Hotel Berlin (Warner Bros.) (1945)

Warner Bros.’ ‘Hotel Berlin’ Opens Friday At Strand (Advance Theatre Story) Fortress Germany is besieged. The blood-drenched bastions of the Third Reich buckle under the weight of Allied armor. Her once arrogant Luffwaffe, beaten from the skies, lies like a crippled bird. Her invincible panzers have tasted the bitter fruits of defeat. To Germany, the war is lost. But not so the peace. For seeds of conquest can be planted underground. Plans of harder men and grimmer reapers can be stored away in men’s minds and in the minds of their children and these, too, can grow underground. Then quite suddenly, these can burst from the ground and bear the fruits of another war. It is of these dreams and of the men who dream them that Warner Bros. have fashioned “Hotel Berlin,” their newest and most timely drama to revolve about the war. Adapted from the best selling novel by Vicki Baum and starring Faye Emerson, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre, Andrea King and Helmut Dantine, “Hotel Berlin” arrives Friday at the Strand Theatre. As stark and grim as the nation it reveals, “Hotel Berlin” is the story of twisted lives and anguished souls, dwelling in the shadow of their own swastika in Berlin’s grandest hotel. Never to be forgotten for a moment nor to be trusted; never to be left with a mind to twist nor a group to lead, men like General Arnim Von Dahnwitz (portrayed in the film by Raymond Massey) still plot the moves of their retreating armies. For they are the hubs of the wheels that turn the German nation. Cold and calculating, trained in the school that honors the sabre wound, these are the leaders who have brought the horrors of Lublin and Dachau to the face of the earth. They can be found in the “Hotel Berlin,” being gracious to their women, sipping their liqueurs and always planning ... planning... planning. The women of these men, so busily engaged in moving human pawns on their chess boards, also bear watching. For the most part, they are children of the poor, plucked from fields of wildflowers, adorned with plundered riches and fed on a diet of Nazi ideology. They are hard beyond compare. Just such a golden-haired maiden is Lisa Dorn (Andrea King), most pampered guest in the “Hotel Berlin.” First lady of the German stage, she toys with the affections of men, eventually to meet her end at the hands of Martin Richter (Helmut Dantine), the one man who can offer her nothing but his love. For Martin Richter is one of ! the few men left in that country of suppression in whom the fire of freedom still flames. Broken in body on the racks of Nazi brutality, he works for the day when Allied armies will open the eyes of his country and the banner of a respected nation will whip in the wind above the Rhine. Richter, too, inhabits the Nazi-bloated “Hotel Berlin,” hiding from the Gestapo in its maze-like passages and cellar. Page Ten ? Mat 206-637-102—30¢ Faye Emerson exerts her smouldering blonde charm on Alan Hale in the above scene from Warners’ “Hotel Berlin,” now playing at the Strand. Also starred in the timely drama are Raymond Massey, Andrea King, Peter Lorre and Helmut Dantine. Then there is Tillie (Faye Emerson), the shell of a oncebeautiful girl, now working as a hotel hostess, content to sell her soul for a pair of shoes. And Johannes Koenig (Peter Lorre), in his day one of Germany’s most liberal minds, now torn between his hatred for the Nazis and his own lack of courage to do anything about it, stifling his feelings with drink, The guest list of the “Hotel Berlin” is not quite complete. Her locked doors hide from view vicious Gestapo chief Joachim Helm (George Coulouris), gnawing, party pawn Hermann Plottke (Alan Hale), cool and deadly Von Stetten (Henry Daniell), and dope-driven Major Otto Pisa Dome 3 aoe eee ae Johannes Koenig Hermann Plottke Joachim Helm Dr. Bellboy No. 6 Woman Telegraph Messenger Franz (the barber) Weyhart Wolle Kauders (Kurt Kreuger). Nightfall finds them spawning in the hotel’s bar, thinking their private thoughts, dealing in their private lies, planning those secret plans which, unless the world is wary, they will not surrender at the table of peace. “Hotel Berlin,” directed for Producer Louis Edelman by Peter Godfrey, was prepared for the screen by Jo Pagano and Alvah Bessie. Also featured in the film are Peter Whitney, Helene Thimig, Steven Geray, Dickie Tyler and Paul Panzer. “Hotel Berlin’ was _ photographed by Carl Guthrie, A.S.C., edited by Frederick Richards and adapted from the novel by Vicki Baum. Faye Emerson Helmut Dantine Raymond Massey Regs nie eee ‘Andrea King Peter Lorre Alan Hale George Coulouris Henry Daniell Peter Whitney Helene Thimig Steven Geray Kurt Kreuger Paul Andor Dickie Tyler Elsa Heims Frank Reicher Paul Panzer John Wengraf Ruth Albu Jay Novello Johanna Hofer Torben Meyer Fred Essler Terror And Fright