Erich von Stroheim in a Paris hotel as the world holds its breath — pre-war anxiety never looked this gorgeous.
"Menaces" deals with the months before WW2 in a hotel :t he fear of the impending war never leaves the guests of an hotel in Paris.
Cinematography
Shadow-soaked hotel corridors that breathe unease.
Acting
Von Stroheim's Hoffman — menace wrapped in tweed.
Director
Edmond T. Gréville
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gréville shot this in 1939 Paris; some cast members would later work for German-controlled French studios.
The hotel as microcosm was already cliché by 1940, but here it haunts differently — audiences knew the war was no longer 'impending.'
FR
