Grand Hotel (Snap case)
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Movie Reviews of Grand Hotel (Snap case)
Movie Review: Money, Money, Money
Summary: 5 Stars
Lewis Stone with his twisted and burned up face, that looks bright red when he shows his right profile, steals the show if you're looking for the freakish side to pre-Code films. They would not have allowed him to wear that makeup had the film been made a year later. It's still pretty startling and symbolizes, I suppose, Janus, the face that looks backward and forward at the same time: a suitable pendant for the mise en scene of the GRAND HOTEL, where nothing changes, everything is always the same, and yet everything happens if you look at it from a different angle.
It's sort of a mishmash of acting styles, but in general terms we are seeing the final bid of silent acting as a viable art form. Garbo in particular seems to think she is still in silents, as does Wallace Beery, and their wonderful faces are always exquisitely placed within the frame. The brothers Barrymore are in there trying to make sense of modern-day "talkie acting"--unfortunately this gives Lionel the permission he's seeking to go all over the place with those ridiculous moans, snorts and giggles. Really it's enough to make you wonder why all the characters (but Beery) think of him as such a cute "odd duck." He's about as cute as a toad. John Barrymore, on the other hand, breaks on through into the slick modernity of screen acting, calming down his larger than life gestures and sublimating them to a bigger scheme of the what the story demands. (Which is peculiar in many ways and is about as far from the present-day demands of the three act structure as you couldm imagine.) His part is the most difficult as well as the most integrated, but he has to show us that he has fallen in love with Garbo's ballerina at the same time that he is developing some sort of erotic/romantic/paternal feelings for the young stenographer Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford). All the stories revolve around him, and this is possible because of the bizarre "classlessness" of his Baron. Is the Baron a real gentleman, or are his aristocratic affectations part of the con artist's resume? This question is, exquisitely, never answered and the ambiguity is at the heart of the Weimar romance.
Of course things were changing in Berlin in the very year GRAND HOTEL was being produced. Here and there you could swear you are seeing the up and coming signs of Hitler's reign coming on: in the scene, for example, where the grown bellmen line up for their shift and turn their hands palm upwards and down for cleanliness inspection.
And yes, Joan Crawford is pretty great here--though again Lionel Barrymore's relentless hamming prevents me from actually believing Flaemmchen honestly cares for him--though even if she's just after his money, the storyline still works.
Movie Review: Another must-see MGM masterpiece from the 1930's
Summary: 5 Stars
Great movies and great stars remain ageless and immortal. Edmund Goulding's GRAND HOTEL (1932, MGM) won a deserved Best Picture Oscar 72 years ago, yet remains fresh and dramatic. This Grand Hotel is in Berlin between the world wars, and its fine cast is full of glittering names that a modern audience should become acquainted with. We have Greta Garbo as a world-weary ballerina. John Barrymore is a jewel thief who sneaks into her hotel room to rob her of jewels to pay off a gambling debt. But he falls in love with her when she is about to attempt suicide. John's brother Lionel is a hyperactive bookkeeper convinced he is in awful health. His boss, Wallace Beery, is in the hotel for a big business merger. Helping him is a very young and charming Joan Crawford as an American stenographer. Jean Hersholt is a hotel porter. And Lewis Stone, later Judge Hardy on the ANDY HARDY series, is the hotel doctor.
There is no real plot here. Instead, we have engrossing character interaction with some of the finest actors of the era. They make GRAND HOTEL a wonderfully entertaining and archetypal drama. Is Lionel Barrymore dying? What happens to him when he runs into boss Beery at the hotel bar? Will John Barrymore really steal Garbo's jewels, even as he falls in love with her? What happens to him with his criminal bosses if he cannot pay off gambling debts? He steals money from poor Lionel during a gambling game, but shortly returns it when he gets a guilty conscience. What happens when he breaks into Beery's room? What happens to Beery's merger? Hersholt's wife gives birth to a baby; we see his excitement in a phone call. And through it all, Stone wanders through the lobby muttering, "Grand Hotel. People coming and going, and nothing ever happens.." Ah, but everything happens if you know where to look in this gorgeous hotel. Everyone has an interesting story to tell in GRAND HOTEL, which inaugurated the "all-star drama in a confined setting" type of movie that is still in vogue with airplanes. Even MGM did a decent remake called WEEKEND AT THE WALDORF (1945) with an all-American cast at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. GRAND HOTEL remains a supreme example of MGM gloss, dazzling star power, and solid writing after more than seven decades.