Reign Supreme As Cameras Grind Out ‘Hotel Berlin’ When seventy-five women extras on the set of Warners’ “Hotel Berlin," the Strand's current feature, failed to express the proper fear of imaginary rats supposedly infesting the hotel, Director Peter Godfrey deftly solved the situation by placing some empty rodent cages just out of camera range. The cages not only created the atmosphere of terror desired by Mr. Godfrey, but worked so well that two of the extra players were said to have seen the rats which weren't there at all—and screamed accordingly! "Mighty," says Director Peter Godfrey, "is the power of suggestion." "Hotel Berlin," adapted from Vicki Baum's best-selling nove! of the same name, stars Faye Emerson, Raymond Massey, PRODUCTION Produced by Louis Edelman. Directed by Peter Godfrey. Screen Play by Jo Pagano and Alvah Bessie; From the Novel by Vicki Baum. Photographed by Carl Guthrie, A. S. C. Art Director, John Hughes. Film Editor, Frederick Richards. Sound by Charles Lang. Set Decorations by Clarence Steensen. Technical Advisor, Peter Pohlenz. Dialogue Director, Jack Gage. Wardrobe by Leah Rhodes. Makeup Artist, Perc Westmore. Music by Franz Waxman. Orchestral Arrangements by Leonid Raab; Musical Director, Leo F. Forbstein. Assistant Director, Claude Archer. Unit Manager, Eric Stacey. Unit Publicist, Bob Rhodes. Andrea King, Peter Lorre and Helmut Dantine. ‘Hotel Berlin’ Opens At Strand Theatre (Prepared Review) With the timeliness of this morning’s calendar and the explosiveness of the latest air raid in force over enemy territory, Warners’ “Hotel Berlin” opened last night at the Strand Theatre before an enthralled and thunderstruck audience. Made by the studio that has long since mastered the art of speaking the truth, however shocking, the film stars Faye Emerson, Raymond Massey, Andrea King, Peter Lorre and Helmut Dantine. Inasmuch as the picture goes a long way in clarifying the immediate and imminent preblems confronting the world today, this reviewer unstintingly recommends that “Hotel Berlin” be seen—at once—by everyone. “Hotel Berlin” tells the story that has been smouldering. behind the Westwall for more than five years of total war. And a grim tale it is, depicting the machinations of the men and women who plan future wars in the shadow of today’s dead. Mat 104-637-567—15¢ AFRAID! Andrea King, as treacherous Lisa Dorn, has good reason to be fearful in Warners’ “Hotel Berlin,” now at the Strand. The film also stars Faye Emerson, Raymond Massey, Peter Lorre and Helmut Dantine. Laid against the bomb-blasted backdrop of the Nazi capital, “Hotel Berlin” is concerned with Martin Richter (Helmut Dantine), an underground leader, and his struggle to bring understanding to a people diseased by years of Nazi ideology. It tells of exquisite Lisa Dorn (Andrea King), the spoiled darling of the German stage, and of the weak and shallow love she bore for Richter. Moving through the rooms of this great hotel, the film lays bare the lives of generals and statesmen, poets and shopkeepers; revealing for all the world to see, the corruption of the Nazi world. In the role of General Arnim Von Dahnwitz, the Butcher of Kharkov, Raymond Massey gives a performance reminiscent of his magnificent record on the English and American stage. His Von Dahnwitz, the man who deals in wars, is a characterization gripping and horrifying in its credibility. Portraying cold and beautii basse Dorn, General Von Dahnwitz’s only love, Andrea King scores with an interpretation of a woman so completely alien to our way of life Mat 112—15¢ that her exist Peter Lorre ~ ence is hard to believe. Nevertheless, it is an acting job that will win for the attractive Miss King a muchdeserved acting garland. Helmut Dantine, who, as the wounded Nazi flier in “Mrs. Miniver,” crawled out of a film garden not so long ago, plays Martin Richter to the hilt. He handles the role with a finesse that is outstanding for so young an actor and certainly deserves every possible future screen break that must surely come his way. Faye Emerson, remembered for her remarkable work as Cora in “The Very Thought Of You,” can tuck another rave notice under her belt with her screen job as Tillie, in “Hotel Berlin.” Handed one of the most dramatic sequences in the entire film, Faye Emerson justifies the faith the Brothers Warner have in her. Her Tillie is warm, alive and very real. Star Peter Lorre, cast as Johannes Koenig, a brilliant mind eaten away by alcohol; Alan Hale as Plottke, sniveling pawn of the party; George Coulouris as Helm, the brutality-twisted Gestapo chief and Henry Daniell, Peter Whitney, Helene Thimig, Steven Geray, Kurt Kreuger and Dickie Tyler all give powerful performances. Directed by Peter Godfrey and produced by Louis Edelman, “Hotel Berlin’ was prepared for the screen by Jo Pagano and Alvah Bessie, from Vicki Baum’s novel by the same name.