The Benthin Family

The Benthin Family (1950)

Familie Benthin

The brothers Theo and Gustav Benthin pull profits through smuggling in divided Germany: Theo in the West and Gustav in the East. The East German police catch on quickly, however, and Gustav is arrested. The small band of smugglers disperses, with Gustav’s chauffer Peter Naumann fleeing to the West and his sister choosing the East after struggling to find work and lodging in the West.

Date of release
1950-09-07
TMDB
6.1 / 10 (6)
Runtime
1h 38m
Genres
Drama
Director
Kurt Maetzig, Slatan Dudow, Richard Groschopp

Casting

Interesting facts

Familie Benthin is a 1950 East German film.

Production

The Benthin Family was DEFA's first major "mission film", with a clear, state-directed political message. While a number of pictures presenting narratives hostile to West Germany and to the West had already been made, their budgets had been smaller and state involvement had been on a lower scale.

Three directors - Slatan Dudow, Richard Groschopp and Kurt Maetzig - were instructed by Socialist Unity Party of Germany to work on the film. Later, none of them was willing to accept responsibility for the outcome.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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