Under the Rainbow (2013) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

A little person living in a Kansas homeless shelter who clings to Hollywood's promise. He approaches life with practical daydreams, climbing a roof to fix an antenna as a ritual of aspiration. His fall crystallizes the tension between dream and danger, suggesting that the glamour of film carries real stakes.

• 🧍‍♂️ Dreamer
• 🏚️ Shelter resident
• ✨ Hopeful

Annie Clark is a long-suffering MGM employee in Culver City, navigating a day filled with visitors, requests, and the looming presence of espionage. She keeps a steady hand as an assistant, guiding others through the unfolding intrigue. Her resilience anchors the human side of a plot filled with spies, royals, and camera lenses.

• 🧭 MGM employee
• 🕰️ Patient
• 🎬 Studio liaison

The Austrian duke arrives under guard with his Secret Service escort, a symbol of aristocratic dignity amid hotel intrigue. He navigates the hotel’s chaos with restrained composure, even as danger closes in around him. His presence escalates the tension as spies maneuver for a hidden map.

• 👑 Austrian duke
• 🛡️ Guarded
• 🎖️ Royal presence

The Austrian duchess accompanies the Duke, bringing refined etiquette that stands in contrast to the hotel chaos surrounding them. She remains poised as intrigue swirls, aware that danger follows in the wake of royal attention. A canine-linked clue becomes a pivotal thread in the chase.

• 👑 Austrian duchess
• 🐕 Canine companion
• 🕵️‍♀️ Target of intrigue

Otto Kriegling is a Nazi secret agent moving through the shadows with a threatening presence. He aims to seize the map and escalate the confrontation, forcing others to improvise under pressure. His pursuit intensifies the hotel-studio mêlée into a deadly crossfire.

• 🗡️ Nazi agent
• 🕵️ Shadow operative
• 🎯 Threat

Nakomuri is a Japanese contact who believes the hidden map is concealed in the Duchess’s dog's collar and uses his camera to threaten when needed. He moves through the chaos with a mix of caution and opportunism. His actions intertwine with espionage and the fate of the others on the floor plan.

• 🎞️ Japanese contact
• 📷 Photographer
• 🗝️ Key to map

Bruce Thorpe is the Secret Service escort guarding the Duke and Duchess, playing a crucial role in protecting them while unraveling the diagram of danger surrounding them. He reveals details about the map that become the turning point of the chase. His presence signals the intersection of political stakes and Hollywood spectacle.

• 🛡️ Secret Service
• 🧩 Protector
• 🧭 Political liaison

Henry is the hotel caretaker left in charge when the boss is away, his presence a source of comic misfortune and occasional mismanagement. His inefficacy amplifies the chaos that surrounds the guests and the plan to escape with the map. The character functions as a human anchor to the hotel’s farcical side.

• 🏚️ Hotel caretaker
• 🧭 Incompetence
• 😂 Comic foil

The 150 little people cast as Munchkins populate the hotel corridors, creating a living link to The Wizard of Oz and injecting a sense of chaos into the production atmosphere. Their presence foregrounds the film’s meta-commentary on stardom and spectacle. They become part of the story’s dreamlike texture rather than mere background.

• 🧚‍♂️ Munchkins ensemble
• 🎪 Film history
• 🪄 Comic chaos

Akido is a Japanese tourist whose murder by an assassin escalates the danger surrounding the Duke and Duchess. The killing marks a violent turning point that intensifies the pursuit through hotel corridors and studio lots. His role is a catalyst that heightens the stakes for all involved.

• 🗡️ Japanese tourist
• 💀 Victim
• 🧭 Catalyst

Dreams of Hollywood collide with the harsher realities of life on the edge of poverty and geopolitics. The story uses a dreamlike sequence to blur fantasy and danger, forcing characters to question what is truly real. The tension between aspiration and risk drives the narrative, revealing how longing can reshape choices and identities. The dream’s thin boundary with reality leaves the characters haunted by possibilities they cannot fully control.

Espionage threads braid through the hotel and studio lot as Nazi agents and their Japanese contact lurk among the guests. The plot centers on a hidden map and a chase that crosses the studio to a rhythm of danger. Tension escalates as professionals and dreamers collide under the watchful eyes of protectors and rivals.

The story frames cinema as both a lure and a mirror, where film history intrudes on real life. The Wizard of Oz tie-in and the Munchkin presence reinforce how storytelling shapes desire and fear. The dream sequence and the real-world world braid into one cinematic experience that leaves characters asking what is true.