Week-End at the Waldorf

MGM updated its "Grand Hotel" storyline, gave the four principal roles to Walter Pigeon, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner and Van Johnson, set them in some plush hotel surroundings amid a not too involving weekend situation and just let things coast along merrily. When the story sags a little, they even bring in Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra for a Starlight Roof floor show. None of it seems real, not for a moment, but it's all as light as the frosting on a cake and no one expects you to shed any tears as they did with the original story.

The ladies have the camera in love with them most of the time. Rogers and Turner are both seen at their photogenic best and give assured performances in roles that require a modicum of thespian talent.

Rogers gives the more effortless portrayal, clearly having a good time when she finds herself in a situation not far removed from those she shared with Fred Astaire in many an RKO romantic comedy. Turner is there for eye candy and little else. Van Johnson is enthusiastically boyish as the Army man concerned about his health and Walter Pigeon is as debonair as always as a pipe smoking war correspondent who has marriage on his mind with Rogers as his prospective bride.

It's all photographed in dreamy MGM style, everything smoothly crisp with the story shifting back and forth between a couple of minor sub-plots involving Edward Arnold, Phyllis Thaxter and Keenan Wynn.

Ginger Rogers has never looked more glamorous as the worldly movie star who is not quite sure whether she yearns to be alone and Walter Pigeon is excellent as the man who eventually wins her heart.

Pleasant fluff, but easily forgotten. A nice cast does what it can with stock characters and that's about it.

A warning: The ending is unbelievably theatrical and corny.

Grand Hotel is considered a classic, and is still well-known today. Week-End At The Waldorf, the remake, is more or less forgotten. It's a bit of a relic of its time. It seems to have been intended as a light, entertaining crowd-pleaser (with heavier moments), and, overall, it delivers on that score.

The two leading couples are played by Ginger Rogers and Walter Pigeon, and Lana Turner and Van Johnson. This being wartime (WWII) in Manhattan, Pidgeon plays a war correspondent and Johnson plays a soldier with a troubling wound - a piece of shrapnel near his heart. Rogers is a movie star and Lana, if memory serves, is a hotel stenographer. I'm not sure why, but neither of the couples has perfect chemistry. Maybe that's why the stars were never paired again. But they play out their parts with all the professionalism you're used to from them, and they're attractive people.

There are some spectacular black-and-white shots of 1945 New York City, and Robert Benchley is around to narrate. There's a big supporting cast, including many well-known faces.

If you're looking to see some glamorous stars in a glamorous setting, with the music of Xavier Cugat (whose orchestra was in residence at the hotel at the time), you should enjoy it.

This is my favorite wartime satire-comedy for three reasons. One is the towering performance by Walter Pigeon as the war correspondent Chip Collyer who falls in love with a lovely actress; the second is the setting in the world's first self-contained hotel-residence center, the twin-towered Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, known all over the world by its single initial "W"; the third is because it is a very United States' adaptation of Vicki Baum's "Grand Hotel", and as a writer, its adaptation problem has always interested me. The second film is related to the film much as "Marlowe" is related to the novel "The Little Sister". Angst, heavy drama and most of the shadows were removed; what was left was a genial, sometimes thoughtful and I assert an interesting set of four major inter-twined story-lines. They have, I suggest, a common theme, namely "one must find a reason to enjoy life, even if it takes risks, honesty and perseverance." One story line involved a war correspondent and an actress who mistakes him for the Jewel thief she has been expecting, her maid's errant boyfriend; a second focused on a soldier facing a 50-50 life-death operation and the pretty secretary he meets who is looking for a rich husband, not him; third there was the young reporter seeking an interviews with a visiting sheik who is shunted by the war correspondent into exposing a fraudulent entrepreneur; and fourth there was the shady entrepreneur trying to steal millions from the sheik, and hire the secretary. All four main protagonists of the story lines were missing something in their lives, and trying to understand how to deal with what they lacked--by denial, action, indirect efforts, etc. Within their stories, there move two rich about-to-be-marrieds, the actress's maid and her boyfriend (whom we never meet), band-leader Xavier Cugat who is appearing at the hotel and agrees to play a song written by the soldier's dead comrade, the war correspondent's boss, a man from a State Department office also wooing the sheik, and the hotel staff--especially the banks of human female telephone operators and the stenographers. The B/W cinematography by Robert H. Planck is very good, and nearly all shot indoors; music was provided by Johnny Green and the Cugat band. Veteran Robert Z. Leonard directed, and somehow managed to give the film a consistent and lucid style all its own, no mean feat by my standards. The script altering the much darker play "Grand Hotel" was adapted by Guy Bolton and written by Sam and Sella Spewack. The sound by Douglas Shearer is remarkably adroit at all points. Art direction was performed by Daniel B. Cathcart and legendary Cedric Gibbons, with set decorations by Edwin B. Willis and Jack Bonar. Irene and Marion Herwood Keyes provided the many costumes. In the cast, Pigeon deserved an award for his work as the war correspondent, and Edward Arnold did a solid job as the shady promoter. Van Johnson played the soldier opposite Lana Turner, both being adequately cast; the Shiekh was George Zucco, the actress attractive Ginger Rogers, the maid Rosemary De Camp with a German accent. Keenan Wynn was lively as the young reporter, Robert Benchley provided low-key comedy and a narration here and there, Phyllis Thaxter was the nervous bride, Leon Ames was the actress's manager, with Jacqueline De Witt, Warner Anderson and Miles Mander in good roles also, along with the volatile Cugat. The film cannot really be compared to its illustrious half-brother; this narrative in my view was supposed to be and is a genial, only-slightly-cynical wartime film that extracted some people from the recent war and showed them trying to find a strong personal reason for living--whether as in the solider's case for great reasons or in the actress's case because she had put off thinking of herself for far too long. It is a charming, discursive and attractive project, in my estimation; and it could be remade very well, if the right leads could perhaps be found and the project given a third life in another great hostelry.

