FILM FILM - University of Macau Library

A European in Hollywood – Name the Man and the Shift of Production Systems 35
Fig. 1: Production still from Name the Man: Victor Sjöström in the middle and
Charles van Enger behind the camera.
The film opened on 15 January 1924. On3 February of the same year, a film
from Warner Bros. Pictures opened, The Marriage Circle directed by Ernst
Lubitsch, which had been shot in September and October of 1923, directly after
Sjöström’s film, and with several participants from this production. Paul Bern
had written the script and Charles van Enger was engaged as cameraman. (As
mentioned, van Enger afterwards continued to work with Lubitsch on another
four films, whereas Paul Bern returned to Goldwyn.) Creighton Hale also
played a minor part both in Name the Man and The Marriage Circle. Thomas
Schatz has shown that Warner Bros., by engaging Lubitsch, wanted to intensify
its production after having mostly concentrated on distribution for several
years. 26 It is revealing that the company, wanting to start anew, turned to
one of its rivals in order to “borrow” a production concept, which had several
times been proved successful. The comparisons clearly show that the overall
production machinery, in spite of the exception clauses in the contracts, barely
seems to have been affected by the individual preferences of the directors, and
that their eventual influence has to be sought elsewhere.