Grand Hotel (1932)
Country: US
Technical: bw 115m
Director: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery
Synopsis:
In a Berlin hotel, among the many guests are a neurotic Russian ballerina, a Baron turned hotel thief, an industrialist, his stenographer, and a disaffected employee intent on living out his last days in style.
Review:
This first portmanteau melodrama of the sound era was also one of the first to combine so many stars and, as it must accord each his or her due, the talking and consequently the running time do go on a bit. Still, once you adjust to the pacing and more measured performance styles, there is no denying its charm, the glamour of its leads, or the art deco sheen of the production design. Relatively frank and racy in its dialogue and action, in a way which would soon be impossible under the Production Code, it is on the other hand somewhat stilted in its direction, as early talkies could be, and the Garbo scenes in particular are coarsely edited, as if there were not enough takes to choose from. A film worth cherishing nonetheless.
Country: US
Technical: bw 115m
Director: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery
Synopsis:
In a Berlin hotel, among the many guests are a neurotic Russian ballerina, a Baron turned hotel thief, an industrialist, his stenographer, and a disaffected employee intent on living out his last days in style.
Review:
This first portmanteau melodrama of the sound era was also one of the first to combine so many stars and, as it must accord each his or her due, the talking and consequently the running time do go on a bit. Still, once you adjust to the pacing and more measured performance styles, there is no denying its charm, the glamour of its leads, or the art deco sheen of the production design. Relatively frank and racy in its dialogue and action, in a way which would soon be impossible under the Production Code, it is on the other hand somewhat stilted in its direction, as early talkies could be, and the Garbo scenes in particular are coarsely edited, as if there were not enough takes to choose from. A film worth cherishing nonetheless.
Country: US
Technical: bw 115m
Director: Edmund Goulding
Cast: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery
Synopsis:
In a Berlin hotel, among the many guests are a neurotic Russian ballerina, a Baron turned hotel thief, an industrialist, his stenographer, and a disaffected employee intent on living out his last days in style.
Review:
This first portmanteau melodrama of the sound era was also one of the first to combine so many stars and, as it must accord each his or her due, the talking and consequently the running time do go on a bit. Still, once you adjust to the pacing and more measured performance styles, there is no denying its charm, the glamour of its leads, or the art deco sheen of the production design. Relatively frank and racy in its dialogue and action, in a way which would soon be impossible under the Production Code, it is on the other hand somewhat stilted in its direction, as early talkies could be, and the Garbo scenes in particular are coarsely edited, as if there were not enough takes to choose from. A film worth cherishing nonetheless.