This film is a reworking of the plot from the magnificent GRAND HOTEL (1932). While both films were made by MGM, it really isn't fair to compare them, as there were many differences between them (all the many plots were changed or enormously reworked). Plus, GRAND HOTEL was so perfect that any film compared to it will no doubt be seen as a disappointment--but WEEKEND AT THE WALDORF was anything but a disappointment. There was enough fresh and new plot as well as excellence all around that I strongly advise viewers to watch them both and consider each a unique viewing experience.

While Walter Pidgeon, Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Edward Arnold and Lana Turner (among others) can't quite compare to the cast of GRAND HOTEL, this is still an amazing lineup of stars--even for the star-laden MGM. Plus, all the stars were at their best--thanks, in part, to exceptional writing and slick production values. Each of the subplots worked very well--particularly the one with Rogers and Pidgeon, as it made me laugh out loud many times! I could explain all the plots and critique each one, but other reviewers have already done this. The bottom line is that this film exudes quality and is highly entertaining. By the time the film is completed, you will no doubt feel quite content with the resolution of the film.

The movie's best part, to me, is seeing the actual army of hotel workers required to keep a high-rise like the Waldorf operating. It's impressive, and sure a lot of free advertising. Anyway, despite the attractive cast, the various light comedy threads fail to gel, making the screen time seem longer than its actual 130 minutes. The movie adds up to bland entertainment, at best. The one sparkling scene is when Johnson's flight captain and Turner's working girl meet, some winsome chemistry there.

The screenplay, however, comes across as a rather clumsy patchwork, at best. For example, shady tycoon Edward Arnold is apparently up to no good (and with oil sheiks, no less), but we never find out more. And what's with Thaxter's role. It comes across like a half-digested morsel, maybe serving as a screen test for a younger MGM performer. Nor does Robert Leonard's uninspired direction help. In fact, it seems odd that the studio didn't assign a top- flight director to what would appear a prestige project.

The biggest disappointment, however, is with the Pigeon-Rogers romance. Now they're both highly capable, charming actors. The problem again is with the screenplay. Pigeon's impersonation of a jewel thief is, I gather, supposed to be zany and out of character. Instead, it comes across as not just implausible but also downright silly despite the pair's best comedic efforts. However, there is one compensation for Rogers— she gets to model an array of 1945's best high fashion, and lovely she is.

Anyway, the script looks to me like a rush job, comparing poorly with Grand Hotel's first-rate screenplay. Unfortunately, this version amounts to a general waste of superior talent, though I must admit coming away with a new appreciation of the boyish Johnson's acting talent. Too bad, some of that didn't better inspire the writers or at least give them more time.