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sabotai · 05-13-2018, 10:45 PM

Grand Hotel (1932)

Directed By: Edmund Goulding
Written By: William A. Drake
Starring: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beary, Lionel Barrymore
Length: 112 min.
Genre: Drama
Based On: 1929 Novel "Menschen im Hotel" by Vicki Baum

Awards
Winner: 1932 Academy Award for Best Picture

"Grand Hotel. Always the same. People come. People go. Nothing ever happens."

The movie takes place at the Grand Hotel in Berlin, Germany, and included an all-star cast.

We follow the intertwined storylines of several characters, John Barrymore plays Baron von Geigern, a man who has follow on hard times and has debts to pay. Greta Garbo plays depressed and seemingly washed up ballet dancer Grusinskaya. Joan Crawford plays Flaemmchen, a stenographer hired by General Director Preysing (Wallace Beary), who owns a large company, to type letters and meeting notes for the week. Lionel Barrymore plays Otto Kringelein, a low-level accountant who works in Preysing's company who has been given just a short time to live, so he takes his life savings to blow it all by living the high life at the Grand Hotel.

All of the characters run into each other and interact, but the main plot gets going when the Baron breaks into Grusinskaya's hotel room to steal her pearls. She returns before he can make his escape and hides in her room. While there, he watches and listens to her and, wouldn't you know it, falls in love with her.

But her tour in Berlin is up, and she's off the Vienna soon. The Baron tries several schemes to make some money, even steal it, but they all fail. He insists on paying his own way even though Grusinskaya is wealthy and can easily afford to pay his way. The Baron at last tries to steal from General Director Preysing. He's caught in the act. He tries to talk his way out of it, but Preysing grabs the phone to call the police. The Baron walks towards the balcony and Preysing, overcome with rage, hits him with the phone, killing him.

Grusinskaya's manager and staff get her out of the hotel the next morning, managing to keep her from hearing about what happened to the Baron.

MGM went all out for this movie and it got them the Oscar. I liked the movie, but I wasn't blown away by it. One of the early scenes of the movie is a long take of various guests checking in. I thought that was incredibly well done. Well acted, well directed, overall good, enjoyable movie that gives a look into what the 1930s considered glamorous.

My Rating: 7/10
IMDB User Rating: 7.6/10 (14k votes)
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% of Critics (31-5), 77% of Audience (3.8 / 5 ; 7k votes)

05-13-2018, 10:45 PM	#239
sabotai General Manager Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: The Satellite of Love	Grand Hotel (1932) Directed By: Edmund Goulding Written By: William A. Drake Starring: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beary, Lionel Barrymore Length: 112 min. Genre: Drama Based On: 1929 Novel "Menschen im Hotel" by Vicki Baum Awards Winner: 1932 Academy Award for Best Picture "Grand Hotel. Always the same. People come. People go. Nothing ever happens." The movie takes place at the Grand Hotel in Berlin, Germany, and included an all-star cast. We follow the intertwined storylines of several characters, John Barrymore plays Baron von Geigern, a man who has follow on hard times and has debts to pay. Greta Garbo plays depressed and seemingly washed up ballet dancer Grusinskaya. Joan Crawford plays Flaemmchen, a stenographer hired by General Director Preysing (Wallace Beary), who owns a large company, to type letters and meeting notes for the week. Lionel Barrymore plays Otto Kringelein, a low-level accountant who works in Preysing's company who has been given just a short time to live, so he takes his life savings to blow it all by living the high life at the Grand Hotel. All of the characters run into each other and interact, but the main plot gets going when the Baron breaks into Grusinskaya's hotel room to steal her pearls. She returns before he can make his escape and hides in her room. While there, he watches and listens to her and, wouldn't you know it, falls in love with her. But her tour in Berlin is up, and she's off the Vienna soon. The Baron tries several schemes to make some money, even steal it, but they all fail. He insists on paying his own way even though Grusinskaya is wealthy and can easily afford to pay his way. The Baron at last tries to steal from General Director Preysing. He's caught in the act. He tries to talk his way out of it, but Preysing grabs the phone to call the police. The Baron walks towards the balcony and Preysing, overcome with rage, hits him with the phone, killing him. Grusinskaya's manager and staff get her out of the hotel the next morning, managing to keep her from hearing about what happened to the Baron. MGM went all out for this movie and it got them the Oscar. I liked the movie, but I wasn't blown away by it. One of the early scenes of the movie is a long take of various guests checking in. I thought that was incredibly well done. Well acted, well directed, overall good, enjoyable movie that gives a look into what the 1930s considered glamorous. My Rating: 7/10 IMDB User Rating: 7.6/10 (14k votes) Rotten Tomatoes: 86% of Critics (31-5), 77% of Audience (3.8 / 5 ; 7k votes)