Grand Hotel (I) (1932) User Reviews (158)

She wanted to be alone

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 21 September 2005]

Vicky Baum's novel "Menschen I'm Hotel" serves as the basis for this 1932 film that was a vehicle for Greta Garbo. "Grand Hotel", as directed by Edmund Golding, was a magnificent film that had a lot of first class stars of the era in prominent roles. In fact, this seems to be one of the first films to have relied in the prominent "names" it gathered to portray the different characters in the movie.

By today's standards, the film is dated, but for a discriminating film fan, "Grand Hotel" is a classic because of the star turns one witnesses. Also, today's fans have to make concessions for the style of acting that was prevalent at the time. The movies have begun "talking" not long before this film was made and the stars of those silents were still doing their acting in front of the camera as though no one was going to hear them talk. In fact, most of the complaints in comments submitted to this forum would have been different if this was 1932 and the film had just come out.

The best advice for anyone new to this film is to sit back, relax, and enjoy the trials and tribulations of the people seen at Berlin's Grand Hotel.

The biggest surprise of the film is the shortness of Greta Garbo presence in the film, in which for some unknown reason, she looms large above the rest of the players. As the Russian ballerina Grusinskaya, Ms. Garbo played one of the best characters of her career. Her way of acting is still imbued with what was expected of her.

John Barrymore as the Baron Von Geigern, the impoverished nobleman, is key to the story. The moment he meets the great Grusinskaya, he is lost forever. Lionel Barrymore is excellent as the poor Otto Kringelein, who thinks he is going to die real soon. Joan Crawford, is the stenographer Flaemmchen who seems to arise passion among all the men she meets. Ms. Crawford does excellent work in a role she discarded later on in favor of more dramatic appearances.

What makes "Grand Hotel" the timeless classic it became is the magnificent camera work by William H. Daniels, a man who knew how to get the best out of Greta Garbo in their many films together. Also the music which is from Franz Lehar's "The Merry Widow" serves as a nice distraction in the background.

The most famous phrase in the film "I want to be alone", seems prophetic in retrospect as the divine Garbo had about eight more years in the movies.

good now, great then

[ryangilmer007 · 8/10 · 11 March 1999]

What was a great movie in 1932 is still a good movie in 1999. In the Grandest Hotel of them all as "People come, people go. (but) Nothing ever happens." This is a story of a day at the hotel. Nothing out of the ordinary occurs, except lots of drinking, gambling, a love triangle, .... This film is one of the last big-budget "studio" Hollywood movies from its era (20's-30's) and is frequently studied for both this aspect and its photographic techniques (like the revolving doorway). The two hours is well worth it. Lionel Barrymore's performance is also really memorable.

Very melodramatic - and pretty good

[FilmOtaku · 7/10 · 4 January 2005]

Edmund Goulding's 1932 film "Grand Hotel", about 48 hours in a plush German hotel has a dream cast. Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo) is a Russian prima ballerina in town for several performances, who is lonely, a drama queen, and suicidal. She meets Baron von Geigern (John Barrymore) a hotel thief who inadvertently is in her room (having been in the process of stealing some jewelry) when she is about to commit suicide, and stays the night with her, convincing her not to end things. The two fall in love, of course, much to the disappointment of Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), a woman that von Geigern was romancing the day before. Flaemmchen is a stenographer, and her boss, German tycoon Preysing (Wallace Beery) is having a hard time with a merger he is trying to transact. One of Preysing's employees at a factory he owns is bookkeeper Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore). Otto is staying at the hotel because he only has a short time to live, so he takes his entire life savings and decides to live the rest of his life in luxury. Throughout the 48 hours that the action takes place, friendships are made, loves are found and lost, and a murder changes the lives of all of the main characters.

"Grand Hotel" won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1932, and it is easy to see why. The film is an epic without having an enormous cast or exotic locales. From the films that I have seen of this decade, this is one of the first examples of an intertwining narrative structure. We are used to seeing this now; (think Altman, in particular) where characters are all somehow connected, even though they may not even know each other. Another fine early example that I can recall was a decade later with "Tales of Manhattan". The acting is incredible, though Garbo's REALLY over-the-top performance was a bit much. Realizing that she was a drama queen as a profession, I excused a lot of it, but it got to a point where I was really snickering to myself after awhile, because she was acting just like Gloria Swanson later would in "Sunset Boulevard". One explanation could be that this was still a really early stage of the talking picture, and silent films solely relied on gestures and facial expressions to convey emotion. I was very impressed with the performances of the Barrymore brothers (I've always loved Lionel Barrymore), and was stunned by Crawford's talent as well as beauty.

"Grand Hotel" is rife with melodrama, but it was not hackneyed or maudlin. I am actually quite surprised it isn't on the IMDb top 250 list; I found it to be that good. I am a big fan of Douglas Sirk's melodramatic films of the 1940's and 1950's, and "Grand Hotel" is a great predecessor of that genre. 7/10 --Shelly

Dated, melodramatic...and MAGNIFICENT

[ms94801 · 20 June 2002]

I've seen "Grand Hotel" at least fifteen times -- more than any other '30s film with the possible exception of two other classics: "King Kong" and Astaire and Rogers' "The Gay Divorcee."

Quite a few others reviewers here have commented negatively on this "creaky" old film. They are correct -- it is -- and yet, who cares? It's utterly wonderful!

The whole cast is superb -- charming, desperate, vulnerable John Barrymore; cynical, sad, appealing Joan Crawford; pathetic, whining, irrepressible Lionel Barrymore; coarse, selfish, all-too-humanly cruel Wallace Beery; and of course, the great Greta Garbo. The supporting cast, led by Lewis Stone and Jean Hersholt, are equally good.

Those who criticize Garbo as over-the-top in her portrayal of the prima ballerina are right. She IS over-the-top, AND she is absolutely glorious, whether wallowing in self-pitying, suicidal despair or radiant as the spring with a new love which astonishes and transports her. What a unique, unforgettable screen presence! What a Goddess!

"Grand Hotel" holds this viewer, anyway, entranced from beginning to end. In addition to the superlative acting, the art deco design is stunning and the music always appropriate.

Creaky? You bet. Do they make movies like this anymore? Nope. Do I wish they did? I sure do.

