Grand Hotel (1932)

The Worst Film Ever

Powerful

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This Oscar winner is as varied tonally as it is in it's cast of characters. Romance, comedy, drama, mystery, tragedy...and yet, with all of this going on, it manages to stay fairly dull. The only things that really hold it together are the snappy dialogue and a couple of fantastic characters in Mrs. Flaemmchen and Otto, whose bittersweet ending is moving enough to raise the film above its own melodrama.

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.

Not super impressed with this one. It had its moments but ultimately I can't honestly say that I enjoyed the film.I guess the importance of this film is that it was the first film to have many main characters with their stories intersecting (seemingly Garry Marshall's recent obsession, with a holiday twist). I absolutely adore that type of filmmaking, so long as the connections make sense and aren't predictable. It worked for this film and I liked that a lot. Another major accomplishment of this film was how it was so star-studded, with a bunch of big actors working together. These two characteristics that made the film a classic were somewhat lost on me because I'm used to them in modern cinema, and better executed at that.Good subtle character development in the beginning. Less subtle later, but still good. The dialog was very good. Good writing. The performances were great. Still, the story moved too slowly for me and I do need to be at least a little bit invested in the characters to actually care what they do or what happens to them, and I was not invested. I didn't find anyone particularly likable, with maybe a couple exceptions, but overall, I was turned off by how manipulative everything was. The motive behind nearly every action was personal gain at another's expense, and that's gross. Not a fun watch for me, to be honest. I was bored and I was just waiting for it to be over about halfway through. I don't want to watch it again and I don't want to own it ever.5/10 Bye love you

In this movie the luxurious "Grand Hotel" in Berlin plays host to several different characters whose lives become intertwined in this intricate drama which won the Academy Award for "Best Picture" in 1932. Although Greta Garbo (as "Grusinkaya") was probably the main star attraction other performers equally shared the stage and were just as impressive. I especially liked Lionel Barrymore (as "Baron Felix von Geigern") and Joan Crawford ("Flaemmchen") in their respective roles but both Greta Garbo and Wallace Beery ("General Director Preysing") were also quite good. Admittedly, a couple of the scenes seemed to drag here and there but the ending tied everything up real well and essentially makes this film the classic that it is. Likewise, having two beautiful stars like Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford certainly doesn't hurt either. Be that as it may this movie is both sad and profound and while it may be somewhat dated it is certainly worthy of its accolades and deserves a look if a person should ever get the opportunity. Definitely above average.