People in the Hotel (1959)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | People in the hotel |
| Country of production | Germany , France |
| original language |
German French |
| Publishing year | 1959 |
| length | 105 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gottfried Reinhardt |
| script |
Hans Jacoby Ladislas Fodor based on the novel of the same name (1929) by Vicki Baum |
| production | Artur Brauner for CCC Film (Berlin), Les Films Modernes SA (Paris) |
| music | Hans-Martin Majewski |
| camera | Göran Strindberg |
| cut | Kurt Zeunert |
| occupation | |
| |
People in the Hotel is a German-French film adaptation from 1959 of Vicki Baum 's novel of the same name . Under the direction of the Hollywood returnees Gottfried Reinhardt , a large cast of stars played, led by OW Fischer , Michèle Morgan and Heinz Rühmann .
action
The story largely follows the novel and the first film adaptation from 1932 with Greta Garbo and the two Barrymore brothers John and Lionel .
The big and famous of the world come and go in the Berlin luxury hotel Grand Hotel. Current guests include the impoverished Baron von Gaigern, who fled from Hungary, a true charmer and bon vivant of the world, but who has seen much better times and earns his living by stealing hotels. There is also the once celebrated and courted Russian exile dancer Grusinskaya, who, plagued by depression and self-doubt, intends to end her life prematurely with an overdose of sleeping pills. Furthermore, a certain General Director Preysing and his shorthand typist Fräulein Flamm, who all just call “Flammchen”, have quartered. Preysing's seriously ill accountant Otto Kringelein also arrives at the Grand Hotel. Although they work for the same company, Kringelein and Flammchen get to know each other for the first time and find each other to be likeable. Preysing is a loud, bramar-based, and just as unpleasant as uncouth guy with a beefy appearance and extremely bad manners; a man who naturally takes everyone for himself and also expects Flammchen to be of service to him in every situation - even in bed.
The fates of these five central protagonists will tragically cross over the next two days. When Baron von Gaigern intrudes into the Grusinskaya suite to seize her jewelry, he notices that the lonely ballerina wants to kill herself. He prevents it with what he does best: making compliments, chatting charmingly and even flirting. He explains to the touched diva that he is her greatest admirer, and with this white lie gives the dancer hope again for a brief moment. Trust quickly develops between the noble thief and the artist, and while Grusinskaya regains her courage and can imagine a future with the sophisticated aristocrat, Gaigern too begins to question his previous life. Out of trust and sympathy, the tender plant of love finally grows between the two lonely souls. However, Gaigern does not want to come into her life as an impoverished gigolo and therefore comes up with a fateful plan. The unpleasant Preysing is said to play the main role.
Meanwhile, the general manager, whose company appears to be on the verge of bankruptcy, chases his employees around like lackeys. As an unscrupulous power man, Preysing has no reservations about crooked business. While Flammchen turns away from her boss with increasing disgust in the face of this behavior, but without being able to break with him, the highly respectable accountant Kringelein is downright appalled when he learns of the deceptions of his top boss. For the first time, the mouse-gray and loyal numbers person dares something like an uprising, a small revolt: He opposes Preysing's wishes for aiding and abetting fraud, which seriously threatens the slender accountant. Baron von Gaigern has noticed some of this and is now putting Preysing under massive pressure. But he doesn't even think about paying and kills the baron from behind in his hotel room the next night. While Grusinskaya, who is leaving for Rome in the morning, wants to wait there for her beau Gaigern, as agreed with him, Preysing is arrested by the police for murder and taken away. Back in the hotel, the honest Kringelein and the liberated-looking Miss Flamm stay. Both team up and decide to go on a great journey together.
Production notes
People in the Hotel was shot on 34 days from February 15 to March 31, 1959 in the CCC studios in Berlin-Spandau . The premiere took place on September 23, 1959 in Munich's Gloria Palast. In the co-producing France, the film only started on March 25, 1960 in Paris.
The buildings were designed by Rolf Zehetbauer , executed by Gottfried Will. The costumes came from Helmut Holger . Johannes J. Frank was the production manager. Assistant director Eva Ebner also had a tiny role.
As producer Brauner wrote in his memoir, he used a trick to regulate the order in which the three main stars Fischer, Morgan and Rühmann were named. As a result, he first promised each of the three, all of whom were keen to be named first, to head the cast list by name. Finally, Brauner decided to choose a neutral solution and stick to the alphabetical order. While Fischer was highly satisfied with this solution, the Morgan is said to have reacted slightly annoyed, while Rühmann is said to have been seriously angry.
The film received the rating “valuable”. In 1961 the Federal Ministry of the Interior awarded the film a premium of 200,000 DM.
Reviews
“Max Reinhardt's son Gottfried, director of this second film adaptation, couldn't prevent the four German stars (OW Fischer, Heinz Rühmann, Gert Fröbe, Sonja Ziemann) and the one world star (Michèle Morgan) from enjoying each other's luxury undisturbed -Apartment of their idiosyncrasies and bad habits. Vicki Baum's almost incorruptible novel cliché serves as a lackluster, solid podium for the Star Parade 59 today as it did 27 years ago in Hollywood for Greta Garbo, John Barrymore and Joan Crawford. The interior has only changed in the hotel, not in the figures. "
"The Morgan is better than the Garbo!"
“Remake of the Vicki Baum novel, which flattens into colportage under a leisurely staging of clever psychological reportage. Where once great actors pulled together, only star roles are now bundled. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for people in the hotel . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , July 2014 (PDF; test number: 20 118 V).
- ↑ Artur Brauner: I only exist once. Herbig, Munich / Berlin 1976, ISBN 3-596-21945-0
- ↑ People in the hotel. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
Web links
- People at the hotel in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- People in the hotel at filmportal.de