Dinner at Eight
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jean Harlow, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Marie Dressler, Wallace BeeryBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 111 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Dinner at Eight
Movie Review: Remains one of the finest films from the early sound era
Summary: 5 Stars
DINNER AT EIGHT is often referred to as a comedy, and while there are some marvelous comic moments, this film is no more a comedy than THE GODFATHER. I think one reason it is thought to be a comedy is the final lines of the film, where the decidedly unbookish Jean Harlow tells Marie Dressler that she had been reading in a book (a revelation that visibly jolts Dressler) that in the future all jobs would be done by machines. After eye-balling Harlow from toe to head she assures her, "Oh, my dear. That's something you need never worry about." There are other humorous moments, but the truth is that while the tone of the film might often be humorous, the form of the film is tragic. Yes, the destruction of the Jordan shipping company has been prevented by Jean Harlow's character blackmailing her husband, who has been trying to buy a majority of the company shares via a proxy, but it doesn't change the sense of precariousness that pervades the film. In many ways, this is one of the great films dealing with the end of the twenties and the effects of the stock market crash. Although the film revolves around a hostess's efforts to throw a lavish dinner party, virtually every individual invited is suffering from problems of one sort or another. The aging actress, long retired, is strapped for cash. The actor, a former matinee idol, has been revealed as a former pretty face by the advent of the talking film; he now is unable to find work and utterly broke. The shipping magnate, whose wife is organizing the dinner party, is suffering both from financial woes and ill health, and is in danger of losing the company that has bourn the family name for nearly a century. The only individuals, in fact, who are thriving and doing well are the crude, ill-bred Packards, who are gaining in wealth as rapidly as all of those in the upper crust of society are losing theirs. Few films in Hollywood history have been as fixated on class as this. Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufmann, the authors of the original stage play, were always attuned to such issues in their work, and there is almost an anthropological air as they analyze the changes taking place in the upper rings of society.
The film features one of the most celebrated ensemble casts ever seen. Brothers John and Lionel Barrymore have no scenes together, but apart they provide many great moments. This was one of the last films that Lionel made while he was still able to ambulate normally. Throughout the thirties arthritis and a serious hip injury made it increasingly difficult for him to walk, sometimes feigning onscreen injuries (such as a supposed broken leg in YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, that gave him an excuse to wield a crutch), always sitting as much as possible. His brother John suffered even more decline, in his case brought on by the same kind of excessive drinking we see in his character. There is, however, a great deal of difference between Barrymore and Larry Renault, the actor he portrays. Renault is a has-been, a former pretty face with no real acting talent. Barrymore possessed prodigious talent, and despite his increasing drinking difficulties managed to find a great deal of work throughout his decline, even if what he mainly played was a series of drunks. The film creates an odd time warp for me, since in 1933 both John and Lionel were aging, yet 72 years later John's granddaughter and Lionel's great niece Drew is still quite young.
One of the joys of the film is being able to see the great Marie Dressler as aging former stage actress Carlotta Vance. Despite being extremely overweight and possessing looks that could only be described as extremely unpleasant, one noticed her appearance only briefly after seeing her in action. One of the great stage performers of her day, for some reason Dressler never managed much success in film during the silent era. Ironically, after age had ravaged her looks and her obesity increase, she unexpectedly became one of the first great stars of the sound film, winning an Oscar for one film and a nomination for another, and completely upstaging Greta Garbo in her first sound film. DINNER AT EIGHT is not Dressler's greatest performance, but for most film fans it is the most readily obtainable one. Tragically, shortly after the film was released she was diagnosed with cancer, and she died less than a year after the film's release. It is a fitting tribute to her that the best and final moment of this film was created by her stunned reaction to Harlow's stating that she had been reading a book.
The vivacious Billie Burke had been recently widowed when she starred in the film as Mrs. Jordan, her husband no less than the greatest of Broadway impresarios, Florence Ziegfield. She sparkles in every scene in which she appears. Wallace Beery always came across as a bit of a bull in a china shop, and here the china shop is anything to do with social grace. There is also a hint in his character of the way the country as a whole was changing, as the men who know their way around money started supplanting the traditional aristocracy. Jean Harlow's hair always struck me as a bit surreal, but there is no question that she possessed an earthy sexiness and beauty that was unique in thirties Hollywood. Although she is the secret savior of the Jordan family, she is hardly an angel, playing someone who is a a former stripper or worse, a current adulteress, and hopelessly uncouth and crude. But she also manages to be the most charming character in the film. The film also features one of Lee Tracy's finest screen performances. Tracy's film career was more or less destroyed shortly after this one due to an international political incident he generated during a moment of extreme inebriation, but he is superb here as Barrymore's long-suffering agent.
The film was one of George Cukor's first great films, and while he is often said to have been a great women's director, the truth is that he was simply superb with people talking. Cukor always managed to make people simply talking tremendously exciting.
The quality of the print used in the production of the DVD is extraordinary high. I've rarely seen a DVD with a brighter or cleaner image, and the film looks as if it could have been released yesterday. I'd have to rate this as one of the cleanest versions of an early 1930s film I have ever seen.
Summary of Dinner at Eight
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