Between Yesterday and Tomorrow is a quintessential example of a key postwar cycle: the German Trümmerfilm (rubble film), which examines issues such as collective guilt and the prospect of an uncertain future. After living in Swiss exile for ten years, an illustrator returns to Munich, joining old acquaintances in the ruins of his former home, the Hotel Regina. Together they confront the consequences of the war and their own roles in the tragic death of Nelly Dreifuss (Sybille Schmitz).
In Harald Braun’s noirish film, past and present freely intersect and interact. Kat, a member of the group played by a stunning Hildegard Knef, represents the generation of young women who seek to take leave of the past and look forward: “We have to carry on living, don’t we? That’s our only option.”
Between Yesterday and Tomorrow (German: Zwischen Gestern und Morgen) is a 1947 German drama film directed by Harald Braun and starring Hildegard Knef, Winnie Markus and Sybille Schmitz. In post-war Germany a group of former guests return to a luxurious Munich hotel where they are haunted by memories of their past interaction with Nelly Dreifuss, a Jewish woman who had died during the Nazi era.
It was part of both the cycle of rubble films and subgenre of hotel films. As with many other German rubble films, it examines issues of collective guilt and future rebuilding. It was shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich. The film’s sets were designed by the art director Robert Herlth.
Between Yesterday and Tomorrow (1947)
Directed by: Harald Braun
Starring: Hildegard Knef, Winnie Markus, Sybille Schmitz, Willy Birgel, Viktor de Kowa, Viktor Staal, Carsta Löck, Adolf Gondrell, Walther Kiaulehn, Erich Ponto, Erhard Siedel, Otto Wernicke
Screenplay by: Harald Braun, Jacob Geis, Herbert Witt
Production Design by: Robert Herlth
Cinematography by: Günther Anders
Film Editing by: Adolf Schlyssleder
Costume Design by: Irmgard Becker
Music by: Werner Eisbrenner
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Schorcht Filmverleih
Release Date: December 11, 1947
Visits: 125