The Berlinale Retrospective “No Angels – Mae West, Rosalind Russell & Carole Lombard” postponed due to the pandemic will now be presented at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival in February. The section’s 27 films were made during the heyday of the screwball comedy from 1932 to 1943, and each one showcases the distinctive style of its star. Ten of the movies will be shown with German subtitles.

The Retrospective will open on February 11, 2022, with a screening in 4K of the 1936 film My Man Godfrey directed by Gregory La Cava. A classic of the screwball genre, it stars Carole Lombard as Irene Bullock, an heiress who stumbles upon true love during a scavenger hunt. The portrayal brought Lombard an Academy Award nomination.

A particular highlight of this year’s Retrospective will be the world premiere of the recently restored 4K version of the Mae West classic Belle of the Nineties (USA 1934, dir: Leo McCarey). For the restoration, Universal Pictures made a 4K ARRI scan from a 35mm composite fine grain. Digital processes were utilized to remove heavy dirt, manage excessive grain, and improve soft focus. The 4K DCP was made with services provided by NBCUniversal StudioPost.

The Retrospective film screenings will be accompanied by one side-bar event with guests, mounted by the Deutsche Kinemathek. Discussions will focus on, among other things, the contemporary view of the three actresses and the comedies in the Retrospective. The talk will address modern-day perceptions of the films, the images of women they present, and the pioneering achievements of Mae West, Rosalind Russell, and Carole Lombard.

Tthe restored silent film classic Brüder (Brothers, dir: Werner Hochbaum, 1929) will celebrate its world premiere at the Friedrichstadt-Palast as part of the Berlinale Classics program. Berlin composer Martin Grütter created the new music for the film, which will be played by the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Raphael Haeger.

The original negative of Brüder (Brothers) has not survived. All surviving prints of the film are the version certified by the censors on April 19, 1929. The complex digitization and restoration in 2K was done by the Deutsche Kinemathek. A tinted 35mm print held in the German Federal Archives was used as the principal source. Missing or badly damaged scenes were replaced with clips from two additional nitrate prints in the Archives’ collection.

Berlinale Retrospective

Belle of the Nineties
USA 1934
by Leo McCarey
with Mae West, Roger Pryor, Johnny Mack Brown, John Miljan
World premiere of the digitally restored version (4K DCP)

Design for Scandal
USA 1941
by Norman Taurog
with Rosalind Russell, Walter Pidgeon, Edward Arnold, Lee Bowman
in 16mm

Every Day’s a Holiday
USA 1938
by A. Edward Sutherland
with Mae West, Edmund Lowe, Charles Butterworth, Charles Winninger
in 35mm

Four’s a Crowd
USA 1938
by Michael Curtiz
with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Rosalind Russell, Patric Knowles
in 35mm

Goin’ to Town
USA 1935
by Alexander Hall
with Mae West, Paul Cavanagh, Gilbert Emery, Marjorie Gateson
in 35mm

Go West Young Man
USA 1936
by Henry Hathaway
with Mae West, Warren William, Randolph Scott, Alice Brady
in 35mm

Hands Across the Table
USA 1935
by Mitchell Leisen
with Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Astrid Allwyn
in 35mm

Hired Wife
USA 1940
by William A. Seiter
with Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, Virginia Bruce, Robert Benchley
in 35mm

His Girl Friday
USA 1940
by Howard Hawks
with Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy, Gene Lockhart
in 2K DCP

I’m No Angel
USA 1933
by Wesley Ruggles
with Mae West, Cary Grant, Gregory Ratoff, Edward Arnold
in 4K DCP

Klondike Annie
USA 1936
by Raoul Walsh
with Mae West, Victor McLaglen, Philip Reed, Helen Jerome Eddy
in 35mm

Lady by Choice
USA 1934
by David Burton
with Carole Lombard, May Robson, Roger Pryor, Walter Connolly
in 35mm

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
USA 1941
by Alfred Hitchcock
with Carole Lombard, Robert Montgomery, Gene Raymond, Jack Carson
in 35mm

My Little Chickadee
USA 1940
by Edward F. Cline
with Mae West, W. C. Fields, Joseph Calleia, Dick Foran
in 4K DCP

My Man Godfrey
USA 1936
by Gregory La Cava
with William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick
in 4K DCP

My Sister Eileen
USA 1942
by Alexander Hall
with Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, Janet Blair, George Tobias
in 35mm

Night After Night
USA 1932
by Archie Mayo
with George Raft, Constance Cummings, Wynne Gibson, Mae West
in 35mm

No Man of Her Own
USA 1932
by Wesley Ruggles
with Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Dorothy Mackaill, Grant Mitchell
in 35mm

Nothing Sacred
USA 1937
by William A. Wellmann
with Carole Lombard, Frederic March, Charles Winniger, Walter Connolly
in 2K DCP

She Done Him Wrong
USA 1933
by Lowell Sherman
with Mae West, Cary Grant, Owen Moore, Gilbert Roland
in 35mm

Take a Letter, Darling
USA 1942
by Mitchell Leisen
with Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray, Macdonald Carey, Constance Moore
in 35mm

This Thing Called Love
USA 1941
by Alexander Hall
with Rosalind Russell, Melvyn Douglas, Binnie Barnes, Allyn Joslyn
in 35mm

To Be or Not to Be
USA 1942
by Ernst Lubitsch
with Carole Lombard, Jack Benny, Robert Stack, Felix Bressart
in 35mm

True Confession
USA 1937
by Wesley Ruggles
with Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, John Barrymore, Una Merkel
in 35mm

Twentieth Century
USA 1934,
by Howard Hawks
with John Barrymore, Carole Lombard, Walter Connolly, Roscoe Karns
in 4K DCP

What a Woman!
USA 1943
by Irving Cummings
with Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, Willard Parker, Alan Dinehart
in 35mm

The Women
USA 1939
by George Cukor
with Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland
in 2K DCP

Berlinale Classics

Brüder (Brothers)
Werner Hochbaum, Germany, 1929
World premiere of the digitally restored version (DCP 2K)