Grand Hotel (1932)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Vicki Baum (novel)
William A. Drake (play)
(more)

Release Date:

11 September 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Thank The Stars For A Great Entertainment !

Plot:

Berlin's plushest, most expensive hotel is the setting where in the words of Dr. Otternschlag "People come...

Plot Keywords:

Baron | Hotel | Dancer | Doctor | Bookkeeper

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Grusinskaya - the Dancer
John Barrymore	...	The Baron
Joan Crawford	...	Flaemmchen - the Stenographer
Wallace Beery	...	General Director Preysing
Lionel Barrymore	...	Otto Kringelein
Lewis Stone	...	Doctor Otternschlag
Jean Hersholt	...	Senf - the Porter
Robert McWade	...	Meierheim (as Robert Mc Wade)
Purnell Pratt	...	Zinnowitz (as Purnell B. Pratt)
Ferdinand Gottschalk	...	Pimenov
Rafaela Ottiano	...	Suzette
Morgan Wallace	...	Chauffeur
Tully Marshall	...	Gerstenkorn
Frank Conroy	...	Rohna
Murray Kinnell	...	Schweimann
Edwin Maxwell	...	Dr. Waitz
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joan Barclay	...	Young Girl in Lobby (uncredited)
Max Barwyn	...	Hotel Guest / Gambler (uncredited)
Mary Carlisle	...	Mrs. Hoffman - Young Honeymooner (uncredited)
John Davidson	...	Hotel Manager (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Clerk (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Edmund Goulding	...	Cameo Appearance (uncredited)
Sherry Hall	...	Hotel Guest (uncredited)
Allen Jenkins	...	Hotel meat packer (uncredited)
Robert Lees	...	Bellboy (uncredited)
Eric Mayne	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Philo McCullough	...	Hotel Guest / Gambler (uncredited)
Sam McDaniel	...	Bartender (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Greta Meyer	...	Housekeeper in Room 174 (uncredited)
Sarah Padden	...	Chambermaid in Room 174 (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Hotel Guest (uncredited)
Bodil Rosing	...	Nurse helping old lady into elevator (uncredited)
Dick Rush	...	Gendarme (uncredited)
Rolfe Sedan	...	Hotel Guest in Bar (uncredited)
Leo White	...	Hotel Porter (uncredited)
Florence Wix	...	Hotel Guest (uncredited)

Directed by
Edmund Goulding

Writing credits
Vicki Baum		(novel and play "Menschen im Hotel")
William A. Drake		(play "Grand Hotel")
William A. Drake		(adaptation) uncredited
Béla Balázs		uncredited

Produced by
Irving Thalberg	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
William Axt		(uncredited)
Charles Maxwell		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(photographed by) (as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Blanche Sewell

Casting by
Benjamin Thau		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Costume Design by
Adrian

Makeup Department
Cecil Holland	....	makeup department head (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Dorian	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Anstruther MacDonald	....	sound engineer (uncredited)
Karl Zint	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Fred Archer	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Milton Brown	....	still photographer (uncredited)
A. Lindsley Lane	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Charles W. Riley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Albert Scheving	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Mildred Shay	....	singing voice: Greta Garbo (uncredited)

Other crew
Paul Bern	....	supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation (MGM) (1932) (USA) (theatrical) (as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1932) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Reserva Especial (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Runtime:

112 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Portugal:17 (original rating) | South Korea:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) | Norway:16 (1933) | Sweden:15 | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | New Zealand:PG | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #2276-R: 13 May 1936 for re-release)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

MGM bought the film rights for $35,000 and had already made a profit from the material thanks to the Broadway play.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the scene in which the Baron asks Flaemmchen for a date, he moves from behind her left shoulder to behind her right shoulder twice. Also, the Baron's cigarette seems to disappear without any indication he put it out.

Quotes:

Grusinskaya: I want to be alone. I think I have never been so tired in my life.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Hitler - ein Film aus Deutschland (1977)

Soundtrack:

An der schönen, blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube), Op.314

Dated, melodramatic...and MAGNIFICENT

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.