Reinhold Schünzel

Biography

The son of a German father and a Jewish mother, Schünzel was born in St. Pauli -- the best known, but also the poorest part of Hamburg. His father started off as an actor but economic circumstances forced him to turn towards commerce. For a while, the son followed in his footsteps. He undertook business studies and then began his professional career in the publishing business. After first acting on stage in 1912 he became enamoured with the profession, honing his thespian skills with theatrical companies in Switzerland and Berlin for another three years. 1916 marked Schünzel's first appearance on screen. Soon after, he diversified into directing. Alternating directing with being in front of the camera, Schünzel proved a versatile performer -- equally at home in light comedy or in dramatic roles, often as irredeemable villains or as suave, powerful men of a dubious or corruptible nature. As a director he made his mark with epic historical dramas like Katharina die Große (1920) which were popular enough to allow him to set up his own production company. He was greatly influenced by established film makers Richard Oswald (a mentor and frequent collaborator from 1916) and Ernst Lubitsch (for whom he had worked as an actor in Passion (1919)). Schünzel's satirical, mythologically-themed musical farce Amphitryon (1935) , in particular, had all the hallmarks of the ironic, feather-light and slightly risqué 'Lubitsch touch'. It also boasted above-average production values. "Amphitryon" was Ufa's number one box office hit in its year. Schünzels other notable directorial efforts included the original drag comedy Victor and Victoria (1933) -- a spoof of British music hall impersonators -- and the social satire Die englische Heirat (1934). His work was so popular in Germany that the Nazi regime bestowed upon him the title of 'Ehrenarier' (honorary Aryan) and permitted him to continue to work despite his Jewish background. This was later to prove detrimental to his career, even though he did eventually leave Germany in 1937, increasingly frustrated with governmental interference in his projects. Like so many other exiles, he turned up in Hollywood. Signed by MGM, he directed three films among which stand out the glossy operetta Balalaika (1939), a star vehicle for Nelson Eddy (for once, without Jeanette MacDonald). His other films, particularly The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939) and the romanticised and inaccurate biopic of composer Franz Schubert, New Wine (1941) (an independent production released by United Artists), suffered from a severe case of miscasting. The former was possibly the biggest flop of Joan Crawford's long career in the film business. As a result of these setbacks, Schünzel returned to acting. He was predictably typecast as academics or Nazis, his most memorable performance being the sinister scientist Dr. Anderson in Alfred Hitchcock's excellent thriller Notorious (1946). Sometime after 1949, he returned to Germany but found work opportunities scarce. Schünzel died in November 1954 of a heart ailment following a visit to the cinema.