Dinner at Eight (1933)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

George Cukor

Writers:

Frances Marion (screenplay) and
Herman J. Mankiewicz (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

12 January 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Social climbing Millicent and Oliver Jordan throw a dinner for a bunch of New York society types, each of whom has much to reveal.

Plot Keywords:

Dinner Party | New York | Blackmail | Ensemble Cast | Millionaire

Cast

Marie Dressler	...	Carlotta Vance
John Barrymore	...	Larry Renault
Wallace Beery	...	Dan Packard
Jean Harlow	...	Kitty Packard
Lionel Barrymore	...	Oliver Jordan
Lee Tracy	...	Max Kane
Edmund Lowe	...	Dr. Wayne Talbot
Billie Burke	...	Millicent Jordan
Madge Evans	...	Paula Jordan
Jean Hersholt	...	Jo Stengel
Karen Morley	...	Mrs. Lucy Talbot
Louise Closser Hale	...	Hattie Loomis
Phillips Holmes	...	Ernest DeGraff
May Robson	...	Mrs. Wendel
Grant Mitchell	...	Ed Loomis
Phoebe Foster	...	Miss Alden
Elizabeth Patterson	...	Miss Copeland
Hilda Vaughn	...	Tina
Harry Beresford	...	Fosdick
Edwin Maxwell	...	Mr. Fitch
John Davidson	...	Mr. Hatfield
Edward Woods	...	Eddie
Anna Duncan	...	Dora
Herman Bing	...	Waiter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Baxter	...	Gustave (uncredited)
Mary Dees	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)

Directed by
George Cukor

Writing credits
Frances Marion		(screenplay) and
Herman J. Mankiewicz		(screenplay)
George S. Kaufman		(play) and
Edna Ferber		(play)
Donald Ogden Stewart		(additional dialogue)

Produced by
David O. Selznick	....	producer

Original Music by
William Axt		(musical score) (as Dr. William Axt)

Cinematography by
William H. Daniels		(as William Daniels)

Film Editing by
Ben Lewis

Art Direction by
Hobe Erwin
Fredric Hope		(as Fred Hope)

Costume Design by
Adrian		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joseph M. Newman	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Cullen Tate	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director
Charles E. Wallace	....	sound mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Tanner	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Harvey White	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Chester W. Schaeffer	....	assistant film editor (uncredited)

Other crew
Sam Harris	....	producer: stage play (as Sam H. Harris)
Howard Dietz	....	general press agent (uncredited)

Production Companies

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

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1933) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1933) (France) (theatrical)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

111 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:

Canada:G (video rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Australia:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #2284-R: 15 May 1936 for re-release) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating)

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The dowager character played by Marie Dressler is reportedly based on actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell, for whom George Bernard Shaw wrote the role of Eliza Doolittle in the play "Pygmalion", the basis for the musical My Fair Lady (1964). Mrs. Campbell was legendary for her inappropriate remarks, and she failed dismally in an attempt at a Hollywood film career.

Quotes:

Kitty Packard: Politics? Ha! You couldn't get into politics. You couldn't get in anywhere. You couldn't even get in the mens' room at the Astor!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Wind at My Back: Smiling Through (#2.13)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

I Loved You Then As I Love You Now

a golden oldie

What a cast - MGM's finest in a series of vignettes leading up to Mrs Jordan's dinner party (which we never actually see). Jean Harlow is at her wisecracking best and her most stunning; Marie Dressler and John Barrymore are terrific as washed-up actors; everyone is just excellent. Everything that can possibly go wrong does - you can't help but sympathise as Billie Burke's Mrs Jordan gradually gets more and more ruffled by the day's events. Some great one liners and yet another excellent entry on Cukor's CV.