Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1945)

WARNER BROS. . . (March Release) •HOTEL BERLIN' STRONG EXPLOITATION EN RY Rates • • • if sold in action and transient spots; • • elsewhere on timely value Warners !>H minutes Helmut Dantine, Faye Emerson, Raymond Massey, Andrea King, Peter Lorre, Alan Hale, George Coulouris, Henry Daniell, Peter Whitney, Helen Thimig, Steven Geray, Kurt Kreuger, Paul Andor, Erwin Kaiser, Dickie Tyler, Frank Reieher, Paul Panzer. Jay Noveilo, Lotte Stein, Torben Meyer, Elsa Heiis, John Mylong, George Meador. Directed by Peter Godfrey. Although the tremendously timely value of "Hotel Berlin" is the picture's greatest asset the melodramatic plot has realism, movement and excitement enough to capture the interest of average audiences. Brought up-to-the-minute, from Vicki Baum's contemporary novel originally laid in 1943, the film even includes the statement made by the Big Three at Yalta and, consequently, it is pregnant with terrific exploitation possibilities. Dealing with Nazi deceit, intrigue and the underground movement, the story treatment, with its intertwining of diverse characters in a huge Berlin establishment, is similar to the same author's successful "Grand Hotel." A dozen people, ranging from a proud, old-school general to a down-at-the-heels hotel hostess, becoming involved in the escape of Martin Richter, member of the anti-Nazi underground, from the dread Gestapo who honeycomb the hotel. The majority of thzse characters are cruel, vicious or unsympathetic, but a few exhibit the easily-recognizable human or faintly-comic traits that cause audiences to feel sorry for these Hitlerbound people. However, the picture is, most of all, good anti-Nazi propaganda. Peter Godfrey's direction gives the impression of a swift pace, despite the lengthy dialogue passages but he actually excels when concentrating on the color and mass movement in the palatial hotel lobby. Faye Emerson (Mrs. Elliott Roosevelt), Helmut Dantine, Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre give this fair name value and, if heavily sold especially in transient and action houses, it should do smash business, unless there is a sudden change in the present war situation. It will be above average in all locations. Hotel Berlin, in the heart of Naziland, is headquarters of party leaders, diplomatic corps and wealthy Germans whose homes have been demolished. Just before Berlin is about to crack, Helmut Dantine, a wounded anti-Nazi eager to join the underground forces elsewhere, is trapped in the big hotel and forced to hide in the suite of Andrea King, favorite Hitler actress. Although interested in Raymond Massey, old-school general, Miss King shields Dantine and eventually falls in love with him. Massey, caught in a plot against Hitler, commits suicide and Dantine, when cornered by the Gestapo leader, George Coulouris, kills the latter and throws his body down an elevator shaft. Through Miss King's help, Dantine escapes from the hotel and takes refuge in the home of another underground worker. Miss King comes there to warn him that the Nazis know his whereabouts but, when he learns it is she who tipped off the Gestapo, he kills her. Dantine's action is based on his conviction that, once a Nazi, always a Nazi. Faye Emerson looks and acts the part of Tilli, the hotel harlot to perfection. Raymond Massey, as the stiff-necked General von Dahnwitz, and Peter Lorre, as Koenig, a drunken propaganda writer, also stand out and Helmut Dantine, as Richter, the fugitive; George Coulouris and Henry Daniell are capable enough. Far less effective is Andrea King, a sophisticated type who is ill-suited to the part of the fragile little actress, Lisa Dorn. DENLEY 'DILLINGER' A NATURAL FOI Rates • • • in action spots; good dua Monogram Edmund Lowe, Anne Jeffreys, Lawrence Tierney, Eduardo Ciannelli, Marc Lawrence, Elisha Cook, Jr., Ralph Lewis, Ludwig Stossel, Else Jannsen, Hugh Prosser, Dewey Robinson, Bob Perry, Kid Chisel, Billy Nelson, Lee (Lasses) White, Lou Lubin, Victor Killian. Directed by Max Nosseck. A natural for the action spots, "Dillinger" tells the grim tale of the nation's former "Public Enemy Number One" with no stops pulled, from his first "job" netting $7.20 and a jail term to that final fatal encounter with justice outside a movie house. The King Bros, produced the film on a modest budget, but this will prove no deterrent where action fans are concerned, for all the ingredients so dear to their bloodthirsty hearts are here in abundance. A number of the Dillinger mob's ingenious bank robberies are pictured in gory detail, while the conflict within the gang between Lawrence Tierney, as Dillinger, and Edmund Lowe for leadership, adds a running vein of excitement throughout. Dillinger's method of obtaining his mob by the simple expedient of springing his former jailmates in a daring prison break is a thrilling high spot. The romantic element is severely rationed and seems to have as its only purpose the eventual fatal denouement. It all adds up to raw meat for the action enthusiasts. A tone of reasonable authenticity pervades thz film I THE ACTION FANS ler elsewhere and this will enhance its appeal. Particularly in view of the recent dearth of gangster films, "Dillinger" should prove something of a bonanza for action houses. Elsewhere, it will make a satisfactory dualler. As the story opens, Victor Killian, John Dillinger's father, appears on a movie theatre's stage to tell the audience Dillinger's story and collect funds for a pauper's burial for the late gangster. He tells of Dillinger's (Lawrence Tierney) first robbery of a grocery, for which he is apprehended and given a six-months' jail term. In prison, he meets Edmund Lowe, Eduardo Ciannelli, Marc Lawrence and Elisha Cook, Jr., all in for long terms, and promises to get them out. His term up, Dillinger stages several robberies to collect funds, then smuggles guns to his mob-to-be, enabling them to shoot REVIEWS IN THIS ISSUE Hotel Berlin 9 Dillinger 9 Delightfully Dangerous 10 Earl Carroll Vanities 10 Her Lucky Night 10 Strange Illusion 12 A Song for Miss Julie 12 Crime, Inc 12 their way out of jail. Lowe and Dillinger, continually at odds about leadership of the gang, have it out when Dillinger's plan for a big bank robbery is successful and Dillinger takes over. Hiding out in Tucson, Arizona, the leader is captured in a dentist's office when Lowe tips off the police. Held in a small-town jail, Dillinger carves a wooden gun and bluffs his way out, then kills Lowe. Broke, the gang attempts a $300,000 mail car robbery and in the shooting, Cook is killed, Dillinger wounded and forced to flee to a mountain hideout. Dillinger's moll, Anne Jeffreys, transfers her affections to Ralph Lewis, a newcomer to the gang. He kills Lewis and forces Anne to go with him to Chicago. After months of hiding in a tenement room, Dillinger ventures out and the vengeful girl tips off the FBI, lures Dillinger to a movie and he is killed when they come out of the theatre. Lawrence Tierney portrays Dillinger in sullen, grim-faced manner, but seems weak beside such accomplished plug-uglies as Ciannelli, Cook and Lawrence. However, his newness to the screen is an asset to the picture's authenticity and more than makes up for his thespic defects. Edmund Lowe is good as the clever, smooth deposed gang leader. Anne Jeffreys has little to do as "the woman in red," but does it well. Max Nosseck's direction is exceptionally good in the exciting scenes, of which there are plenty. STINE BOX OFFICE RATING: • Poor • •Arerage • • • Good ••••Excellent MARCH 19, 1945