"There is a Grand Hotel in every city in the the world"

[ackstasis · 7/10 · 2 June 2009]

A hotel is merely a transit station. People come, people go. Guests partake in dinner, dancing and gambling; occasionally, something more dramatic unfolds – a man and woman fall in love, a heart is broken, a person is murdered. Then the guests leave, and new customers take their place, oblivious to the events that unfolded just the previous day. The slate is wiped clean; the hotel has a short memory. As Dr Otternschlag (Lewis Stone) knowingly muses, "Grand Hotel… always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens." Edmund Goulding's Oscar-winning 'Grand Hotel (1932)' is a mere snapshot of several days in the life of Berlin's finest rest-stop, in which lives are changed forever, and yet the guests' full stories can never be known. An astonishing cast – Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Jean Hersholt – introduced a new style of storytelling, with ensemble casts of unrelated characters whose lives inexplicably interweave. A slew of imitations followed in the early 1930s, and author Graham Greene was inspired to write his first successful novel, "Stamboul Train."

In 1932, the United States was still in the midst of the Great Depression, but Hollywood was optimistic. Producers knew that audiences flocked to cinemas precisely to escape their own worrisome lives, to temporarily imagine themselves beside their favourite movie stars in glittering surroundings. Films like 'Grand Hotel (1932)' and 'Top Hat (1935)' delivered on this promise, with extravagant hotel rooms and wealthy businessmen flaunting their wealth. The dreams of the working-class are depicted through Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), an unremarkable clerk whose impending death prompts him to splurge his savings and enjoy his final weeks. The cycle of life is used allegorically to symbolise the circular narrative of life at a hotel. While hotel porter Senf (Jean Hersholt) awaits news of his child's birth, a guest awaits his own death. By the film's end, one man is dead, and a baby is born. Other characters are abandoned before their stories have reached a satisfactory conclusion, mimicking the continuous nature of life itself.

The film's cast is occasionally hampered by an acting style left over from the silent era, but is otherwise excellent. John Barrymore is suave and charming as a good-hearted pearl thief, and brother Lionel is even better, offering a poignant portrait of a dying man who finally understands what living life is all about. Joan Crawford and Wallace Beery provide able support, but aren't quite as memorable as their co-stars. 'Grand Hotel' was my first film to feature actress Greta Garbo, and for a few minutes I was left wondering exactly why she is held in such high regard. Where was the subtlety in her performance? Then she smiled, and it was like the sun had risen on a new day. Perhaps Garbo hadn't yet moved on from the silent era, communicating her emotions with thick brush-strokes, but when your face can so dazzlingly light up the movie screen, there's no hurry. A modern remake of 'Grand Hotel' would be difficult. The film's impact rests largely on the glamour and reputations of its main stars, and I think it's safe to say that today's Hollywood doesn't create "stars" like it did in the 1930s.

The Last Days of Weimar

[bkoganbing · 10/10 · 27 February 2007]

It's interesting that the Best Picture of the year before Hitler came to power in Germany, set in Germany, made no mention of the political situation in the country at the time. There was mention of the Depression Germany and the rest of the world was in and all five of the principal players were affected by it, one way or another. John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Wallace Beery, and Joan Crawford all check into the Grand Hotel one day and their lives are never the same.

Greta Garbo is the temperamental Russian ballerina Grusinskaya and her artistic tantrums are getting less and less tolerable in many ways because of the Depression. John Barrymore is the aristocrat now living in genteel poverty. His world ended with World War I, but the Depression reduced him to being a sneak thief. Lionel Barrymore is the terminally ill bookkeeper who now just wants to spend his last days living it up. He's just going to ignore the Depression. Wallace Beery is the Prussian industrialist who's used to high living having married the boss's daughter, but his firm as so many others is about to go under unless he can pull off a merger. Lionel Barrymore is one of hundreds who work for him and know what an extremely little man he is, that Beery is really lacking in any real ability for business. Finally there's Joan Crawford who's a working class girl, hired as a stenographer by Beery who has other things on his mind for Crawford.

Whether in Germany or America Joan Crawford is the eternal shop girl. To her credit she does not attempt any kind of a Teutonic accent and her performance rings true. This is in complete contrast to Susan and God where she was consciously trying to imitate Gertrude Lawrence from the stage. This was the Depression in America too and many could identify with her.

No one epitomized class and old world elegance like John Barrymore, he was not better on film than here in Grand Hotel. He hates the life that poverty has reduced him to. Using his old world charm as a facade for being a thief tears him inside. Meeting Greta Garbo gives him a last chance at redeeming his life.

Garbo's performance is one of her best as well. I'm not sure any other actress could have made you sympathize with the temperamental ballerina. In the hands of anyone less skilled, the audience would have sympathized with the management of her ballet company who want to can her. When John Barrymore enters her life he's like the audience she entertained over the years rolled up in one person who still cares about her the individual. It's a last chance for happiness for her as well.

Wallace Beery had a funny thing not happened to him in Grand Hotel which I won't reveal might have been quite comfortable with the regime to come in Germany. Beery is the only one in the film to attempt any kind of Germanic speech and he does succeed in his portrayal of the hateful industrialist Preysing.

My favorite in Grand Hotel has always been Lionel Barrymore. Lionel may very well have been the most talented in the Barrymore family. Playing the gentle, terminally ill Kringelein is light years different from Mr. Potter in It's A Wonderful Life or Captain Disko Troup in Captains Courageous. Three very different roles yet Lionel Barrymore imprints his personality on every one. A meek little man, he's got courage enough now, courage that comes when you have absolutely nothing to lose.

Grand Hotel is now 75 years old. The style of acting you see here is old fashioned indeed, no one could remake Grand Hotel today in the same style. It's melodramatic, but it works. It's a fascinating look into the last days of the Weimar Republic as seen from the balcony of a suite at the Grand Hotel in Berlin.

a trend-setter at its time for the all-star glamor

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 19 July 2015]

This early MGM talkie is a trend-setter at its time for the all-star glamor, also an Oscar BEST PICTURE winner (oddly enough, without any other nominations). There are five centre characters hemmed in Berlin's Grand Hotel, a Russian prima ballerina Grusinskaya (Garbo), a moneyless Baron Felix von Geigern (John Barrymore), an accountant Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), a dying man who decides to shell out all his savings by living in the luxury. Then a young stenographer Flaemmchen (Crawford), hired by the industrial magnate Preysing (Beery), who is negotiating a merger deal and is the former employer of Mr. Kringelein.

