Jon Mirsalis on Piano

Stiller came to Hollywood in 1925 as part of the "foreign invasion" of European directors, cameramen, and actors who were being hired by American companies. As an autocratic perfectionist, however, he was never able to make the adjustment into the American studio system. Although originally hired by MGM, the only surviving movie he directed in Hollywood is the melodramatic spy romance Hotel Imperial, starring Pola Negri, made at Paramount. A spy fleeing from an advancing army must hide himself as a waiter in the hotel and while there he falls in love with a beautiful maidservant. With rails above the set to move the camera, the film uniquely follows the characters from room to room as a way of building dramatic tension and making the hotel setting one of the primary protagonists in the drama. Even as Stiller was working on the movie he was ill and returned to Sweden before the project was completed.