Movie Review: A great, early Oscar winner
Summary: 5 Stars
This exellent movie won the best picture Oscar in the fifth year of the existence of the award. Made in 1932, the movie is surprisingly sophisticated as it weaves together the tails of several guests at Berlin's Grand Hotel, an art deco luxury palace. The movie has a cast of some of the greatest legends of the silver screen including Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore (although they were brothers, the characters they play are not related), Wallace Beery, Greta Garbo, and Joan Crawford.
Garbo plays a tempermental ballerina and she utters her most famous line, "I want to be alone" (not 'vant' as legend has it, she pronounces the 'w'). A very young Joan Crawford belies her later image as she plays a beautiful young stenographer, working for an unscrupulous businessman played by Beery. Crawford's beauty is sort of an innocent, bubbly cuteness as opposed to the high glammor Crawford of later years and she is much less hard edged than the later Crawford. It's difficult to believe that it is really her. John Barrymore is a sophisticated hotel thief but he has a major flaw; he is too soft hearted and he feels sorry for his victims. Lionel Barrymore is a middle class, somewaht simple bookeeper who is on a last fling since he has been diagnosed as terminally ill. Lionel Barrymore's acting is superb. To me the mark of a great actor is someone who is so convincing in a role that you almost can't believe that it is actually that actor. At times, he played gruff individuals (such as Potter, years later in It's a Wonderful Life) yet, he was a somewhat mild mannered, but very quirky individual in this role. Even the timber of his voice didn't sound like some of his other roles. To me, scuch a transformation is the hallmark of great acting.
This movie is truly masterfully done since there are several plots yet the characters interact and ultimately, the separate plots sort of meld into each other. It is truly masterful the way this was done. This early Oscar winner is truly deserving of that honor and stands as one of the great movies of all time.
Movie Review: ALL-STAR CAST ,Best Picture 1932 now on remastered DVD!
Summary: 5 Stars
Warner Brothers continues to re-release all of Hollywoods Golden Years Classics Movies thru their "Warner Home Video Inc" label under the SPECIAL EDITION DVD series. This DVD series is includes; outstanding digitally remastered video and sound, original movie trailer and movie documentaries.If you want to see what screen glamour used to be, and what originally "stars" were, this is perhaps the best example of all time!!!! "GRAND HOTEL" won a Best Picture Oscar in 1932.
This was Hollywoods first ALL-STAR movie presentation with; the alluring Greta Garbo, the great John Barrymore, electrifying Joan Crawford, larger than life Wallace Beery and the lovable Lionel Barrymore.
Summary: A very complex story line set with an ALL-STAR cast at the "Grand Hotel" in Berlin Germany. A broke Baron (John Barrymore) tries to hustle woman out of their jewels & money. A beautiful reclusive Ballerina (Greta Garbo) finds love too late. A short tempered Millionaire (Wallace Beery) finds himself in a scandal. Hired stenographer (Joan Crawford) is hustling rich men for marriage and Lionel Barrymore plays a terminally ill hard working wealthy man who comes to the "GRAND HOTEL" to experience the joy of living. This movie a joy and the cast performs magnificently. I must admit, Joan Crawford is electrifying and steals the show!!
The extras include; New making of documentary; "Checking-Out", Grand Hotel News-reel, Just a word of Warning Theatre Announcement, Vitaphone Musical short - "Nothing Ever Happens" & movie trailers.
This is a 'GRAND' addition to your DVD movie library. Enjoy.
Movie Review: star-studded movie masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Suggested by Vicki Baum's book "Menschem im Hotel" and the Broadway play by William A. Drake, GRAND HOTEL remains to this day one of M-G-M's most delightful and lavish films. With a hand-picked cast from it's peerless roster of stars and top direction from Edmund Goulding, the film still casts a powerful spell today.
The setting is Berlin's Grand Hotel in the 1930s. Staying at the luxurious hotel is penniless Baron von Guigern (John Barrymore), ruthless magnate General Preysing (Wallace Beery), ambitious stenographer Miss Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), fragile prima ballerina Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo) and Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore) a dying man on his last fling. It's fascinating to watch these characters and their stories merge and intertwine.
The performances are sublime. Garbo is perfect for the remote and disillusioned Grusinskaya, suddenly woken back to life when she falls in love with the Baron. Lionel Barrymore is heartbreaking as gentle Otto. Joan Crawford is a hoot as the stenographer with Hollywood dreams and a shady past. The chemistry between Garbo and John Barrymore fairly crackles and their scenes together are some of the best in the entire picture.
It's here that Garbo first uttered those five little words which would define her for the rest of her life - "I want to be alone". The cast also includes Lewis Stone as the Doctor and Jean Hersholt as the desk-clerk.
The DVD contains some great bonuses like a new Making-of documentary, footage from the lavish premiere and a rare Vitaphone musical short "Nothing Ever Happens" which is an hilarious parody of GRAND HOTEL.