None of them are satisfied with their status quo, Grusinskaya is grievously rattled by the fading appeal of her dance as the turnout is ebbing away and the thought of suicide sneaks in, while the chivalric Baron must abase himself to theft in order to pay back his debt, but sadly that kind of deal doesn't go along with his blue blood, and when he resorts to his last straw - gamble, luck is not on his side when Otto's beginner's luck foreshadows his doomed nobility. But the ablaze passion between Grusinskaya and Felix appears so genuine and powerful, it might save both from their plights, they are planning to catch a train together but the twist of fate cannot let that happy ending happen. Here Garbo histrionically alternates between frowning in angst when dreads for her future and flitting about hyper-actively when a budding romance resuscitates her life. John Barrymore, revels in posing as suave and earnest, a heart-stealer in every sense, their ill-destined romance is the quintessential melodrama no matter how dated it comes across by today's standard.

Flaemmchen is charmed by Felix's debonair appearance too, but he returns with an avuncular affection, calls her "the funny one" and promises a dance only. She succumbs to reality, a pretty girl who needs money, when the one she loves cannot love her back, she moves on, grants tacit consent to become Preysing's mistress, but eventually, after a heartbreaking incident, fate offers her a better option and she does't hesitate to take it. Crawford is my pick of MVP in this movie, at her utter prime, she blends her magnetism perfectly with the worldly wisdom, her acting is less mannered and occasionally sparks with certain flair of self-assurance, a true flapper of its time.

As for Otto, he is supposedly to be a sympathetic character, but myself find Lionel Barrymore's all-over-the-place acting quite annoying, wanting any trace of subtlety needed to counterbalance the haphazardly-paced narrative, together with Beery's hateful Preysing, an outrageously repulsive character, becomes the nadir of star-power vehicle (Beery won BEST LEADING ACTOR at the same year for THE CHAMP 1931 though).

Director Edmund Goulding (THE RAZOR'S EDGE 1946, 7/10) is an important name in the Golden Age Hollywood - although never won any substantial accolade for his directing work, plus his filmography being too comprehensive to sum up thus it is difficult to extract his own directorial touch to be categorised as an auteur - his adroit skill in manoeuvring a large and elaborate set, the outstanding fluidity of shifting his camera within a confined interior and magnanimously permitting enough space for his stars to enjoy the spotlight, is undeniably a key factor is this polished hit of its era.

Check Into This Establishment

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 9 February 2000]

A world-weary prima ballerina, desperate for love. A noble cat thief, desperate for money. A dying clerk, out on a last fling. His industrialist boss, passionate & brutal. A pretty young stenographer, willing to do almost anything to get ahead. A hotel bell captain, anxious to hear about his pregnant wife. And a cynical, war-scarred doctor. Destiny awaits them all in one of Europe's most renowned establishments - Berlin's GRAND HOTEL.

This is considered to be the first `all star' movie. It was certainly MGM's most opulent film up to that time. The studio loaded it with an A List of star performers:

Greta Garbo, uttering her trademark phrase, `I want to be alone.' Radiant in love, one can only imagine the despair that awaits her after the film ends.

John Barrymore, suave, sophisticated & ultimately tragic.

Lionel Barrymore, in a performance that will stay in your memory, slowly dying.

Wallace Beery in a heavy role, all bullying bluff & bluster.

Joan Crawford, tough as nails & good as gold.

Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt, Rafaela Ottiano & Ferdinand Gottschalk all lend sterling support.

There was concern that putting so much talent into one film, instead of spreading the stars out over 4 or 5 films, would lose the studio money. Not to worry. It was a great success, financially & critically. Watch how the plot weaves the threads of the characters' lives into a finished tapestry. One of the great movies. Tremendously satisfying.

Clash of early '30s acting styles

[marissas75 · 7/10 · 1 August 2007]

At first, the 1930s all-star comedy-melodrama "Grand Hotel" seems like the type of movie they don't make anymore. But one of the major trends in modern Hollywood is the ensemble movie where different characters' stories interweave in surprising ways, and "Grand Hotel" might just be the father of them all. It's not as overstuffed as some modern movies, focusing on just five characters: a hotel thief pretending to be a baron (John Barrymore), an industrial magnate (Wallace Beery), his secretary (Joan Crawford), an aging and neurotic ballerina (Greta Garbo), and a nebbishy, dying man spending his last days in the luxurious hotel (Lionel Barrymore). Their adventures are generally predictable, though always believable and in-character. Overall, the movie is a moderately fun time, especially in order to see a wide range of 1930s acting styles in one movie.

Hard to believe that Garbo and Crawford were born just months apart--they were both 26 during filming, but Garbo's world-weary ballerina looks and behaves as though she were 36. Though everyone in the film has a different acting style, Garbo's stands out the most. She swoops her chiffon sleeves and looks meltingly romantic in close-ups, as if she were still in a silent movie, but then speaks extremely flowery dialogue. At only 26, then, Garbo seems like a relic or a self-parody. Crawford, on the other hand, is a fun, sassy, modern girl, who knows both how to flirt and how to keep things from going too far. She definitely steals the movie with her tough-minded performance. Garbo's acting works in movies that consistently maintain a keyed-up romantic tone, but in the stylistic mishmash that is "Grand Hotel," Garbo seems the least real--even to a 1932 audience. The DVD features reveal that her line "I want to be alone" got spoofed as soon as the movie came out!

John Barrymore has important scenes with both ladies, and works hard to find an acting style that complements their two very different approaches. He succeeds by playing his character as a reserved gentleman, more moderate than his scene partners. That way he can be flirtatious but not crackling with Crawford, romantic but not melodramatic with Garbo, and friendly but not effusive with his brother Lionel. Lionel, too, has a distinctive style--very mannered, stuttering, bowing and scraping as the little bookkeeper who is finally learning how to live. Yet his enthusiasm is sweet and touching. Wallace Beery gives a decent comic-villain performance complete with off-and-on German accent, though I had trouble caring about his character's money problems. I wonder, too, if the Great Depression and other events of the 1930s had some influence over the plot line where little-guy Lionel Barrymore gets the courage to stand up to the big bad CEO Beery.

