Hostages (1943 film)

Hostages
Hostages
	theatrical poster
Directed by	Frank Tuttle
Screenplay by	Frank Butler; Lester Cole
Based on	Hostages; 1942 novel; by Stefan Heym
Produced by	Sol C. Siegel
Starring	Luise Rainer; Arturo de Córdova; William Bendix; Paul Lukas
Cinematography	Victor Milner
Edited by	Archie Marshek
Music by	Victor Young
Production; company	Paramount Pictures
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	August 12, 1943 (United States); October 11, 1943 (New York City);
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Hostages is an American war film produced by Paramount Pictures and released in 1943. It was directed by Frank Tuttle from a script by Frank Butler and Lester Cole based on the 1942 novel of the same name by Stefan Heym. The film stars Luise Rainer, Arturo de Córdova, William Bendix and Paul Lukas and features Katina Paxinou and Oskar Homolka.

Plot

A group of 26 Czechoslovakian citizens are jailed as hostages by the Gestapo until the supposed killer of a Nazi officer – who actually committed suicide – is turned in. The hostages include the leader of the underground resistance movement (William Bendix), whose cover is that of an apparently ignorant washroom attendant in the nightclub where the victim was last seen alive.

Cast

Luise Rainer as Milada Pressinger
Arturo de Córdova as Paul Breda
William Bendix as Underground leader
Paul Lukas as Rheinhardt
Katina Paxinou as Maria
Oskar Homolka as Lev Pressinger
Reinhold Schünzel as Kurt Daluege
Frederick Gierrman as Captain Patzer
Roland Varno as Jan Pavel
Felix Basch as Dr. Wallerstein
John Mylong as Proskosch
Hans Conried as Lt. Glasenapp
Steven Geray as Mueller^[2]

Production

Hostages utilized footage of Prague which was originally shot six years before for the film Bluebeard's Eighth Wife. Erich von Stroheim was originally scheduled to play the part of "Rheinhardt", but had to withdraw in order to film Paramount's Five Graves to Cairo.^[3]

References

Notes

^ Reynold Humphries (2008). Hollywood's Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 54–. ISBN 978-0-7486-2455-3. Retrieved 2013-08-04. Lester Cole, also one of the Ten, wrote two scripts dealing with war subjects: Hostages (1943) and None Shall Escape (1944).
^ "Overview" on Allmovie.com
^ "Notes" on TCM.com

External links

Hostages at IMDb
Hostages at the TCM Movie Database

[Humphries2008-1] Reynold Humphries (2008). Hollywood's Blacklists: A Political and Cultural History. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 54–. ISBN 978-0-7486-2455-3. Retrieved 2013-08-04. Lester Cole, also one of the Ten, wrote two scripts dealing with war subjects: Hostages (1943) and None Shall Escape (1944).

[2] "Overview" on Allmovie.com

[3] "Notes" on TCM.com

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