Arquivo

In 1917, a little before the end of World War I, six Hungarian soldiers are surrounded by Russian forces in Budapest. They take refuge in the luxurious Hotel Imperial. Hall, an Austrian officer in hiding from the Russian army, is persuaded by one of the chambermaids to disguise himself as a waiter. Played by Pola Negri, the chambermaid is, in fact, an aristocrat, equally in disguise. She wants to find out who was responsible for the death of her sister who committed suicide because of an Austrian in the military. She believes Hall caused her sister’s death and plans to hand him over to the Russians. With this intent, she poses as a model for a Russian general who is passionately fond of painting. Based on the play by Hungarian playwright Lajos Biro, Hotel Imperial is the only film that Stiller ever brought to completion in all of four years he was working in Hollywood.