"The dubious, low-light Venetian setting doesn't fool anyone's eyes, most of the earlier films are tarnished with that backlot-bound plasticity. Later, what appears to be a mansion for Mariette Colet (Francis), owner of the famous perfume manufacturer Colet and Co., looks fairly spartan for her wealth. Walls are barely unembellished, rooms look prefabricated, furnitures are minimally emplaced. Borrowing fineries and jewelries to dazzle on the screen is one thing, constructing a de-facto rich person's abode certainly is another. So what Lubitsch and co. Has done is to be prudently economical about what does and what doesn't need to be shown. For example, risqué, intimate moments can be indicated through the elapse of time, shadow play is employed to show a passionate necking, all without sacrificing a tenor of sophistication and subtlety (have you espied Gaston's hot-to-trot gestures towards Mariette's pearly necklace, which can competently account for whether or not he falls for her and why he has changed the original plan). That is the gist of 'Lubitsch touch', as if Lubitsch executes the picture in cruise control, every plot device appears seamless and unhurried, even duplicity cannot dissipate the swooning nature of these elegant people."
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