Alice in the Cities (1974)

A German journalist is saddled with a nine-year-old girl after encountering her mother at a New York airport.

Director:

Wim Wenders

Writers:

Wim Wenders, Veith von Fürstenberg (contributing writer)

Stars:

Yella Rottländer, Rüdiger Vogler, Lisa Kreuzer

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rüdiger Vogler	...	Philip 'Phil' Winter
Yella Rottländer	...	Alice
Lisa Kreuzer	...	Lisa - Alice's Mother (as Elisabeth Kreuzer)
Edda Köchl	...	Angela - Friend in New York
Ernest Boehm	...	Publisher
Sam Presti	...	Car Dealer
Lois Moran	...	Airport Hostess
Didi Petrikat	...	Friend in Frankfurt
Hans Hirschmüller	...	Police Officer
Sibylle Baier	...	The Woman
Mirko

Storyline

German journalist Philip Winter has a case of writer's block when trying to write an article about the United States. He decides to return to Germany, and while trying to book a flight, encounters a German woman and her nine year old daughter Alice doing the same. The three become friends (almost out of necessity) and while the mother asks Winter to mind Alice temporarily, it quickly becomes apparent that Alice will be his responsibility for longer than he expected. After returning to Europe, the innocent friendship between Winter and Alice grows as they travel together through various European cities on a quest for Alice's grandmother.

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Plot Keywords:

road movie | search for self | life crisis | journalist | airport | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German English Dutch

Release Date:

17 May 1974 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Alice in the Cities

Filming Locations:

Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Filmverlag der Autoren

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wim Wenders had recently completed a very troubled production of The Scarlet Letter (1973). The only aspect of that film that he derived any enjoyment from was one small scene between Rüdiger Vogler and 'Yella Rottlander', something he was keen to recreate.

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Goofs

Crew are reflected in the side of the car (at around 46 mins) (sound man, microphone and other crew)

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Quotes

Lisa - Alice's Mother: What are you writing?
Philip 'Phil' Winter: The inhuman thing about American TV is not so much that they hack everything up with commercials, though that's bad enough, but in the end all programmes become commercials. Commercials for the status quo. Every image radiates the same disgusting and nauseated message. A kind of boastful contempt. Not one image leaves you in peace, they all want something from you.

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Connections

Featured in The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Movies to Change the World (2011)

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Soundtracks

Memphis Tennesse
Written and performed by Chuck Berry

User Reviews

Through the Eyes

The references between Wenders' films and cinema in general are utterly diverse. They reach from direct hints and citations to more subliminal connections. And therefore, mainly the early films of De Sica resonate in Alice in the Cities, especially the neo-realistic masterpiece Ladri di biciclette. In the main protagonists' (journalist Philip and young girl Alice) search for her grandmother in the German Ruhrpott, we can see traces of the father's and his son's search for the bicycle in Rome. Both films are open for sidelong glances, for moments that don't want to give in the dramaturgic concept of the story. But, actually, you don't have to watch De Sica's film to lose yourself in the sheer beauty and poetry of Alice in the Cities, where documentary elements win over fiction and found pictures triumph over staged ones; when shots of moments fall out of the stream of images and reveal an almost boundless yearning.