Baron of Chanterelle wants that his lineage continues, so he calls all maidens to try to marry his nephew, Lancelot. However, Lancelot does not want to commit and runs away to a monastery. A monk makes a proposal to him: since Baron placed a 300,000 francs reward for him to marry, Lancelot should simply marry a puppet to trick him. Master Hilarius creates a doll that looks exactly like his teenage daughter, Ossi, and decides to sell the doll to Lancelot. However, Hilarius' apprentice accidentally breaks the doll—so Ossi steps in and pretends to be the puppet. Lancelot brings Ossi to a party where she has trouble hiding her "human" side and holding still. Finally, in his room, Ossi reveals she is a real woman to Lancelot, who marries her.
One of the early films from director Ernst Lubitsch, from his phase when he was still working in Germany, "The Doll" is a charming and gentle little romantic fairytale and comedy of mistaken identity in one, a one which still seems fresh today. Lubitsch placed the entire story in an artificial setting, including paper trees, a paper house and even the two horses in a carriage are men in costumes, thus already emphasizing the fairy tale tone of the film, yet he also kept a lot of his trademark, humanistic humor. In one early sequence, the little apprentice kisses the doll, and then turns around and kisses Ossi's mother, as well, saying: "Just so that nobody feels neglected". The tangle lifts the film into its highlights, yet it ofers so much to excellent actress Ossi Oswalda, who is sometimes irresistibly cute while her character pretends to be a "stiff" doll in front of Lancelot, yet often has to "break character" by almost winking to the audience (Lancelot wants to change her dress, but Ossi slaps his hand my moving mechanically; during a party, a hungry Ossi cannot resist but to take a bite from a plate, and thus chews only when Lancelot is not looking, but when he turns around toward her, she immediately stops and pretends to be still; Lancelot leaving and Ossi sighing from relief because she can finally relax...). Her mischievous smile, looks and "mechanical" movements create an enchanting set of situation that carry the entire film, while also slowly announcing how the young couple is falling in love, thereby resulting in a light, yet also meaningful little film.
Grade:+++
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