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.
Contents
Plot
A group of 26 Czechoslovak 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
Production
Hostages used 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.