Memorial Page for Percy Adlon (née Paul Rudolf Parsifal Adlon)

Percy Adlon (born 1 June 1935 in Munich; died 10 March 2024 in Los Angeles) was a German film director, screenwriter and producer. His name is closely connected with Out of Rosenheim, known internationally as Bagdad Café, a film about encounter, estrangement and quiet change in the California desert.

Background and path to film

Adlon grew up in Bavaria. His mother's family was linked to the history of Berlin's Hotel Adlon; his father was the opera tenor Rudolf Laubenthal. He studied music, literature and theatre in Munich and first worked in radio. From radio work, narration and television, his path into film developed in the early 1970s. Before his feature films, he made many documentaries about art, people and lived spaces.

Percy and Eleonore Adlon

His work was connected for decades with Eleonore Adlon. They wrote and produced many films together and founded the production company Pelemele Film. This collaboration gave the films a recognizable stance: close observation of outsiders, a feel for space, colour and music, and characters who do not claim their place through noise.

First feature films

With Céleste in 1981, Adlon approached the world of Marcel Proust through the perspective of his housekeeper Céleste Albaret. Die Schaukel and Sugarbaby followed. In these films he increasingly worked with Marianne Sägebrecht. Her presence suited Adlon's attention to people who stand outside familiar expectations while keeping dignity, humour and independence.

Out of Rosenheim

Out of Rosenheim was released in German cinemas in 1987. The film follows Jasmin Münchgstettner, played by Marianne Sägebrecht, who after an argument ends up in the Mojave Desert and meets Brenda, played by CCH Pounder, at a remote motel. From distance, mistrust and everyday work, a cautious closeness develops. The film connected Bavarian origins, an American landscape, music by Bob Telson and a storytelling style in which comedy and melancholy remain side by side.

Between Bavaria and California

After the success of Out of Rosenheim, Percy and Eleonore Adlon also lived in Pacific Palisades near Los Angeles. Further works included Rosalie Goes Shopping, Salmonberries, Hawaiian Gardens and Mahler auf der Couch. Adlon remained independent of major studios and continued to work on stories in which home, foreignness, family, art and self-invention overlap.

Farewell

Percy Adlon died in Los Angeles on 10 March 2024. He was 88 years old. His work remains connected with films built from small gestures, unusual encounters and an eye for people moving between different worlds.