabashedly nostalgic for the urbane art of concealing art that Lubitsch mastered in The Shop around the Corner and in so many of his other films." - Athenaeum Review

"How Did Lubitsch Do It? is a critical [and] masterful study." - Positif