Other than that, "Grand Hotel" is not particularly concerned with social or political problems--it's strange to think that it takes place in Weimar Germany and just two years later, the Nazis would take over. It doesn't have much emotional resonance, but it's a useful time capsule of 1932 Hollywood.

Hotel Berlin

[lugonian · 9/10 · 28 February 2003]

GRAND HOTEL (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1932), directed by Edmund Goulding, from the stage production by Vicki Baum, marks one of MGM's most prestigious projects. Other than being one of those rare films from the 1930s to be frequently revived, if not overplayed, on television over the past decades, it has stood the test of time solely due its impressive all-star cast. Of the five major leading actors, feature billing goes to Greta Garbo, MGM's most important box-office star to date. Unlike other Garbo films, GRAND HOTEL, is not all Garbo. She shares screen time with other top-named MGM performers, ranging from John and Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery and Lewis Stone. The only other major actress to appear in this production is the youthful and down-to-earth Joan Crawford, who, in fact, is on screen more than the legendary Garbo. While many might consider Crawford the best of the two female stars, Garbo, who's acting style is somewhat different from the others, should be observed and studied. Her role as Grusinskaya, the Russian ballerina, is performed two ways, that of a lonely, depressed dancer striving for success, then, after encountering the Baron (John Barrymore), becomes full of joy and laughter. Watching this transformation on screen is like seeing the two sides of Garbo.

Edmund Goulding directs this 113 minute drama at a fast-pace, starting its opening with overhead camera shots of numerous switchboard operators connecting the incoming calls, followed by the brief introduction of the central characters conversing on the telephone in the hotel lobby: Senf (Jean Hersholt), the head hotel clerk, awaits the news of his wife who is about to give birth to their child; Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), a bookkeeper, diagnosed with an incurable disease who quits his job to enjoy his remaining days to the fullest; Preysing (Wallace Beery), a no-nonsense industrialist staying at the hotel to negotiate a business deal with important clients; Suzette (Rafaella Ottiano), the maid to the famous Russian dancer, Grusinskaya, who expresses concern about her employer; Baron Felix Von Greigern (John Barrymore), an adventurer traveling with his Dachshund dog, desperately in need of money to pay off a heavy debt, planning his latest robbery by stealing valuable jewels from the famous ballerina; and Otternschlag (Lewis Stone), a scarred doctor who walks about the hotel lobby, observing the goings on, and reciting to himself quietly, "Grand Hotel, people come, people go, and NOTHING ever happens!"

Things start to happen as Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), a stenographer with ambition, is hired by Preysing as his personal secretary. She soon makes the acquaintance of the handsome Baron and the poorly dressed Kringelein. Later that evening, after the lonely and unhappy Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo) leaves the hotel for the theater, the Baron sneaks into her room from the outside window to rob her. After she returns, the Baron, still there, hides himself, only to take notice that Grusinskaya, unhappy, intends on taking her own life. He suddenly appears, telling her he's one of her biggest admirers. In spite of telling the Baron that she wants to be alone, the Baron remains and confesses everything. How will the Baron be able to get money he so desperately needs? As for the other guests, will Preysing, a married man with two grown daughters who has made Flaemmchen his mistress after working hours, succeed with his business negotiations? Will Flaemmchen continue to get something out of life by not being particular on how she does it? Will Grusinskaya marry her beloved jewel thief Baron or will she go on with her career? Will Kringelein find the happiness he deserves before he succumbs? What will his hotel bill be after checking out from most expensive hotel in Germany? Will that kill him before his illness does?

While GRAND HOTEL could have told its stories in separate installments, it's done as one film focusing on separate characters through different time frames. Of the central characters, only Senf, the hotel clerk (Hersholt) is the least important, appearing only in a few scenes unrelated to the plot. Lewis Stone's role is also secondary, but memorable, especially with his opening and closing lines. Wallace Berry, is cast against type, sporting glasses, a short haircut, mustache and the only American actor speaking with a German accent. Lionel Barrymore, sporting a derby, over-sized clothing, thick mustache and glasses, is almost unrecognizable as Kringelein. In fact, he almost comes off best over all the major actors. Although playing a tragic figure, he does have a classic drunken comedy bit, along with a poignant scene where, after winning a large sum of money playing cards, discovers that his wallet containing all his money, is missing.

Fortunately, GRAND HOTEL does not play like a filmed stage play. The art deco and luxurious sets are a sight to behold. And why not? The Grand Hotel happens to be the most expensive and luxurious hotel in Berlin. GRAND HOTEL obviously registered well upon its release. It won the Academy Award as Best Picture of 1931/32. In later years, GRAND HOTEL has become imitated and spoofed many times. MGM remade GRAND HOTEL as WEEKEND AT THE WALDORF (1945), modernizing the story to contemporary New York City with World War II background, featuring its top marquee names of the day: Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, Walter Pidgeon and Van Johnson. It was later adapted into a Broadway musical in the 1990s. Both screen versions are available on video cassette, DVD and Turner Classic Movies cable television. For a good time with a film classic, check in the GRAND HOTEL and see what the stars are doing for the weekend. (****)

Crawford tops Garbo here

[chaswe-28402 · 7/10 · 2 July 2019]

But Garbo is still Grand, Great, Greta and basically Greater than Crawford. This must be Crawford's best film, remarkably, and she was definitely good, it has to be said. Garbo's ultimately captivating and mesmerising screen presence, I've decided, would have derived from her earlier training and background in silent films. In this film, unfortunately, she doesn't seem to have fully mastered the transition to the talkies. In her later films the transition was brought to perfection. Meanwhile this is quite an interesting film, which I may watch again. It was interesting to see the Barrymores; and also Beery, if only for the experience. I thought he only appeared in wrestling pictures. I was going to give this 8 stars, but then that seemed too much as the story, decent thief gets murdered, seemed a bit empty..

camera-work!

[onepotato2 · 6/10 · 15 September 2007]

It's not hard to see why Grand Hotel won Best Picture. But it is dated and full of annoyances. It concerns the goings on of various guests at the Grand Hotel in Berlin. Lionel Barrymore plays a very annoying salt-of-the-earth type, who brings out the best in John Barrymore and Joan Crawford. His terminal illness could not advance quickly enough for me.

