Hollywood in Klosters
Stars and starlets visiting
“What a lovely place to spend a winter!”
Klosters is known worldwide as a holiday resort thanks to its illustrious guests from the British royal family. What is almost forgotten is that the American high society from film, music, theater and literature came and went here as early as the 1950s. So much so that the village was nicknamed "Hollywood on the Rocks".
What actually makes holiday resorts stylish, cosmopolitan and elegant? And who is responsible for the fascinating atmosphere that surrounds holiday classics such as Klosters, Monte Carlo or St. Tropez? The answer is simple: the guests. They are the soul of every holiday resort. And they also ensure the unique atmosphere that Klosters has exuded since the early 1950s.
At that time, the successful American screenwriter Peter Viertel was commissioned by a Swiss film producer to write a screenplay and promptly moved to Davos - far from the temptations of the big city and a good 60 years before the local director Marc Forster was to cause a stir in Hollywood.
Peter Viertel and Irwin Shaw brought all of Hollywood to Klosters
To pass the time, Viertel learned to ski and discovered Klosters, which had already been chosen as a holiday resort by the well-known war photographer Robert Capa. Soon after, he developed a great love for the holiday resort, which he turned into «Hollywood on the Rocks» together with his friend and writer Irwin Shaw ("The Young Lions", "Rich and Poor"). Their reputation was followed by stars such as Paul Newman, Gregory Peck, Yul Brynner, Lauren Bacall, Greta Garbo. Gene Kelly, who danced on the tables in the hotel bar of the legendary Hotel Chesa Grischuna. Rex Harrison, who discussed his musical score for "My Fair Lady" with the hotel pianist. Or Deborah Kerr, whom Peter Viertel married in Klosters in 1960. They all came, the stars of the American cultural scene.
British and Americans shaped the resort
In the wake of "Hollywood on the Rocks", many American and British guests were drawn to Klosters, who found their second home here. They shaped the style and atmosphere of the holiday resort for decades, and their children still do today. A visit to the Chesa Bar or the Casa Antica dance hall during the winter season is enough to be captivated by this magical ambience. But you should only dance on the tables if you have Gene Kelly's talent...
Speaking of which: Hollywood in Klosters
Peter Viertel described his "Hollywood on the Rocks" time in his autobiography. Another contemporary witness to this wild Klosters time is the guest book of the Hotel Chesa Grischuna.
Book tip
The late Peter Quarter described his “Hollywood on the Rocks time” in his autobiography “Dangerous Friends”. The New York Times praised the book in 1992 with the following words: «Remarkably well connected and a formidable bon vivant in his own right, Mr. Quarter has tales to tell about anything from Ava Gardner's kidney stones to a Parisian bartender who counted Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald among his patrons. But the caliber of these anecdotes has as wide a range as Mr. Quarter's nomadic travels in the 1950's, which took him to Cuba with Ernest Hemingway, to Ireland and Africa with John Huston, to Spain with the renowned bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin and Orson Welles , and to Klosters, Switzerland, with all the luminaries who earned that ski resort the nickname Hollywood on the Rocks.»
Hotel tip
A contemporary witness that brings this wild Klosters era into the present is the guest book of the Hotel Chesa Grischuna. Many stars of the time have immortalized their joy of staying in Klosters in it. The hotel, designed in Graubünden style, still exudes the charm of the 1950s - a gem that is a member of the "Swiss Historic Hotels".
