Hotel Berlin (1945)

[Mr. Arkadin]

Grand Hotel (1932) was certainly a blockbuster film in every sense of the word, but I’ve always gravitated toward novelist Vicki Baum’s darker sequel, Hotel Berlin (1945). A suspense film dealing with Nazis, a hunted resistance fighter, and two women of shifting loyalties, this late propaganda work is an unsung gem, rarely forgotten by those who’ve seen it. The movie also attempted to tackle difficult and daring subjects such as the failed assassination attempt on Hitler and Jewish persecution. Warner Brothers put together a great cast with Raymond Massey, Henry Daniell, Faye Emerson, Andrea King, and Peter Lorre among others. Hotel Berlin is a unique American film in that Germany is realistically depicted as a divided nation. Not everyone is a Nazi sympathizer here, which makes trust a very delicate thing indeed.

Hotel Berlin shows early Wednesday morning on TCM

[ziggy 6708]

Just to mention a TY for mentioning this film.
I finally got a chance to view my recording, and enjoyed it very much.
A far more interesting story than "Grand Hotel", though less known but with a far more dramatic and relavant script.
Hope they'll air it more often so more people can appreciate this rarely seen gem.

[Mr. Arkadin]

A bump for this film showing late tonight (or in the early hours of Monday morning). TCM seems to only show this movie once every two years, so if you're interested, grab it while you can.

[moira finnie]

Thanks for the heads up, Joel--even though Hotel Berlin is scheduled for 4:30am (ET)! I've started to appreciate director Peter Godfrey much more after I finally connected him with this fascinating movie (which ought to be on DVD, Warner Archive), The Two Mrs. Carrolls, Cry Wolf and Escape Me Never--none of which are ever going to be named the best of the '40s, I suppose, but each one features some genuinely interesting performances and scads of atmosphere (usually very dark, which is pretty interesting for commercial films in this period). In Hotel Berlin, the Germans are never tidily categorized as devilish or angelic, but characters tend to be weak and strong, just like most humans, though the extreme situation these people were living through highlights their essential selves. Still, as pointed out in this informative review by Van Roberts on IMDb, the filmmakers had quite a time trying to inject more truthfulness into the script.

In addition to the Götterdämmerung atmosphere of Berlin in the last days of the war, which does touch on some realities, I think Peter Lorre's character of the disillusioned scientist is quite moving (even though it is rumored to have been edited). Massey's burnt-out general is very good too, as he tries to survive the rats eager to nail him as the ship sinks and hopes to persuade his self-absorbed mistress (Andrea King, who is better when she plays bad girls) to escape to Switzerland. Looking over the cast list on IMDb, one of the reasons that this movie seems so redolent of that time and place in Germany, even though it was made thousands of miles away in America jumped out at me--at least 30 cast members were there because of Nazism.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Thanks for the bump, Mr. Arkadin, and Moira. I've always wanted to see this film!

And "at least" 30 cast members escaping the Nazis would make it even more atmospheric.

[intothenitrate]

Looking over the cast list on IMDb, one of the reasons that this movie seems so redolent of that time and place in Germany, even though it was made thousands of miles away in America jumped out at me--at least 30 cast members were there because of Nazism.

I have a nice recording of a documentary that aired on PBS called "Hollywood's Exiles" that talks about the emigration of Jewish film professionals from Germany and Austria and their impact on the American film industry. The centerpiece film in the narrative is Casablanca, in which many expatriates appear. After learning that, I realized while I consistently get a chill during the singing of the "Marseilles" at Rick's Cafe.