But boy does this have an eye for composition. More than a few times the lighting and the camera-work conspire to produce beautiful images that fill the entire greyscale range, and feature deep blacks; as when Joan Crawford is escorted into a dark room; or when the witness to a murder flees screen-right to a non-opening door. Occasionally the maudlin story breaks for startling camera-work as when; Wallace Beery stands in the smoky foreground as his associates bale on him; or more impressively, John Barrymores body exits the hotel via the service entrance as deliveries are being made; It's absolutely striking and foreshadows the objectives of realism by 2 or 3 decades. This is Hollywood? It's also way ahead of noir.

Crawford is a joy to watch in every single scene. (and I'm not a Crawford fan) Garbo is ridiculous, giving a scenery-devouring performance that is always operating at the wrong scale. I wanted to throw a shoe at her head.

Over the Top!

[sbibb1 · 5/10 · 24 December 2004]

Grand Hotel is considered to be a fine example of the work of Greta Garbo, but I like other critics of this film on this website seem to agree that her performance is over the top, and on par with acting that took place in silent films, exaggerated and unreal.

The best performance in the film is Joan Crawford. Early in her career her acting and the genuine and real quality she brings to the role shows why she has remained at the top for so long. Great performances as well by both Lionel Barrymore and brother John. This is the film where Garbo utters "I vant to be alone." The fine cast of Jean Hersholt and Lewis Stone are wasted as they are both in the film for only a few scenes each.

Ominous

[thurberdrawing · 18 January 2005]

Setting aside the fact that this is a landmark in the history of Hollywood, it has an unintended effect of foreshadowing the Second World War. GRAND HOTEL, filmed in 1932, is set in a luxury hotel in contemporary Berlin. There are several moments (during scenes with the disfigured doctor in particular) when characters refer to their sacrifices in the First World War. The most pointed remark runs something like "we won battle after battle, only to be told we'd lost the war.") At the time this film was made, Hitler was about a year and a half away from becoming Chancellor. GRAND HOTEL, based on a work by Vicki Baum, who wrote for a German readership, is less a story of the idle rich and the poor who serve them than an observation of the quiet rage stealing over a society whose war wounds only seem to deepen as time passes. Wallace Beery's character, a corrupt industrialist, was, in 1932, a staple of German art and theatre. An American audience in 1932 would merely have seen him as a fat-cat, but, in the Weimar Republic, particularly just before the Nazis took power, such a stereotype was provocative. Watching GRAND HOTEL with a sense of what was about to happen in Germany, one sees not so much a sophisticated soap-opera as a macabre meditation on the genteel side of a very dark phase in history.

A good sophisticated drama of the early talkie era

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 26 November 2009]

This film doesn't seem that remarkable by today's standards, but in 1932 it was quite innovative. MGM used an all-star cast in a bracelet of intertwining stories that involved them all. The ballerina (Garbo) misses Russia, feels life is empty and pointless, and is saved from killing herself by the Baron (John Barrymore) who had been planning to steal her jewels to pay a large debt to some shady people that he owes. The stenographer (Joan Crawford) has set her sights on the Baron believing him to be rich, while she is being eyed by her employer, a wealthy industrialist (Wallace Beery) who is the former employer of a dying man (Lionel Barrymore) who intends to spend his life savings experiencing what he has been missing out on all these years, who in turn is befriended by the Baron. The only character who exists in isolation is Garbo's, who has a relationship with the Baron but no one else.

This is the only film to ever win the Best Picture Oscar and be nominated for no other awards. This is not because the picture is a poor one. Instead it is probably because there are so many subplots and so many players that it is hard to zero in on any one of them and say a particular link in the chain is outstanding compared to the others and therefore deserves an award. However, altogether, the actors and subplots form an entertaining film. Since this film was such a commercial success the entire formula was reused in "Dinner at Eight" the following year, and even used part of the cast from this film - John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Beery. Oddly enough that film was superior to "Grand Hotel" in many ways, but didn't receive any Oscar nominations.

Finally, much has been said about Greta Garbo's over-the-top performance in this one. I have to admit, if this was my introduction to Garbo I would be asking myself what is the big deal about her supposed great reputation. She's practically playing Ophelia at certain points in the film. However, if you think about it, Garbo's portrayal is an appropriate one considering her character's circumstances. She was a ballerina in Czarist Russia who has the world ripped out from underneath her as a result of the Russian Revolution. Now, late in her career, she is surrounded by sycophants and isn't even missed when she runs out on a performance.

Five Desperate People.

[nycritic · 9/10 · 24 August 2005]

Some seventy-odd years after its release in 1932, GRAND HOTEL today holds an interesting attraction more for the presence of its two leading ladies than from its cinematic power, although there will be some purists who will state that because the images of Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo have been immortalized in their own respective canons, that in itself is cinematic power. I personally won't argue, preferring to stick to my own personal views instead of following the herd.

I've seen GRAND HOTEL twice now, and I'll grant it that despite its soap-opera like story lines, there seems to be something a little deeper going on which is only alluded to in the sidelines: the delicate tightrope which Flammchen (Joan Crawford) walks on as she is courted by Presyling (Wallace Beery) and later on decides to stay by Otto Kringelein's (Lionel Barrymore) side. This was most probably unintentional since sources state that the screenplay follows the story closely, but today's values would have Flammchen behave much differently. I find her character to be the moral opposite of Barbara Stanwyck's amoral Lily Powers in BABY FACE, another woman who uses her sexuality to advance to the top. Joan Crawford's Flammchen doesn't actively use her charms as sort of glide by while positively glowing and stealing all of the light from Garbo, and one can sense that were she of a much different nature, all of the men in GRAND HOTEL would have a dangerous young woman to deal with, and Barrymore's end would be similar to J. Howard Marshall's demise in the hands of (a much smarter, less coked-up) Anna Nicole Smith. She'd more than likely wind up owning the hotel herself in no time.

But not to digress. The plot moves along in a nice pace thanks to Goulding's direction; never does it linger on too much on one specific character, though at least for me, anytime Garbo was on screen the story came to a crashing halt. I'm going to get a lot of flack from rabid Garbo fans, but I don't get "her allure, her mystery," the essence that made her so intriguing. At twenty-seven, she already looks ten years older thanks to her severe nature. Her face is constantly in a frown, moody, full of angst reflected in her throaty voice. Her performance is so atrociously mannered I can see Jennifer Jason Leigh easily out-doing her, but better, more authentic (anyone who recalls her exacting yet eccentric portrayal of Dorothy Parker can easily see her becoming and improving Garbo). I never got to see what her character with the unpronounceable name was all about; no true trauma, just this death-wish to be "left alone." Then she capriciously takes on with the Baron von Geigern (a dashing yet shady John Barrymore) who is more interested in her jewels but tells her he could love her; he out-acts her at every turn with subtlety and genuine charm even when his part seems underwritten. In short, Garbo, for all her "mystique" is the sore thumb of GRAND HOTEL.

