Amphitryon (1935)

Lamenting Thebian women are waiting for the men to come back from war. God Jupiter is attracted to one of them: Alkmene. He goes to earth and tries to seduce her as himself: an old man. ... See full summary »

Director:

Reinhold Schünzel

Writers:

Molière (play), Titus Maccius Plautus (play)

Stars:

Willy Fritsch, Paul Kemp, Käthe Gold

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Willy Fritsch	...	Jupiter / Amphitryon
Paul Kemp	...	Götterbote Merkur / Diener Sosias
Käthe Gold	...	Amphitryons Gemahlin Alkmene
Fita Benkhoff	...	Andria
Adele Sandrock	...	Jupiters Gemahlin Juno
Hilde Hildebrand	...	1. Freundin Alkmenes
Vilma Bekendorf	...	2. Freundin Alkmenes
Annie Ann	...	3. Freundin Alkmenes
Hilde Boenisch	...	4. Freundin Alkmenes
Ewald Wenck	...	Dr. Äskulap
Aribert Wäscher	...	Thebener Kriegsminister
Ellen-Ruth Knapp-Güttingen	...	1. Thebener Ehefrau (as Ellen Ruth Güttingen)
Annemarie Korff	...	2. Thebener Ehefrau
Liesl Otto	...	3. Thebener Ehefrau
Annemarie Schwindt	...	4. Thebener Ehefrau

Storyline

Lamenting Thebian women are waiting for the men to come back from war. God Jupiter is attracted to one of them: Alkmene. He goes to earth and tries to seduce her as himself: an old man. Failing in this, he disguises himself as Amphitryon (Alkemene's husband) and tries again. Next morning Amphitryon and his men come back from war; he suspects adultery and wants a divorce. Jupiter's wive Juno now also comes to earth and clears things up.

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Plot Keywords:

satire | based on play | character name in title | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Musical

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Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

18 July 1935 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Amphitryon - Happiness from the Clouds

Filming Locations:

Ufa-Atelier, Neubabelsberg, Brandenburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Tobis-Klangfilm)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Beim nächsten Kuß knall ich ihn nieder (1996)

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Soundtracks

Amphitryon-Walzer
("Hoch aus den Wolken kommt das Glück")
Nach Motiven der Music by Franz Doelle zusammengestellt von Walter Borchert
Lyrics by Charles Amberg (as C. Amberg)
Sung by Willy Fritsch

User Reviews

Anti-militaristic German Musical

Just like the Roman comedy Amphitruo by Plautus, on which the movie is loosely based, Schünzl's musical film-version is a very funny doppelganger comedy.

The romance between Amphitryon (then famous heart-throb Willy Fritsch) and Alkmene (Käthe Gold) is portrayed in rather conventional ways, but the real stars are the minor characters, then well-known comedians Paul Kemp (playing both Mercury on roller skates and Amphityon's drunkard slave Sosia) and Fita Benkhoff as Sosia's wife Andria. Their antics make this movie still worth watching. Similarly, Fritsch in his other role as aged Jupiter, bald and with beer- belly, and his tyrannical wife, truly ancient Adele Sandrock, then the grand old dame of German cinema, are very funny. Both Sandrock and Benkhoff were nominated for the 1935 Oscars, the only foreign actors thus honored that year.

Maybe the best part of the movie, though, is the way director Reinhold Schünzl, a half-Jew who had to emigrate to the United States not much later, slyly parodies German militarism, and that under Nazi-censorship and with SS men as extras (playing Theban soldiers in the mass scenes). I guess Hitler and Goebbels, who both visited the shooting of the movie, were fooled by the National Socialist realism of parts of the set (especially when the Theban army triumphally returns from war), and I guess they also liked the traditional way gender roles are portrayed in the movie (in the end, Andria becomes an obedient wife full of newly gained respect for her husband, the new Sosia (a.k.a. Mercury), and is rewarded with a fashionable hat).

In brief, this is a really funny movie, and I only wish it had already been re- issued with English subtitles so that Schünzl could receive the fame and admiration he deserves.