''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' (german: Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor) is a 1950

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Georg Wildhagen Georg Wildhagen (15 September 1920 – 2 December 1990)Walter Habel (ed.): ''Wildhagen, Georg'', in: '' Wer ist wer? Das deutsche Who’s Who'', vol. 15, Berlin: Arani-Verlag, 1967, p. 2178 u.ö.previewat Google Books was a German screenwriter and ...

. It was based on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play by the same name.

Plot

Elizabethan England The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

, Sir

John Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and ''Henry IV, Par ...

is embroiled in attempting to have a love affair with several women, which soon turns into a humorous adventure.

Cast

Sonja Ziemann Sonja Alice Selma Toni Ziemann (; 8 February 1926 – 17 February 2020) was a German film and television actress. In the 1950s, she was among Germany's most prominent actresses, awarded the 1950 Bambi for appearing, together with Rudolf Prack, ...

as Mrs. Fluth *

Camilla Spira Camilla Spira (1 March 1906 – 25 August 1997) was a German film actress. She appeared in 68 films between 1924 and 1986. She was born in Hamburg, Germany, of Jewish ancestry on her father's side, and died in Berlin, Germany. Her father was ...

as Mrs. Gretchen Reich *

Paul Esser Paul Esser (24 April 1913 – 20 January 1988) was a German stage and television actor and voice actor. He is remembered for playing the lead role in the Sender Freies Berlin version of the detective series ''Tatort''. Esser was born in Gel ...

as Sir John Falstaff *

Ina Halley Ina Halley (January 9, 1927 – June 7, 1992) was a German actress. Selected filmography * '' The Cuckoos'' (1949) * '' The Merry Wives of Windsor'' (1950) * ''Five Suspects'' (1950) * ''Bluebeard'' (1951) * ''The Prince of Pappenheim'' (1952) * ' ...

as Anna Reich *

Eckart Dux Eckart Dux (born 19 December 1926) is a German actor and voice actor. Biography His father was an Insurance executive. He completed his training as an actor with Else Bongers in Berlin and made his stage debut in 1948 at the city's Renaissance ...

as Fenton *

Alexander Engel Alexander Engel, birth name: Kurt Engel (4 June 1902 – 25 July 1968) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1932 and 1968. He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Saarbrücken, West Germany. He chose the stag ...

as Innkeeper Reich *

Claus Holm Claus Holm (4 August 1918 – 21 September 1996) was a German film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1979. He was born in Bochum, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * ''Floh im Ohr'' (1943) - Knecht Ha ...

as Mr. Fluth *

Joachim Teege Joachim Teege (November 30, 1925 – November 19, 1969) was a German actor. Selected filmography * ''The Adventures of Fridolin'' (1948) - Heini Bock * '' Und wieder 48'' (1948) - Reisender * '' The Staircase'' (1950) - Herbert Ehrke * '' The Merr ...

as Mr. Spärlich *

Gerd Frickhöffer Gerd Frickhöffer (21 November 1913 – 4 July 1980) was a German film and television actor. He appeared as Captain Donvan in the television detective series ''Sergeant Berry''. Selected filmography * ''Chemistry and Love'' (1948) * ''Everything ...

as Dr. Cajus *

Rita Streich Rita Streich (18 December 192020 March 1987) was one of the most admired and recorded lyric coloratura sopranos of the post-war period. Biography Rita Streich was born in Barnaul, southern Siberia, in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Repu ...

as Mrs. Fluth (singing voice) *

Martha Mödl Martha Mödl (22 March 1912, Nuremberg – 17 December 2001, Stuttgart) was a German soprano, and later a mezzo-soprano. She specialized in large dramatic roles such as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and particularly Kundry, and is considered, along with ...

as Mrs. Gretchen Reich (singing voice) *

Sonja Schöner Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

as Anna Reich (singing voice) *

Helmut Krebs Helmut is a German name. Variants include Hellmut, Helmuth, and Hellmuth. From old German, the first element deriving from either ''heil'' ("healthy") or ''hiltja'' ("battle"), and the second from ''muot'' ("spirit, mind, mood"). Helmut may refer ...

as Fenton (voice) *

Hans Kramer Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

as Sir John Falstaff (voice) *

Willi Heyer-Kraemer Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Willi Apel Willi Apel (10 October 1893 – 14 March 1988) was a German-American musicologist and noted ...

as Innkeeper Reich (singing voice) * Herbert Brauer as Mr. Fluth (singing voice)

Production

The film is an adaptation of the 1849 opera ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' composed by

Otto Nicolai Carl Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai (9 June 1810 – 11 May 1849) was a German composer, conductor, and one of the founders of the Vienna Philharmonic. Nicolai is best known for his operatic version of Shakespeare's comedy ''The Merry Wives of Wi ...

with a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Salomon Hermann Mosenthal Salomon Hermann Mosenthal (14 January 1821 in Kassel – 17 February 1877 in Vienna) was a writer, dramatist, and poet of German-Jewish descent who spent much of his life in Austria. He was also known for his opera libretti. His name is also ...

which was based on

's play of the same title. It was made by the state-owned DEFA studio on a large budget.

Reception

The film was highly successful by East German standards, and drew 6,090,329 viewers to the cinemas. Ernst Richter noted that while "the socially critical tone was unmistakably present in the film", it was free of "heavy-handed communist propaganda." Heinz Kersten characterized it as one of the last apolitical entertainment pictures produced by DEFA before the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...

tightened its control on the national film industry. Albert Wilkening wrote it was "a significant step forward in making movies in the GDR... Wildhagen's directing was quite skillful."Wilkening. p. 165.

References

Bibliography

*Sabine Hake, John Davidson (editors). ''Framing the Fifties: Cinema in a Divided Germany''. Berghahn Books (2007). . *Ernst Richert. ''Agitation und Propaganda : das System der publizistischen Massenführung in der Sowjetzone''. Institut für politische Wissenschaft (1958). OCLC 185953805. *Heinz Kersten. ''Das Filmwesen in der Sowjetischen Besatzungszone Deutschlands''. Bundesministerium für Gesamtdeutsche Fragen (1963). ASIN B0000BK48Q. *Albert Wilkening. ''Film''. VEB Bibliographisches Institut (1966). OCLC 7216389.

External links

* *
Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor
' on DEFA Sternstunden. {{DEFAULTSORT:Merry Wives of Windsor 1950 films Films set in Windsor, Berkshire 1950s historical musical films German historical musical films East German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Georg Wildhagen Films based on operas Films based on The Merry Wives of Windsor Films set in England German films based on plays Opera films German black-and-white films 1950s German films