Hotel Berlin
| Hotel Berlin | |
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Poster from Hotel Berlin
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| Directed by | Peter Godfrey |
| Produced by | Louis F. Edelman |
| Written by |
Alvah Bessie Jo Pagano |
| Based on |
Hotel Berlin 1943 novel by Vicki Baum |
| Starring |
Faye Emerson Helmut Dantine Raymond Massey Andrea King |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Cinematography | Carl E. Guthrie |
| Edited by | Frederick Richards |
| Distributed by | Warner Brothers |
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Hotel Berlin is a drama film set in Berlin near the close of World War II, made by Warner Bros. in late 1944 to early 1945. Directed by Peter Godfrey, it stars Faye Emerson, Helmut Dantine, Raymond Massey and Andrea King. It is based on the novel Hotel Berlin '43 by Vicki Baum (New York, 1944), a sequel to Menschen im Hotel, which was itself adapted to film as Grand Hotel (1932).
The lives of various desperate people intersect at the Hotel Berlin, a hotbed of Nazis, officers, spies and ordinary Germans trying to weather the inevitable defeat. Martin Richter, a leader of the German underground who has escaped from Dachau concentration camp, is hiding there, aided by some of the staff. He is hunted by Joachim Helm, who has his headquarters in the same building. Another hotel guest is Nobel laureate Johannes Koenig, Richter's friend from before the war and in Dachau.
General Arnim von Dahnwitz, the last of the leaders of a plot against Hitler still at large, goes to his friend von Stetten to see if his clique can help him, but is told that nothing can be done. He has at best 24 hours to shoot himself and save the Nazi regime the embarrassment of publicly dealing with him. At the hotel, von Dahnwitz encounters Lisa Dorn, his lover and a famous actress. He asks Dorn to marry him and flee with him to Sweden, but she is aware his situation is hopeless and declines. Later, von Dahnwitz commits suicide.
Meanwhile, von Stetten is arranging for the escape of his group to South America, where they hope to secretly rebuild their strength for another grab at power. He invites Koenig to join them (to provide a cover for their activities).
Hotel "hostess" (and informant) Tillie Weiler warmly greets Major Kauders, a pilot determined to make the fullest use of a short leave. They quarrel and part when he finds her photograph of a man who he thinks looks Jewish. Later, Sarah Baruch comes to her and begs her help in getting medicine for her husband, dying of cancer. The older woman also reveals that her son Max, Tillie's former employer and love, is alive, having been liberated from a labor camp by the Allies. When they take shelter from an air raid in the basement, Sarah is recognized by Hermann Plotke, who orders her to put on the Star of David badge required of all Jews. This is too much for Tillie, who reveals to all that Plotke used to work in the Bauers' department store, until he was caught stealing. Max gave him another chance, only to have Plotke appropriate the business when the Nazis came to power. Plotke orders her arrest, but is himself taken into custody for stealing from the government.
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Wikipedia