Line #32 Film/TheWildcat


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wildcat_1921_image_13_e1459193133734.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Rischka steals some earrings]]
3
4	''The Wildcat'' (Die Bergkatze) is a 1921 German silent romantic comedy film starring Pola Negri, directed by Creator/ErnstLubitsch. Lieutenant Alexis is an infantry officer who is sent off to a punishment assignment on the border (of some vaguely Germanic country) because he's been catting around with the local women too much. On the way he is waylaid and robbed by a group of bandits led by fiery Rischka (Negri). She takes a fancy to Alexis and lets him go, much to the puzzlement of her father, the nominal bandit leader.
5
6	After finally making his way to the frontier fortress, Lt. Alexis leads a punitive expedition against the bandits, but it ends in embarrassing defeat as the ragged bandits send Alexis and his men in headlong retreat. That doesn't stop Alexis from acting like he won a victory, though, and the whole fortress and town have an elaborate celebration--which Rischka and the bandits decide to rob.
7
8	''The Wildcat'' didn't do that well in Germany, and unlike Lubitsch's other silent films did not even get released in America, but it didn't slow down the careers of Lubitsch or Negri, both of whom came to America soon after and went on to success in Hollywood.
9
10	Not to be confused with a trope called TheWildcats.
11
12	----
13	!!Tropes:
14
15	* AffectionatePickpocket: Rischka comforts a distraught Lilli, embracing her and agreeing to step aside and let her have Alexis. While she is doing this she also steals Lilli's necklace.
16	* ArrangedMarriage: The garrison commander matches up Alexis with his daughter, without even bothering to ask.
17	* BittersweetEnding: Rischka, who loves Alexis, deliberately acts boorish and crass while they are alone together, causing him to kick her out. However, he seems more content with Lilli after this, and Risckha smiles at Pepo and kisses him when she returns to the bandit camp.
18	* TheCasanova: How popular was Alexis with the ladies at his prior duty station? '''Hundreds''' of women throng the streets as he's leaving. A group of dozens of children call out "Bye, Daddy!"
19	* TheDandy: When he's walking to the fortress after having been robbed of everything but his underwear, Alexis still stops to comb his hair.
20	* EekAMouse: The soldiers sending Alexis off finally get his hundreds of girlfriends to disperse by dumping a barrel of mice in the crowd.
21	* HypocriticalHumor: One of the soldiers is taking aim with his rifle. Rischka hits him with a snowball. He gets indignant, and says "Don't get rough, now."
22	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy:
23	** Pepo steps aside and lets Rischka pursue Alexis. OcularGushers ensues.
24	** And then Rischka steps aside, deliberately alienating Alexis so he'll dump her and go back to Lilli.
25	* LovableCoward: When a messenger arrives and says "The bandits--", the fortress commander dives under the table. (He was reporting that the bandits had robbed Alexis.) Later, Alexis and his whole platoon are easily sent running back home by the bandits.
26	* LoveDodecahedron: Alexis and Rischka are drawn to each other, but he's already been paired off with the commander's daughter Lilli, and Rischka has Pepo, a timid bandit who is sweet on her.
27	* MildlyMilitary:
28	** The commander of the fortress and his garrison are all lazy, cowardly, and incompetent. In later years Lubitsch attributed the failure of this film to German audiences post-UsefulNotes/WorldWarI having no appetite for films satirizing the military.
29	** Alexis's departure for the frontier fortress is a parody of military parades. See TheCasanova above.
30	** See also HypocriticalHumor above.
31	* NoNameGiven: For either the fortress commander or his wife.
32	* OcularGushers: Rischka comes home to find that Pepo has created a literal river of tears due to his bawling after she left.
33	* ReassignedToAntarctica: The letter to the fortress commander explicitly states that Alexis is being sent there as punishment.
34	* SlipIntoSomethingMoreComfortable: "I want to get comfortable", says Alexis, a rare male example of this trope and a decade before TropeMaker Creator/JeanHarlow in ''Film/HellsAngels''--but in this case he's talking about changing from his uniform into a smart civilian suit, although the implication of seduction is still the same.
35	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Rischka is the only girl among her group of bandits.
36	* StormingTheCastle: While the commander and the soldiers of the garrison are getting roaring drunk following their "victory", Rischka and the bandits raid the fort, stealing everything they can carry.
37	* ATasteOfTheLash: Rischka whips some of the bandits to keep them in line. [[{{Fetish}} They like it, and ask for more.]]
38	* UptownGirl: In the end, Rischka seems to feel that the divide between herself and Alexis the fancy army officer is too much to cross.
39	* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Where Rischka puts a silver spoon while robbing the fort.

Context Film / TheWildcat