I much prefer the events surrounding Crawford and the older Barrymore. Lionel Barrymore, the horrible villain from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, plays a meek former bookkeeper who is at the end of his life and wants to enjoy his stay at the hotel. His wish is quite simple: he wants to enjoy his last days, a diametric opposite to Garbo who wants to be alone (and she says it three times). He teams up with Crawford, enjoys a dance with her and falls for her even though she's much too young. All the time I got the sensation he knew the character of Kringelein, a man who has been pushed around by Preysling and is still not quite free of his micromanaging shadow. There is not a shed of ego in his performance. One can imagine seeing Crawford reach out to the older gentleman and actually making his days happier and is a fitting ending to her own storyline as she is lecherously pursued by Wallace Beery and romanced by John Barrymore. If anything, her character is the most sympathetic of the five main characters and the symbol of the emerging modern woman of the Thirties: ambitious but girlish, efficient but not a workaholic, smart and independent despite struggling to make ends meet.

GRAND HOTEL hasn't aged well. Its values were the thing back in the Depression era, showing glossy characters who were all looking for some form of security while surrounded by the exuberance of the hotel and who were not given much depth in their characterizations. The characters are more or less archetypes and are predicted to act in a certain way, and when their fates collide, it's (now) not a surprise. Now, what it did do was set the standard for lavish productions involving a roster of well-known actors and stars in a perfect balance of talent and star-power, most notably seen today in the films of Woody Allen and Robert Altman, but closer to the less intellectually challenging type of high-profile film seen in the 50s and throughout the 70s. I enjoyed it then and now and regard it as a classic film set in a pre-Code Hollywood that has its own ancient beauty, for more reasons than Garbo's mannered face.

Musical Rooms.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 26 August 2015]

What a cast! More stars than there are in the HEAVENS! And we get to hear Garbo moan, "I vant to be alone." Simply divoon!

The audience must gotten a big kick out of this in 1932, gripped by the Great Depression, watching these hoity-toity types in their evening clothes, milling around in the most expensive hotel in Berlin, sipping champagne, eating caviar ("tastes like herring"), powerful men hitting on poor but sassy stenographers, a dying old man living it up for one last time.

It's an ensemble movie and the stories get entwined. At times, it resembles one of those recent disaster movies in which you have to subject yourself to the back stories of each character. Get to know what they're like, what drives them, what moves them, why that back molar is bothering them.

That's a problem in a way. In a disaster movie you can sit through the back stories knowing there's a disaster of some sort in the offing -- an avalanche, a capsized ship, flocks of deranged birds. Here, there's no catastrophe. The back stories have to carry the picture themselves.

One thing really does stand out, and that's Greta Garbo's performance. It's not just her throaty voice and its curious locutions -- "finished" turns into "finched." Every line has unexpected contours. It's a little like Tommy Lee Jones. Someone asks Jones if, say, he would like a beer. "OH, yeah," he replies. The stresses come in extraordinary places.

And not just that. Garbo is supposed to be a ballet dancer. At first glance it seems an unlikely career for someone so tall and gawky, with such hunched shoulders. But then you notice that when she moves around she's a human grand opera. She doesn't move from place to place, she swoops. It conjures up the body movements of John Wayne. He seemed to fling one of his body parts -- an arm or a shoulder -- in one direction and the rest of that massive bulk seemed to follow. Garbo is the same way, flinging her arms out, whirling dervishly at times.

That aside, the stories are a little dull. The dialog isn't especially clever and the funny scenes, Lionel Barrymore drunk while a Charlie Chaplin tune plays in the background, may have been funny in 1932 but less so today.

In any case it has an elevated position among the cognoscenti and far be it from me, a humble shoemaker, to bone it too thoroughly.

Yes! It is "Grand!"

[mikhail080 · 10/10 · 26 April 2004]

Grand Hotel remains surprisingly effective even today, and as some reviewers have suggested, is a precursor to Robert Altman's style of film-making, in which many characters interact and bounce off one another in unexpected ways. The action moves at a quick pace, as the scene constantly shifts between the characters. Director Edmund Goulding even utilized "wipes" to change the scene, which must have seemed very high-tech back in the early 1930's.

The narrative form is fluid, allowing each character to nicely develop his or her storyline in relation to the others. A story like Grand Hotel could easily become staid and set-bound, especially considering it was taken from a play, but the interesting sets, exquisite costumes, and the countless players keep the excitement level high.

The performances are certainly first-rate, as one would expect from the A-list cast. I do realize that many of today's viewers find Greta Garbo's aging Russian ballerina to be an exercise in over-indulgence, but I do enjoy her immensely! And who here today actually knows for certain how an aging Russian ballerina would act out when alone in her hotel room or with her entourage? Have today's critics spent time with Garbo's contemporary Pavlova, and found her by example to be much more subdued and controlled? It is not too much of a stretch to believe that Garbo's Grusinskaya may have existed in the actuality of 1932.

And what fun it is watching her as she goes through every emotion imaginable! Her great voice was always one of her best tools, and she certainly uses it to advantage here, throwing away lines that other actresses would have played up, and vice-versa. And the tight close ups of her beautiful face are breathtaking! I will only mention one scene specifically: when she futilely attempts to telephone her lover, the Baron, in the middle of the night. Alone on the screen she pleads for him to pick up, at times excited and joyful, quickly turning into desperation and despair and back again. She cradles the telephone receiver as if it were her lover.

Another knock-out performance comes from the young Joan Crawford, who in this huge production proved to the world she was an excellent actress who could hold the screen with any seasoned pro. As the shapely stenographer Flaemmchen, Crawford is absolutely stunning, as beautiful as Garbo, and a sexuality that certainly made guys in the audience take careful notice. And the profile of her extraordinary face was surely as "great" as John Barrymore's more famous one! She lends a distinct eroticism to her role, as she expertly delivers her character's suggestive dialogue, often with an resigned air of cynicism or jaded pessimism.

