Grand Hotel

GRAND HOTEL (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1932), directed by Edmund Goulding, from the stage production by Vicki Baum, marks one of MGM's most prestigious projects. Other than being one of those rare films from the 1930s to be frequently revived, if not overplayed, on television over the past decades, it has stood the test of time solely due its impressive all-star cast. Of the five major leading actors, feature billing goes to Greta Garbo, MGM's most important box-office star to date. Unlike other Garbo films, GRAND HOTEL, is not all Garbo. She shares screen time with other top-named MGM performers, ranging from John and Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery and Lewis Stone. The only other major actress to appear in this production is the youthful and down-to-earth Joan Crawford, who, in fact, is on screen more than the legendary Garbo. While many might consider Crawford the best of the two female stars, Garbo, who's acting style is somewhat different from the others, should be observed and studied. Her role as Grusinskaya, the Russian ballerina, is performed two ways, that of a lonely, depressed dancer striving for success, then, after encountering the Baron (John Barrymore), becomes full of joy and laughter. Watching this transformation on screen is like seeing the two sides of Garbo.

Edmund Goulding directs this 113 minute drama at a fast-pace, starting its opening with overhead camera shots of numerous switchboard operators connecting the incoming calls, followed by the brief introduction of the central characters conversing on the telephone in the hotel lobby: Senf (Jean Hersholt), the head hotel clerk, awaits the news of his wife who is about to give birth to their child; Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), a bookkeeper, diagnosed with an incurable disease who quits his job to enjoy his remaining days to the fullest; Preysing (Wallace Beery), a no-nonsense industrialist staying at the hotel to negotiate a business deal with important clients; Suzette (Rafaella Ottiano), the maid to the famous Russian dancer, Grusinskaya, who expresses concern about her employer; Baron Felix Von Greigern (John Barrymore), an adventurer traveling with his Dachshund dog, desperately in need of money to pay off a heavy debt, planning his latest robbery by stealing valuable jewels from the famous ballerina; and Otternschlag (Lewis Stone), a scarred doctor who walks about the hotel lobby, observing the goings on, and reciting to himself quietly, "Grand Hotel, people come, people go, and NOTHING ever happens!"

Things start to happen as Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), a stenographer with ambition, is hired by Preysing as his personal secretary. She soon makes the acquaintance of the handsome Baron and the poorly dressed Kringelein. Later that evening, after the lonely and unhappy Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo) leaves the hotel for the theater, the Baron sneaks into her room from the outside window to rob her. After she returns, the Baron, still there, hides himself, only to take notice that Grusinskaya, unhappy, intends on taking her own life. He suddenly appears, telling her he's one of her biggest admirers. In spite of telling the Baron that she wants to be alone, the Baron remains and confesses everything. How will the Baron be able to get money he so desperately needs? As for the other guests, will Preysing, a married man with two grown daughters who has made Flaemmchen his mistress after working hours, succeed with his business negotiations? Will Flaemmchen continue to get something out of life by not being particular on how she does it? Will Grusinskaya marry her beloved jewel thief Baron or will she go on with her career? Will Kringelein find the happiness he deserves before he succumbs? What will his hotel bill be after checking out from most expensive hotel in Germany? Will that kill him before his illness does?

While GRAND HOTEL could have told its stories in separate installments, it's done as one film focusing on separate characters through different time frames. Of the central characters, only Senf, the hotel clerk (Hersholt) is the least important, appearing only in a few scenes unrelated to the plot. Lewis Stone's role is also secondary, but memorable, especially with his opening and closing lines. Wallace Berry, is cast against type, sporting glasses, a short haircut, mustache and the only American actor speaking with a German accent. Lionel Barrymore, sporting a derby, over-sized clothing, thick mustache and glasses, is almost unrecognizable as Kringelein. In fact, he almost comes off best over all the major actors. Although playing a tragic figure, he does have a classic drunken comedy bit, along with a poignant scene where, after winning a large sum of money playing cards, discovers that his wallet containing all his money, is missing.

Fortunately, GRAND HOTEL does not play like a filmed stage play. The art deco and luxurious sets are a sight to behold. And why not? The Grand Hotel happens to be the most expensive and luxurious hotel in Berlin. GRAND HOTEL obviously registered well upon its release. It won the Academy Award as Best Picture of 1931/32. In later years, GRAND HOTEL has become imitated and spoofed many times. MGM remade GRAND HOTEL as WEEKEND AT THE WALDORF (1945), modernizing the story to contemporary New York City with World War II background, featuring its top marquee names of the day: Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon and Van Johnson. It was later adapted into a Broadway musical in the 1990s. Both screen versions are available on video cassette, DVD and Turner Classic Movies cable television. For a good time with a film classic, check in the GRAND HOTEL and see what the stars are doing for the weekend. (****)

The impressive array of stars is what makes "Grand Hotel" worth watching. It's also a pretty good feat of writing to create enough room for Garbo, Crawford, the Barrymores, and Beery all to operate. Each of them gets good characters and plenty of screen time in which to perform. The plot is not really that great, but it is written so as to bring all of these characters together in one place.

