''Menschen im Hotel'' (french: Grand Hotel) is a 1959 German and French

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

drama film directed by

Gottfried Reinhardt Gottfried Reinhardt (20 March 1913 – 19 July 1994) was an Austrian-born American film director and producer. Biography Reinhardt was born in Berlin, the son of the Austrian theater director Max Reinhardt (until 1904: Max Goldmann), manage ...

, and produced by

Artur Brauner Artur "Atze" Brauner (born Abraham Brauner; 1 August 1918 – 7 July 2019) was a German film producer and entrepreneur of Polish origin. He produced more than 300 films from 1946. Life and career He was born the oldest son of a Jewish family ...

. It starred

O.W. Fischer Otto Wilhelm Fischer (german: O. W. Fischer, ; 1 April 1915 – 29 January 2004) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, a leading man of West German cinema during the ''Wirtschaftswunder'' era of the 1950s and 1960s. Life He was born in Klo ...

Michèle Morgan Michèle Morgan (; née Simone Renée Roussel; 29 February 1920 – 20 December 2016) was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered to have been one of the g ...

, Heinz Rühmann and Gert Fröbe. The screenplay was written by

Ladislas Fodor Ladislas Fodor (1898–1978) was a Hungarian novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Plays *''A Church Mouse'' (''A templom egére''); a comedy in three acts, adapted by James L. A. Burrell (1928) *''Jewel Robbery'' (''Ékszerrablás a Váci utcá ...

and Hans Jacoby, based on the 1929 novel by

Vicki Baum Hedwig "Vicki" Baum (; he, ויקי באום; January 24, 1888 – August 29, 1960) was an Austrian writer. She is known for the novel ''Menschen im Hotel'' ("People at a Hotel", 1929 — published in English as '' Grand Hotel''), one of h ...

. The film is a remake of the 1932 classic '' Grand Hotel''.

Plot

The film shows two days and nights in a Berlin luxury hotel and tells the story of how the paths of various quite different characters cross. It begins with an attempted suicide by the famous dancer Grusinskaja. She is rescued by an impoverished noble, Baron von Gaigern, and falls in love with him. Von Gaigern, who makes a living as a hotel thief, learns about the corrupt dealings by businessman Preysing. He attempts to blackmail Preysing, with tragic results.

Cast

as Baron von Gaigern *

as Grusinskaja * Heinz Rühmann as Kringelein * Sonja Ziemann as Flämmchen * Gert Fröbe as Preysing *

Dorothea Wieck Dorothea Wieck, born Dora Bertha Olavia Wieck (3 January 1908 in Davos, Switzerland – 20 February 1986 in Berlin, West Germany), was a German theatre and film actress. Early years Dorothea Wieck was born Dora Bertha Olavia Wieck and grew up ...

as Suzanne *

Wolfgang Wahl Wolfgang Wahl (3 December 1925 – 15 September 2006) was a German actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1953 to 1996. Filmography References External links * 1925 births 2006 deaths German male film actors German ...

as Max, the chauffeur *

Friedrich Schoenfelder Friedrich Schoenfelder (17 October 1916 – 14 August 2011) was a German actor and voice artist. Schoenfelder was born in Sorau/Lower Lusatia and died in Berlin. He was 94. He was the German dubbing voice of David Niven and Vincent Price. In th ...

as Receptionist *

Jean-Jacques Delbo Jean-Jacques Delbo (10 January 1909 – 20 May 1996) was a French actor. He appeared in more than sixty films from 1936 to 1990. Filmography References External links * 1909 births 1996 deaths French male film actors {{F ...

as 1st doorman * as 2nd doorman *

Siegfried Schürenberg Siegfried Schürenberg (12 January 1900 – 31 August 1993) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1933 and 1974. He was born in Detmold, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany in 1993, at age 93. Although he never p ...

as Dr. Behrend

Production

''Menschen im Hotel'' was a German-French co-production, directed by

and produced by

. The screenplay was written by

and Hans Jacoby, based on the 1929 novel by

. The film is a remake of the 1932 classic '' Grand Hotel'', starring

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

and

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

. Filming took place from 15 February to 31 March 1959 at the

Spandau Studios The Spandau Studios or CCC Studios were film and television studios located in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin. They were established in 1949 following the Second World War by the producer Artur Brauner controller of CCC Films, on the site of a form ...

in Berlin.

Censorship

When ''Menschen im Hotel'' was first released in Italy in 1959 the Committee for the Theatrical Review of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities rated the film VM18: not suitable for children under 18. In order for the film to be screened publicly, the Committee recommended the removal of the entire scene in which Fiammetta undresses in the bathroom until the moment when she shows up wearing a bathrobe. The official document number is: N° 27922, it was signed on 10 October 1958 by Minister Domenico Magrì.

Release

''Menschen im Hotel'' at the time received a FSK rating of "18 and older". The film premiered on 23 September 1959 at Gloria Palast in Munich. The premiere of the French (dubbed) version was in Paris, on 25 March 1960.

References

External links

* *
''Grand Hôtel''
at CinEmotions *
Artur-Brauner-Archive at the Deutsches Filmmuseum in Frankfurt (German), containing the production files for this movie
1959 films 1959 drama films German drama films French drama films West German films 1950s German-language films Films directed by Gottfried Reinhardt Films set in Berlin Films set in hotels Films based on Austrian novels Remakes of American films French remakes of American films Films shot at Spandau Studios 1950s German films 1950s French films {{1950s-Germany-film-stub