Downstairs (1932)
Downstairs (1932)
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Plot.
In the Austrian manor of Baron and Baroness von Burgen, the relationship between the upstairs aristocracy and the downstairs staff is quite positive. The servants seem to enjoy their time together, and some even fall in love, as head butler Albert and maid Anna have done. But when lecherous new chauffeur Karl Schneider enters the house, affairs and blackmail follow, and the harmony of the home is slowly destroyed.
Where to Watch.
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Cast & Crew.
John Gilbert
Karl Schneider
Paul Lukas
Albert - The Baron's Butler
Virginia Bruce
Anna - Albert's Wife
Reginald Owen
Baron 'Nicky' von Burgen
Hedda Hopper
Countess De Marnac
Olga Baclanova
Baroness Eloise von Burgen
Monta Bell
Director
Lenore J. Coffee
Writer
Bodil Rosing
Sophie
Melville Baker
Writer
Otto Hoffman
Otto
Harold Rosson
Cinematographer
Lucien Littlefield
Françoise
Conrad A. Nervig
Editor
Marion Lessing
The Countess' Maid Antoinette
Naomi Childers
Servant (uncredited)
Torben Meyer
Cafe Waiter (uncredited)
Karen Morley
Karl's New Employer (uncredited)
Russ Powell
Cafe Proprietor (uncredited)
Nicholas Soussanin
Wedding Guest (uncredited)
Ellinor Vanderveer
Party Guest (uncredited)
Dorothy Vernon
Servant (uncredited)
Michael Visaroff
Servant (uncredited)
Cedric Gibbons
Art Direction
Media.
Details.
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Wiki.
Downstairs is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film. It stars John Gilbert as a charming but self-serving chauffeur who wreaks havoc on his new employer's household, romancing and fleecing the women on the staff, and blackmailing the employer's wife. Gilbert had written the story in 1928 for a proposed silent film that was never produced.
Producer Irving Thalberg revived the project in 1932 as a special Gilbert production. The actor was so jubilant about the opportunity that he sold his original story to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for only one dollar.
Playlist.
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