Which of the stars gives the best performance probably depends on which character you like the best. They all have their own story lines, and while much of the plot is rather implausible, the acting is such that you don't notice it that much most of the time. The ways that the characters react and change according to circumstances lets you see some fine performers show what they can do.

While it may be old-fashioned now in a number of respects, it's still a good film, and a rare chance to see this many film greats all at once.

Setting aside the fact that this is a landmark in the history of Hollywood, it has an unintended effect of foreshadowing the Second World War. GRAND HOTEL, filmed in 1932, is set in a luxury hotel in contemporary Berlin. There are several moments (during scenes with the disfigured doctor in particular) when characters refer to their sacrifices in the First World War. The most pointed remark runs something like "we won battle after battle, only to be told we'd lost the war.") At the time this film was made, Hitler was about a year and a half away from becoming Chancellor. GRAND HOTEL, based on a work by Vicki Baum, who wrote for a German readership, is less a story of the idle rich and the poor who serve them than an observation of the quiet rage stealing over a society whose war wounds only seem to deepen as time passes. Wallace Beery's character, a corrupt industrialist, was, in 1932, a staple of German art and theatre. An American audience in 1932 would merely have seen him as a fat-cat, but, in the Weimar Republic, particularly just before the Nazis took power, such a stereotype was provocative. Watching GRAND HOTEL with a sense of what was about to happen in Germany, one sees not so much a sophisticated soap-opera as a macabre meditation on the genteel side of a very dark phase in history.

Edmund Goulding's 1932 film "Grand Hotel", about 48 hours in a plush German hotel has a dream cast. Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo) is a Russian prima ballerina in town for several performances, who is lonely, a drama queen, and suicidal. She meets Baron von Geigern (John Barrymore) a hotel thief who inadvertently is in her room (having been in the process of stealing some jewelry) when she is about to commit suicide, and stays the night with her, convincing her not to end things. The two fall in love, of course, much to the disappointment of Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), a woman that von Geigern was romancing the day before. Flaemmchen is a stenographer, and her boss, German tycoon Preysing (Wallace Beery) is having a hard time with a merger he is trying to transact. One of Preysing's employees at a factory he owns is bookkeeper Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore). Otto is staying at the hotel because he only has a short time to live, so he takes his entire life savings and decides to live the rest of his life in luxury. Throughout the 48 hours that the action takes place, friendships are made, loves are found and lost, and a murder changes the lives of all of the main characters.

"Grand Hotel" won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1932, and it is easy to see why. The film is an epic without having an enormous cast or exotic locales. From the films that I have seen of this decade, this is one of the first examples of an intertwining narrative structure. We are used to seeing this now; (think Altman, in particular) where characters are all somehow connected, even though they may not even know each other. Another fine early example that I can recall was a decade later with "Tales of Manhattan". The acting is incredible, though Garbo's REALLY over-the-top performance was a bit much. Realizing that she was a drama queen as a profession, I excused a lot of it, but it got to a point where I was really snickering to myself after awhile, because she was acting just like Gloria Swanson later would in "Sunset Boulevard". One explanation could be that this was still a really early stage of the talking picture, and silent films solely relied on gestures and facial expressions to convey emotion. I was very impressed with the performances of the Barrymore brothers (I've always loved Lionel Barrymore), and was stunned by Crawford's talent as well as beauty.

"Grand Hotel" is rife with melodrama, but it was not hackneyed or maudlin. I am actually quite surprised it isn't on the IMDb top 250 list; I found it to be that good. I am a big fan of Douglas Sirk's melodramatic films of the 1940's and 1950's, and "Grand Hotel" is a great predecessor of that genre. 7/10 --Shelly

I've seen "Grand Hotel" at least fifteen times -- more than any other '30s film with the possible exception of two other classics: "King Kong" and Astaire and Rogers' "The Gay Divorcee."

Quite a few others reviewers here have commented negatively on this "creaky" old film. They are correct -- it is -- and yet, who cares? It's utterly wonderful!

The whole cast is superb -- charming, desperate, vulnerable John Barrymore; cynical, sad, appealing Joan Crawford; pathetic, whining, irrepressible Lionel Barrymore; coarse, selfish, all-too-humanly cruel Wallace Beery; and of course, the great Greta Garbo. The supporting cast, led by Lewis Stone and Jean Hersholt, are equally good.

Those who criticize Garbo as over-the-top in her portrayal of the prima ballerina are right. She IS over-the-top, AND she is absolutely glorious, whether wallowing in self-pitying, suicidal despair or radiant as the spring with a new love which astonishes and transports her. What a unique, unforgettable screen presence! What a Goddess!

"Grand Hotel" holds this viewer, anyway, entranced from beginning to end. In addition to the superlative acting, the art deco design is stunning and the music always appropriate.

Creaky? You bet. Do they make movies like this anymore? Nope. Do I wish they did? I sure do.