Of the male characters, Wallace Beery definitely commands attention! His portrayal of the desperate industrialist Preysing is both repellent and charismatic. As a man who exudes power and slowly begins to lose control, his performance is expertly crafted and layered. And I'd be remiss not to mention the Barrymore brothers, who round out the cast superbly. John charms both the men and women on screen with natural ease, while Lionel whimpers and whines like no other ever could. Both their characters are heartbreaking, each in his individual way. Even lesser characters, like Lewis Stone's horribly scarred doctor (in make-up that truly is disturbing) and Rafaela Ottiano's maid have their moments in the spotlight.

Minor spoiler ahead:

One scene that I found poignant was the bell boy quickly escorting the Baron's poor pet dachshund out the hotel lobby by its leash. They pass a janitor sweeping the floor with a large push broom, who without reason shoves the small dog along with the broom, causing it to stumble. The poor thing, wondering what hit it, turns around as it scoots along, only to have the janitor sweep a cloud of dust into its face. A truly sad small moment, as the viewer is left to wonder what will become of the dog now that it has lost its status as the beloved pet of a nobleman.

End of minor spoiler

Yes, Grand Hotel still remains splendid entertainment!

A little boring

[Incalculacable · 6/10 · 26 December 2005]

I picked this DVD up because it had an all star cast and it looked fun. I suppose you could say I was a little disappointed with this movie because it didn't meet up to my expectations - they weren't high, either. Alright, I'm a teenager but I love old movies. This one started off pretty boring, slow and stiff but it didn't get any better. At times I didn't understand what was going on and I often found myself wondering, "Why am I still watching this?" I didn't really care about the characters. I couldn't care less about what happened. I didn't even watch the end of this movie. I just could not be bothered.

However, despite that, I really loved Joan Crawford's performance - she really stands out. Greta Garbo was over the top, but it probably would have been weird if she was all "normal" - she IS a prima ballerina. If I got the chance to watch this again, I probably wouldn't. Sorry.

One scene near the end is worth the whole movie.

[pinckelopes-62182 · 10/10 · 15 August 2020]

"Grand Hotel" is the kind of high-gloss, all-star movie that only MGM could make because it had under contract a constellation of high-wattage stars, all of whom seem to be on display (except Clark Gable, Marie Dressler and Jean Harlow). Even though Greta Garbo, the nominal star, may seem a bit too old and too big to be an acclaimed ballerina, no one can emote like her, even when she's simply staring at the camera. John Barrymore is her match as the jaded, doomed baron, and Wallace Beery is appropriately bombastic as the industrial magnate. But for me, the two stars of "Grand Hotel" are another Barrymore -- Lionel -- and Joan Crawford because of a scene near the end when they're mourning the baron. When Kringelein (Barrymore), flush with gambling winnings from the night before, hears Flaemmchen (Crawford) talk about her poverty, he offers to take care of her. At this point, the scene takes off. Stunned by this offer of genuine kindness, Flaemmchen tears up as she accepts; Kringelein, a nebbish who probably never has had any luck with women, seems genuinely flabbergasted that anyone so glamorous would be interested in him and be willing to care for him. It's beautifully emotional, a moment that transcends acting (not unlike Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy's last big, equally emotional scene in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" 35 years later). I'll accept the criticism -- the movie contains no hint of the Depression or the impending collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism -- but "Grand Hotel" is hardly an exercise in social criticism. It's escapist fare, designed for Depression-weary audiences trying to escape the world beyond the theaters, and it delivers beautifully, especially in Crawford and Barrymore's big scene.

The stars are shining in this hotel

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 1 December 2014]

The Grand Hotel in Berlin is the setting for the interconnected stories of the various characters. Baron Felix von Geigern (John Barrymore) lost his wealth over the years while still maintaining a facade by playing cards and thievery. He tries to steal flamboyant fragile Russian ballerina Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo)'s pearls. He befriends meek bookkeeper Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore) trying to live it up at the hotel. German businessman Preysing (Wallace Beery) is trying to complete an important deal and hires stenographer Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford) although she's looking to be more than a typist. Otto is one of Preysing's insignificant workers who may hold the key to his deal.

The stars are out in style in this hotel. Garbo is at her melodramatic best. Joan Crawford is the belle of the ball. The Barrymores are superb. Wallace Beery is his usual brute. I'm sure it was more compelling for its time. Many others have followed the formula of disparate people intermingling at a specific place. This is probably done better than most of its kind at its time. Two hours is a bit too long to keep up the pace.

Beautiful, Influential, But Increasingly Obscured By Passing Time

[gftbiloxi · 8/10 · 11 June 2007]

Published in 1921, Vicki Baum's German-language novel MENSCHEN IM HOTEL was an international bestseller. MGM purchased the rights and employed William A. Drake to adapt the novel to the stage. Titled GRAND HOTEL, it proved a great success on the Broadway stage, and with its fame as both novel and play the studio made the property the focus of its powerful array of contract talent. It was smash with both critics and audiences and won the Academy Award as Best Picture of 1932.

Although the 1930s was notable for social dramas, audiences of the Great Depression wanted an escape from the hardship of their lives, and no expense was spared to create the glittering and very high-gloss image moviegoers craved. Designed by legendary art director Cedric Gibbons, who mixed Deco and Moderne styles to tremendous effect, each set was built specifically for the film and no detail was overlooked; Adrian's costumes were also meticulous in their combination of high-fashion and romance. No detail was overlooked, and in terms of production values alone few films before or after have bested GRAND HOTEL.

But if GRAND HOTEL is distinctly of its era in terms of visual style, it is also distinctly of its era in terms of performance, and it is here that we run into a bit of trouble. Most actors of the silent era relied on a mannered performance style that compensated for the lack of sound. The arrival of sound forced them to invent a new performance style, and some proved more adaptable than others. In many respects, GRAND HOTEL is a study of the struggle to invent this new way of acting; some of the performers are excessively large, some are in transition between silent and sound modes, and some are distinctly modern in their approach.

