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Grand Hotel
1932
The creme de la creme of MGM's pantheon gathers at the luxurious GRAND HOTEL, where "nothing ever happens." Greta Garbo is at her most radiant and poetic as the melancholy ballerina who finds a reason to dance again after she falls for the down-and-out Baron (John Barrymore) who planned to rob her. In another room a ravishing .. Read more
| Starring | Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery |
|---|---|
| Director | Edmund Goulding |
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Grand Hotel
The creme de la creme of MGM's pantheon gathers at the luxurious GRAND HOTEL, where "nothing ever happens." Greta Garbo is at her most radiant and poetic as the melancholy ballerina who finds a reason to dance again after she falls for the down-and-out Baron (John Barrymore) who planned to rob her. In another room a ravishing young secretary (Joan Crawford) succumbs to the advances of an arrogant industrialist (Wallace Beery). In yet another, a fatally ill office clerk (Lionel Barrymore) spends his life savings in a desperate effort to derive some pleasure from this bleak and brief existence. Downstairs at the bar, a disfigured doctor (Lewis Stone) dispenses wry commentary as people come and go. This precedent-setting ensemble piece of frothy, bubbly, tear-jerking super soap cemented the A-list status of its director, Edmund Goulding. It's an oft-imitated, never duplicated spectacle; the old Hollywood star system lighting up the sky with all the wattage at its disposal.
| Starring | Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone |
|---|---|
| Director | Edmund Goulding |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 47 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Language | English |
| Released | DVD: 16 Feb 2004 Production year: 1932 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (2)
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Based on the German play by Vicki Baum and its American version, the star-filled melodrama that is Grand Hotel became a blueprint for almost every glossy Hollywood soap opera that followed it. Greta Garbo, John and Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford and Wallace Beery vie for screen time as the various residents of the Berlin hotel, but it is art director Cedric Gibbons who deserves the plaudits for the luscious look of the film. One of the biggest projects in Hollywood at the time, the all-star cast caused MGM numerous problems as far as billing was concerned — in the end, the word “Garbo” appeared at the top of the bill to honour a clause stating she would have top billing, while the other actors were billed in alphabetical order below.
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It's a little faded now, but much of the magic still works in this first of the portmanteau movies; the production is opulent yet somehow stiff, and the performances have survived with varying success.
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Most helpful member's review
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4 out of 5 people found this review helpful
The other side of paradise
Like many old movies the plot does not stand modern examination. The veteran thief baron cannot be that easily caught by a foolish millionaire, let alone ridiculously killed by his few strokes on the head. The pretty and good-hearted stenographer, in her mourning for her lover baron, cannot abruptly throw herself into the arms of a dying man, who also happens to be greatly indebted to the baron and in deep sorrow for his death. The twist from a tragedy to a comic ending of the hastily bonded pair eloping to Paris looked both improbable and anticlimactic.
Even if one watches without a modern inquisitive mind and with nostalgia for the past Hollywood glory, it still is not without disappointment. There are powerful moments, of course, like one cannot help but notice Greta Garbo's characteristic manly walk, trotting forth with large and firm steps and forward-bending shoulders. But these moments occur only occasionally; most of the time Garbo's Russian ballerina is either in a depressive trance or pursuing her love dramatically frantically. The farcical nature of the movie undercuts her performance, as nosy Hollywood did to her life. Her famous line "I want to be alone" is sure empathetic; the story of a once-famous dancer now fallen, pale and unrecognised, is not unlike her own life from popularity to obscurity.
John Barrymore's baron is doomed to death because of his kindness and sympathy for the poor and the miserable. Another parable of the decadent and amoral Grand Hotel/Hollywood/our world? -
Most recent members' review
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0 out of 2 people found this review helpful
She vants to be alone
Despite its starry cast and high production values this still manages to be boring and stilted; and it has dated very badly too.
This is the one where Greta wants to be alone and that's the most interesting thing about it. -
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The creme de la creme of MGM's pantheon gathers at the luxurious GRAND HOTEL, where "nothing ever happens." Greta Garbo is at her most radiant and poetic as the melancholy ballerina who finds a ... -