Hotel Continental

This poor knockoff of Vicki Baum's GRAND HOTEL -- or perhaps the MGM extravaganza produced the same year as this last gasp from Tiffany Productions -- is short of major stars in front of the camera, even though it does contain some notable names such as Theodore von Eltz, J. Farrell MacDonald and Henry Walthall from the silent era and future stalwart Alan Mowbray from the sound era. So it's fun to look at to see what they look like in 1932.

Christy Cabanne, a prolific director whose reputation time has not been kind to, is in there pitching with this one. There are an awful lot of moving shots, including extended takes that look like they were shot with a crab dolly -- something that would not exist for another dozen years.

Shot too cheaply to be done well, it shows that people did try, even when the roof was crashing in on their heads. Tiffany went under this year. Cabanne, who started out directing Raoul Walsh in LIFE OF PANCHO VILLA in 1912 and would continue directing for another sixteen years, always tried to give value for money. It's a pity he so rarely had much to work with.

The "Hotel Continental" has seen 50 years of romance, intrigue, and tragedy. But, in one day, the bustling building is going be demolished, "until the last brick is carted away." Its "last night" attracts many nostalgic patrons to the "Continental", but most importantly (for the sake of this motion picture), it attracts embezzler Theodore von Eltz (as James Bennett). The suave Mr. Von Eltz has just finished a stint in prison, and needs to collect a stash of money before the hotel closes. Von Eltz checks in as "A. R. Cooper", and maneuvers his way into the suite where he stashed the money. Along the way, he falls in love with suicidal Peggy Shannon (as Ruth Carleton). Von Eltz doesn't know it, but the duplicitous Ms. Shannon has ulterior motives!

You will need to check your brain at the door of the "Hotel Continental", if you want to fully enjoy the movie. There is NO WAY this building is ready to be torn down. Every fixture remains in place - probably, even the soap and towels haven't been removed. The place is, also, doing rather brisk business. Mostly, director Christy Cabanne follows the Von Eltz/Shannon storyline, with drunken Irishman Bert Roach (as Charlie Layton) providing comic relief. Mr. Cabanne was a D.W. Griffith "Biograph" veteran, as was Henry B. Walthall, who has a small role (as Tommy Winthrop). "Tiffany Productions" got this film out in time to get some box office overflow from MGM's impending "Grand Hotel".

**** Hotel Continental (1932) Christy Cabanne ~ Theodore von Eltz, Peggy Shannon, Bert Roach, Henry B. Walthall

"Hotel Continental" is a movie that starts off horribly. Fortunately, if you can possibly wade past the first 10 minutes or so, the film is pretty enjoyable...though a bit clichéd and stupid.

As I mentioned above, the film begins badly. It almost comes off like the cocktail party skit on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in". Again and again, the camera pans on folks and they spout a line or two of supposedly funny or clever dialog and then the camera goes on to the next. It really didn't have much to do with the rest of the film.

As for the REAL plot, the ultra-famous hotel is about to close forever. So, the owners are staging a huge party. Among the guests is a guy fresh out of prison. He is an embezzler and has apparently hidden the money somewhere in the hotel. Unfortunately, the nice woman he meets isn't so nice--and she was planted there by other crooks who want the money. Their relationship, while interesting, really makes no sense. Overall, a silly but enjoyable film that is like a super-low budget version of "Grand Hotel"....if it was written by an nice idiot.

Yes, reviewers who think backwards compare this film to "Grand Hotel," but it came out six months earlier and chronological order trumps coincidental similarity in my mind, so i prefer to say that "Grand Hotel" is a big, fat, blown-up version of "Hotel Continental."

I loved everything about this movie, aside from the low quality of the print i viewed for free on YouTube.

The opening scene was Hitchcockian in its long, roaming scan of the hotel lobby -- an amazing piece of work. Peggy Shannon was lovely and expressive, while Theodore von Eltz was handsome, brooding, and darkly Byronic -- and they made a great star-crossed couple, both with shady pasts and trust issues, like an antique version of a Coen Brothers story. Additionally, Henry B. Walthall was superb in an unexpected role that had me guessing.

The music was another plus. It was all over the map, stitched together from a dozen sources, including stock cues, "Street Scene," "The Dance of the Hours," "Nola" (Vincent Lopez's radio show theme), "Auld Lang Syne," and "Mama Inez" (a hit for Maurice Chevalier the year before). A real, live female pianist played some of it, uncredited, during the party scene.

And speaking of "uncredited," kudos to Wedgwood Nowell, wrongly credited at IMDb as a "party guest" who actually played the role of a radio announcer, with a real feeling of pathos in his voice, as he broadcast his last remote from the Grill Room of the Hotel Continental.

What a wonderful, unsung gem. I hope other viewers enjoy it as much as i did!