In terms of story, GRAND HOTEL presents several overlapping and interweaving plot lines. Celebrated ballerina Grusinskaya (Garbo) is performing in Berlin--and is a deep depression that threatens her career. Baron von Geigern (John Barrymore) is in desperate need of money--and has agreed to steal Grusinskaya's famous pearls. When Grusinskaya's suicide attempt collides with the Baron's intended theft, romance is result. At the same time, industrialist Preysing (Wallace Beery) has arrived at the hotel in an effort to conclude a important business deal and has hired a stenographer named Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford) to assist him--but Preysing is unaware that company accountant Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore) has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and has taken rooms at the hotel, determined to enjoy himself before he dies. These characters, along with Grusinskaya's maid (Rafaela Ottiano), the hotel doctor (Lewis Stone), and various hotel employees (including Jean Hersholt) collide repeatedly over the course of a few days--and none will emerge entirely unscathed from their encounters.

John Barrymore was noted for his larger-than-life performances on the stage, and he brought that same quality to many silent films; less fortunately, he also carried into the sound era, and his performance reads as excessively large. Although Garbo was a great star in the silent era, she quickly adapted to the new demands of sound in such films as ANNA Christie--but when faced with Barrymore's over-the-top performance she responds in kind, and the result is visually beautifully but incredibly mannered, and their scenes are not greatly aided by their dialogue, which is itself very much in "the grand manner." Although they are indeed fascinating, their performances are distinctly out of synch with the rest of the film, where a more natural style of acting is the norm.

While Wallace Beery and Lewis Stone are quite good, and while Lionel Barrymore is unexpectedly effective (and much less mannered than his brother John), it is really Joan Crawford that points the way toward the new acting style. Crawford herself had worked in silents, and scored notable successes in such films as OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS, but she has made an easy leap to the sound era and never overplays her hand; Flaemmchen is among the best of her early performances, and Crawford herself thought it among the best of her overall career. She wasn't wrong.

With the acting styles all over the map, GRAND HOTEL requires a modern viewer to make constant mental shifts; consequently, the film sometimes feels more than a little uphill. Even so, there are plenty of compensations: Garbo at the height of her beauty; Lionel Barrymore's multi-layered performance; a Crawford classic; and always, always the lush look and feel of the movie. Although I think it will most appeal to film buffs, there is no denying the thing has power, even though that power has become somewhat obscured by the passing years.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

A magnificent star-filled cast is brought together in this Oscarized and glamorous production

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 27 October 2021]

WWI is over . Life in the fast lane has returned to Berlin . At the Berlin Grand Hotel , an idyllic place in the middle of the Big City , crossroads of a thousand lives backdrop to as as many stories . The most expensive hotel and group of very different individuals staying at a luxurious place in Berlin dealing with each of their respective dramas. There is a doctor (Lionel Barrymore) is usually drunk , but he's terminally ill so he missed the fact that Baron von Geigern (John Barrymore) is bankrupted and attempting to rob famous dancer Grusinskaya's (Greta Garbo) pearls, but he falls in love with her . She ends up stealing him heart instead. Powerful German businessman Preysing (Wallace Beery) beats Kringelein, one of his company's lowly bookkeepers . Eventually, is Kringelein who holds all the cards . Meanwhile , the Baron also steals the heart of a stenographer (Joan Crawford ) . Find out all the secrets and mysteries hidden in the wonderful Grand Hotel . Thank The Stars For A Great Entertainment ! .The Sensation of Our Generation!

A Berlin hotel is the fictional place where happens : love , blackmail, jealousies , crime , comedy , and plots and counter-plots all involving the hotel's guests , doctors , tarnished aristocrats and residential employees . Concerning their lives who become hopelessly interwined over 24 hour period . This is an anthology of life of various levels that won an Academy Award for best picture . Adapted and given a red-carpet treatment from a Vicki Baum novel . Time has taken its toll on the concept and developing , but still an engaging vehicle for the star-studded cast . Here Hollywood director Goulding shows his ordinary elegance and refinement with which MGM was identified , the best example of this being Gran hotel (1932). Here stands out Greta Garbo as a world-weary, eccentric ballerina along a fabulous remaining cast as John Barrymore , Joan Crawford , Wallace Beery , Lionel Barrymore , Lewis Stone , among others.

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Edmund Goulding who typified his usual brilliant style . London-born Edmund Goulding was an actor/playwright/director. He obtained assignments as a screenwriter in Hollywood, wrote a novel, "Fury," in 1922 and directed the film version of it (Fury (1923) . Hired as a screenwriter/director by MGM in 1925, Goulding quickly developed a reputation for turning out tasteful, cultured dramas and drawing-room comedies. He was entrusted with the pictures of some of MGM's biggest stars, such as Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford. However, two of his best-known films, and probably the most atypical of his works , were The Razor's Edge (1946) and Nightmare Alley (1947), a dark, brooding drama of greed and corruption among high and low society involving phony mentalists and a conniving psychiatrist. Rating : 7/10. Better than average . The picture will apppeal to Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford fans .

A stylish silent movie but with sound!

[1930s_Time_Machine · 5/10 · 21 June 2023]

MGM were famed for being the last of the studios to embrace sound. Although this was made several years after their last silent movie, this exemplifies MGM's legacy in making exceptional silent films by nostalgically bringing back some of their famous style but in a talking picture.

This all-star film was made for the fans, the fans of the stars and therefore the stars all act the way the fans expected them to. A lot of fans had grown up with these people being in the silents and wanted to see them like they were back in their glory days - on the silent screen. Greta Garbo and the Barrymore brothers are exactly the characters you'd expect them to be, they're almost doing impressions of themselves but because they're all such good actors, really good actors it works perfectly. Joan Crawford for example, who became a silent superstar by flirting with her eyes, speaking with her expressions and with her exaggerated emotional outbursts plays that role again - but with words as well. It makes her character stand out and maybe it's because of her incongruous style that she grabs your full attention. Because her acting skill, even in silent mode, is so convincing and she herself, so compelling, you can fully believe she is real.

The one fly in the ointment is Wallace Beery. I can't understand why he became such a big star - then again so did Jean Harlow. His character is made even less believable by his terrible German accent. There's one atrocious scene where Beery first notices Joan Crawford's legs. This is pure Merrie Melodies! His eyes bulge and his tongue almost hits the floor like that cartoon wolf when he sees a Betty Boop type! He's just not convincing.

This is a difficult film to score. It's entertaining, acted and photographed fabulously but you get the impression that this is just an excuse to stick all these actors together. The writing has taken a back seat, the actual story doesn't really say much. Essentially it's just an old soap.