Name: Menschen im Hotel
Genre: Drama
Released: 1960-03-25
Duration: 1 h 46 min
Rating: 6.2
Cast: O.W. Fischer, Michèle Morgan, Heinz Rühmann

Remakes, they say, are seldom better than the original.

After years of prosperity German cinema went into sharp decline during the end of the 50's. The audience finally was fed up with the low calories diet of mindless Heimatfilmen, shrill, exploitive melodramas, teary Maria Schell weepies and ultra-brutal World War II sagas. The number of TV sets nearly doubled each year and as they did in the USA some years earlier bedazzled German producers tried their luck with costly remakes to lure the paying costumers back. 

Someone finally got the suicidal idea to produce an updated version of the all-time classic 'Grand Hotel' (aka 'Menschen I'm Hotel'). They crammed together some of Germany's top stars: O.W. Fischer, though on the decline after some huge flops in a row, Heinz Ruehmann and Sonja Ziemann, whose last few films bombed at the box-office, after she tried a more mature image.

The casting ranged from bizarre (O.W. Fischer is AWFUL and over the top, he makes John Barrymore look like a stiff zombie) to downright foolish (sweet and homegrown Sonja Ziemann as a slightly amoral secretary - never mind about miscasting, boys). 

The overall result was so bad and wretched, it ended the career of most people involved.

German cinema is famous for its historical depth, expressionist aesthetics, and social-political engagement. It has moved from Expressionism to political reckoning, from New German Cinema's raw realism to contemporary genre experiments. Its legacy lies in both technical innovation and deep explorations of history, morality, and philosophy.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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People staying at or working in a luxurious hotel undergo a variety of crises in their personal lives.

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John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Joan Crawford, and Greta Garbo in Grand Hotel (1932)

Michèle Morgan and Siegfried Schürenberg in Grand Hotel (1959)

Michèle Morgan and O.W. Fischer in Grand Hotel (1959)

Heinz Rühmann and O.W. Fischer in Grand Hotel (1959)

Gert Fröbe and O.W. Fischer in Grand Hotel (1959)

Grand Hotel

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