Pair of lobby cards for the film, “Hotel Berlin” (1945)
Extent and Medium
.1: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
.2: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 14.000 inches (35.56 cm)
Creator(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures (Production Company)
- Ken Sutak (Compiler)
- Warner Bros. Pictures (Distributor)
Biographical History
The Cinema Judaica Collection consists of more than 1,200 objects relating to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical subjects, from 1923 to 2000, from the United States, Europe, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The collection was amassed by film memorabilia collector Ken Sutak, to document Holocaust-and Jewish-themed movies of the World War II era and the postwar years. The collection includes posters, lobby and photo cards, scene stills, pressbooks, trade ads, programs, magazines, books, VHS tapes, DVDS, and 78 rpm records. Sutak organized these materials into two groups, “Cinema Judaica: The War Years, 1939–1949” and “Cinema Judaica: The Epic Cycle, 1950–1972” and, in conjunction with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum (now the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York), organized exhibitions on these two themes in 2007 and 2008. Sutak subsequently authored companion books with the same titles.
Archival History
The lobby cards were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur
Scope and Content
Pair of lobby cards for the American film, “Hotel Berlin,” released by Warner Brothers in March 1945. Lobby cards are promotional materials placed in theater lobby windows to highlight specific movie scenes, rather than the broader themes often depicted on posters.“Hotel Berlin” was based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Vicki Baum, a part-Jewish immigrant from Germany. The film features characters from all walks of life, including hotel staff, Nazi officers, spies, prison escapees, and actresses. During the course of the film, their lives and motivations intersect as it becomes clear that Germany will lose the war. The characters all display some moral ambiguity, evoking a contentious level of sympathy. The end of the film displays a quoted statement, followed by the signatures of Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin, that they didn’t want to punish the German people as a whole, just the Nazi party and its ideology. The script was updated multiple times during filming as news came in from the front, and production on “Hotel Berlin” ended in January 1945. Warner Brothers rushed to release the film alongside the Allied push towards Berlin. The film was released just two months before the German army surrendered on May 7, 1945. This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Restrictions on use. Copyright status is unknown.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
.1 Lobby card printed on rectangular, off-white paper, with a narrow margin on all four sides, and the background partially shaded in red. Across the top is a large line of text directly above the film title, made to resemble a newspaper headline. Hanging off the bottom right corner of the headline is a small, black box and illustration of the book from which the film was adapted. In the lower left corner are the names of the main cast and additional film credits. In the bottom center is an illustration of a blonde woman, depicted from the torso up, with a large flower in her hair and wearing a strappy top. In the bottom right corner is a smaller-scale illustration of a uniformed Nazi officer, standing with his back to the viewer as he looks down at three dark-haired women cowering on the ground. Copyright and printing information is printed in black in the bottom margin. There are several dark smudges along the margins, and there is faint ink transfer from another image on the back. Depicted: Faye Emerson as Tillie Weiler, others unidentified .2 Lobby card printed on rectangular, off-white paper, with a narrow margin on all four sides and a large, black-and-white photographic image in the center. Across the top of the card is the film title in large, black text. The canted image in the center depicts a scene in the stairwell of a wealthy home. On the left, two uniformed Nazi officers are apprehending a shorter, older man, wearing a black suit with a decorative key hanging from a chain around his neck. On the right, a woman is descending the staircase, wearing a long gown beneath a long fur coat. Overlaying the image in the bottom left corner is a canted black rectangle containing white text. The background surrounding the image is partially shaded in red. Copyright and printing information is printed in black in the bottom margin. The back of the card has handwritten inscriptions along the top edge. The edges of the card are slightly discolored, and there is a creased and worn section along the left portion of the top edge. There are several black ink smudges along the top and bottom, and some deep scratched on the lower left. Depicted: Frank Reicher as Fritz, Andrea King as Lisa Dorn, others unidentified
.2 back, top left corner, handwritten, pencil : 15- .2 back, top center, handwritten, pencil : ANDREA KING
People
- Reicher, Frank, 1875-1965.
- Emerson, Faye.
- Dantine, Helmut.
- Baum, Vicki, 1888-1960.
- Lorre, Peter.
- King, Andrea, 1919-2003.
Corporate Bodies
- Warner Bros. Pictures (1923-1967)
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in motion pictures.
- Film adaptations.
- Women in motion pictures.
- Nazis in motion pictures.
- National socialism in motion pictures.
- Germans in motion pictures.
- War films.
- Political violence in motion pictures.
- Germany.
- United States.
Genre
- Display cards.
- Object
- Posters