Directed by: Reinhold Schünzel
Screenplay by: Reinhold Schünzel
Based on Amphitryon by Plautus Molière; Heinrich von Kleist
Produced by: Günther Stapenhorst
Edited by: Arnfried Heyne
Music by: Franz Doelle
Production company: UFA
Distributed by: UFA
Release date: 18 July 1935
Running time: 105 minutes
Country: National Socialist Germany
Language: German
Starring:
Willy Fritsch: Jupiter / Amphitryon
Paul Kemp: Mercury / Sosias
Käthe Gold: Alkmene
Fita Benkhoff: Andria
Adele Sandrock: Juno
Hilde Hildebrand: 1st friend of Alkmene
Vilma Bekendorf: 2nd friend of Alkmene
Annie Ann: 3rd friend of Alkmene
Hilde Boenisch: 4th friend of Alkmene
Ewald Wenck: Dr Aesculapius
Aribert Wäscher: Thebes' Minister of War
Ellen-Ruth Knapp-Güttingen: 1st wife of Thebes
Annemarie Korff: 2nd Thebes wife
Liesl Otto: 3rd Thebes wife
Annemarie Schwindt: 4th Thebes wife
Albert Karchow: Old Greek
Amphitryon is a 1935 German musical film. Written and directed by Reinhold Schünzel, it is based on plays by Molière, Plautus, and Heinrich von Kleist, which in turn are based on Greek mythology. On the contrary, Rafael de España, an expert in Greek-themed cinema, points out that it is not a direct adaptation of any of the previous works, but rather a work with multiple humorous anachronisms taken from the American film Roman Scandals (1932).
The film is known by a variety of other names: Amphitryon – Happiness from the Clouds, Amphitryon – Aus den Wolken kommt das Glück in Austria, Amfitryon in Greece, Anfitrione in Italy, Det gudomliga äventyret in Sweden.
Amphitryon was filmed in Ufa-Atelier, Neubabelsberg, from 2 February 1935 – May 1935. It was one of UFA’s many multiple-language version films: a French version, Les dieux s’ amusent (The gods are having fun), was shot at the same time.
Plot summary
Amphitryon is a Theban general away at war. The god Jupiter disguises himself as Amphitryon to seduce Amphitryon’s wife, Alkmene.
