Hotel

The late Arthur Hailey was not a great writer, but he was a great storyteller, which made up for it. And that's evident in the films of his books, as well. The original "Airport" is probably the best known, but "Hotel," which later became a hit TV series in the 1980s, is a good, overlooked adaptation as well. One can easily dismiss it as colorful, all-star glitz and gloss, but one is fascinated by it as well.

As directed by Richard Quine, written and produced by Wendell Mayes, and costumed by the legendary Edith Head, it has atmosphere to spare, even if most of that atmosphere is courtesy of the Warner back lot. The story is slight and somewhat diffuse, but the atmosphere and cast, especially Rod Taylor, Melvyn Douglas, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden (In a role with almost no dialog!), and the ageless Merle Oberon, keep you riveted every step of the way. And, as with "Airport," there's the usual crisis element, in this case an elevator crash sequence that's suspsnsefully staged.

One complaint, though: Johnny Keating's music, while nice, is often loud and intrusive. Background music is supposed to be just that, BACKGROUND music. If I wanted to hear the score that badly, I would have bought the soundtrack album.

Warner Bros cast Rod Taylor, a perfect leading man, in this film directed by Richard Quine who made those great Kim Novak films at Columbia -Strangers When We Meet, Pal Joey, Notorious Landlady-when Hotel features two legendary stars Melvyn Douglas and Merle Oberon, both given wonderfully rich parts to play. Also cast Richard Conte and Michael Rennie. This is a film where the action on the set was likely to be even better than when the cameras rolled. Kevin McCarthy is properly tough minded. Lovely Catherine Spaak has the nominal female lead.

Merle Oberon one of the cinema's great all time beauties steals the movie. The real show stopper is Ms. Oberon then 60 but looking 35 and gorgeous to behold, and I recall Merle Oberon wore her own fantastic jewel collection in Hotel. While Oberon's peers like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Ann Sothern, and Olivia De Havilland were starring in horror films to stay in the public eye, Merle Oberon who in her legendary career worked with Brando, Cooper, Wyler, Laughton, et al stayed above the fray and lived the live of a real Movie Queen.

Highly enjoyable adaptation of Arthur Hailey's bestseller about tumult in an older New Orleans hotel: nearly all the guests are up to no good! Rod Taylor, excellent as always, plays the hotel manager, Melvyn Douglas is the property owner, Kevin McCarthy is a takeover shark, Karl Malden plays a thief, Merle Oberon is a troubled duchess being blackmailed by Richard Conte, etc. Lots of intricate human action, well-written and staged. The romance between Taylor and Catherine Spaak doesn't get in the way, and there are some very humorous, mordant asides. Marvelous backing score by Johnny Keating; good fun. Later a TV series. **1/2 from ****

This slick drama based on Arthur Hailey's novel has similarities to the later "Airport" in that various plot threads eventually converge at the climax. This film's climax isn't even a fraction as exciting as the bomb in "Airport", but the film has loads of style and a fair amount of interest to keep viewers watching. Taylor plays the general manager of the New Orleans hotel The St. Gregory (switched to San Francisco in the long-running TV series based on the novel.) His feats include fending off a takeover by McCarthy, trying to thwart sneaky thief Malden, appeasing crusty owner Douglas, figuring out what's going on with Rennie and Oberon, searching for house detective Conte and cavorting with Spaak. He's an appealing man, though, believe it or not with all this to do, he still seems a tad bland. McCarthy grabs a bit more attention in his role. His Method training for some reason led him to believe that his character should undress and play with his belly and twiddle his own chest hair during business meetings! The self-appointed sex symbol of the film, he finds 3 or 4 different ways throughout of having his shirt unbuttoned! Malden's role is nearly pantomime with little opportunity to speak. He skulks around the hotel with a sh*t-eating grin on his face while the world's most annoying music plays the same riff over and OVER and O-V-E-R! Douglas is a believable curmudgeon, stubbornly holding on to his ways. Rennie has almost nothing to do, his character being completely underdeveloped. Oberon, however, is a vision. Her still-lovely face is framed in all sorts of elaborate hairstyles and Edith Head hats. Each time she appears, she's in another jaw-dropping Head concoction. Unfortunately, many of her scenes are chopped down to the bare bones and she's hardly given time to register before it's on to the next episode. She manages to give a performance despite nearly all the attention going to her clothes. Conte appears in some of her best scenes as a detective trying to extort her secret. Spaak gives new meaning to the term "decorative". Her character barely does anything but lie around in a series of trendy outfits and ornate hairdo's whispering lines in a French accent in which wrong syllables are emphasized. Even at 22, she's filmed in a soft focus that would make Lucille Ball in "Mame" jealous. The film has beautiful sets and is plush look to it. Despite this, there's really nothing special about it which explains why it's become overshadowed to almost the point of anonymity.

Big, colorful, lavish, HOTEL is a very nice movie. It's set in New Orleans' French Quarter, and Warner Brothers even managed to get the NOPD star-and-crescent badges on the police officers' uniforms correct...a nice attention to detail. Even the music was properly scored to the locales depicted...another plus. True, most of the movie was shot on WB's back lots, but some of the French Quarter scenes were actually shot in New Orleans.

An all-star cast performs more than adequately, but Karl Malden literally steals the movie! He plays a sneak-thief named "Keycase", and he obviously played his role with relish. In one wonderful scene, he surveys his loot after a harrowing evening's thieving, and sadly mutters "It's those damned credit cards!" If you remember that Malden later became the American Express man ("Don't leave home without it!"), this scene is priceless.

Another classic is when the cops finally get him. Handcuffed to a NOPD officer, Malden can't help but swipe a hotel ashtray as he's being led to jail...grinning happily the whole time.

It's great entertainment, and I rate it 9 out of 10.