''Shanghai 1937'' (also released as ''Hotel Shanghai'') is a 1997 German two-part
miniseries directed by
Peter Patzak
Peter Patzak (2 January 1945 – 11 March 2021) was an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He directed 60 films from 1973 to 2021. His film ''Kassbach – Ein Porträt'' was entered into the 29th Berlin International Film Festival and his f ...
for German Television. It was entered into the
20th Moscow International Film Festival.
Cast
*
Agnieszka Wagner as Helen Russell
*
Nicholas Clay
Nicholas Anthony Phillip Clay (18 September 1946 – 25 May 2000) was an English actor.
Early life
Clay was born in Streatham, London on 18 September 1946, the son of a professional soldier in the British Army's Royal Engineers. The famil ...
as Bobby
*
James McCaffrey as Frank Taylor
* Zhang Min
*
Dieter Laser
Klaus Dieter Laser (17 February 1942 – 29 February 2020) was a German actor. Laser's career spanned over five decades, appearing in both German and English-language productions. He achieved recognition for his lead role in the 2009 film '' The ...
* Robert Giggenbach
*
Nigel Davenport
Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and '' Chariots of F ...
as Butler
*
Elliott Gould as Hutchinson
*
Annie Girardot
Annie Suzanne Girardot (25 October 193128 February 2011) was a French actress. She often played strong-willed, independent, hard-working, and often lonely women, imbuing her characters with an earthiness and reality that endeared her to women und ...
as Mme. Tissaud
*
Patrick Ryecart
Patrick Geoffrey Ryecart (born 9 May 1952) is an English actor.
Early life and career
Ryecart was born in Warwick, Warwickshire.
His first West End appearance was in Bernard Shaw's ''Candida (play), Candida'' at the Albery Theatre, playing t ...
as Sir Kingsdale-Smith
Reception
In a positive review for ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
'', Duane Byrge wrote, "Director Peter Patzak has fashioned a roiling entertainment, nicely transposing this sprawling story to a tight, filmic dimension. Technically, it's marvelous with its teeming visuals and captivating marches through old Shanghai. Highest praise to cinematographer Martin Stingl for the panoramic scopings, and particular praise to art director Qin Baisong for evoking the passions and terrors of the times."
In a negative review for ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', Angela Baldassarre wrote, "Considering the large number of subplots, there is little room in ''Hotel Shanghai'' for character development; none of the personalities gets beyond mere introduction. The performances, thus, come across as incomplete and mediocre."
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
1997 films
1997 television films
1997 drama films
German drama television films
English-language German films
1990s German-language films
English-language television shows
German-language television shows
Films directed by Peter Patzak
Films based on Austrian novels
Films set in Shanghai
Films set in 1937
Das Erste original programming
Television shows based on novels
Spy drama television films
1990s German films
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