Small Hotel(1939)

Name: Small Hotel
Director: Piero Ballerini
Genre: Drama
Released: 1939-01-01
Duration: 85 min
Cast: Andrea Checchi, Emma Gramatica, Laura Nucci, Mino Doro, Bianca Doria

Andrea Checchi Emma Gramatica Laura Nucci Mino Doro Bianca Doria

Piccolo Hotel (aka Small Hotel) uses the titular establishment to weave together a vast tapestry of subplots, a la Grand Hotel. The guests include a domineering mother (Lola Braccini), her petulant daughter (Bianca Doria) and the daughter's gigolo boyfriend (Guido Notari). Also on hand is a worldly vamp (Laura Nucci) who also falls for the boyfriend, and the chronic-gambler son (Andrea Checchi) of the hotel's self-sacrificing landlady (Emma Grammatica). Though the film is set in Budapest, the characters are more Mediterranean than mittel-European. Piccolo Hotel was one of the entries in the Vienna Biennial Film Festival.