SKU 783
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AMPHITRYON (1935) *with switchable English subtitles*

Willy Fritsch, Paul Kemp and Käthe Gold
(1)
$13.99

Das Bühnenstück von Heinrich von Kleist als musikalische Komödie: Schon lange kämpft Amphitryon, Hauptmann der Thebaner Truppen, gegen die Truppen aus Böotien. In ihrer Verzweiflung betet seine schöne Gattin Alkmene zu Jupiter, dem Göttervater auf dem Olymp, den Krieg mit einem Sieg der Thebaner zu beenden. Daraufhin nimmt Jupiter die Gestalt des Feldherrn Amphitryon an, um sie zu verführen. Juno, der Göttergattin, gibt er vor, eine Kur aufzusuchen. Merkur, der ihn begleitet, muss sich in den hässlichen, immer betrunkenen Sosias verwandeln, ein Bediensteter im Hause Amphitryons. Doch auch er verliebt sich: in Alkmenes Dienerin Andra. Als der echte Amphitryon nach Hause kehrt, kommt es zu etlichen Irrungen und Wirrungen. Schließlich muss die Göttergattin Juno selbst eingreifen, und ihr Gemahl kehrt nebst Begleiter kleinlaut in den Götterhimmel zurück.

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.

 
DVD-R IS IN GERMAN WITH OPTIONAL ENGLISH SUBTITLES.  APPROX. 98 MINS.  EXCELLENT DIGITAL DVD QUALITY.
 

PLEASE NOTE THAT SWITCHABLE (SOFT) SUBTITLES WILL NOT SHOW UP WHEN VIEWING THE SAMPLE BELOW.  IF YOU SEE SUBTITLES, THEN THEY ARE HARD-ENCODED (meaning, they cannot be turned off when viewing the film):

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A must own fantasy, 4/21/2015 8:39 AM
From: John C
Anyone who is only familiar with 1943's 'Munchausen' must see the fantasy 'Amphitryon' which was 1935's biggest hit.in Germany. It's a wonderful film regardless of when or where it was made. Willy Fritsch plays Jupiter who descends from Olympus to ancient Greece donning different appearances to seduce an officer's wife while her husband is away at war. The plot is full of duplicity and mistaken identities causing all kinds of comic situations. Jupiter's suspicious wife played by the Grande Dame of theater & film Adele Sandrock comes down to earth to straighten out the confusion and her mischievous husband. Paul Kemp hilarious in two roles as Mercury and a soldier almost steals the movie from the able cast. Production values, performances, and special effects are first rate rivaling Hollywood's best. Although there's two songs here, much of the dialogue is spoken in rhyming couplets giving the film an almost musical quality before building up to the final musical number that's almost a parody of a crowd scene from 'Triumph of the Will.' The story stresses National Socialist views of faithful wives subordinate to their husbands while it pokes fun at militaristic pomp & ceremony. Director Reinhold Schunzel, who was half-Jewish, was allowed a special work permit to make films because of his earlier successes including as director of 'Viktor und Viktoria' 1933) and as an actor in 'Threepenny Opera' (1931). Hitler and Gobbles visited the set but there's no record of Schunzel being present. It's said the ironic tone in his Nazi-era films got him in trouble and he left Germany to direct MGM musicals but we mostly know him for playing Nazis in Lang's 'Hangmen Also Die' (1943) and Hitchcock's 'Notorious' (1946). BTW I used some of my IMDB review under another name to write this so don't accuse me of plagiarism. lol  Anyway you can also see clips on YouTube but don't hesitate to order this excellent subtitled DVD from this site.
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