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As part of my ongoing foray into former Best Picture winners, I sat down with Dan for a viewing of the classic Grand Hotel.  The movie, with its all-star cast, won Best Picture in 1932.

It was a new strategy, in the early 30's, to put all of your cinematic talent in one basket.  The strategy paid off well in terms of the movie's success in the 30's and to a large extent, it continues to pay off for today's viewer.

The plot revolves around a group of individuals who are staying at Berlin's "Grand Hotel."  The group includes John Barrymore as a fortune-deprived Baron, Greta Garbo as a Russian ballerina who can barely bring herself to dance anymore, Joan Crawford as a "do anything for money and damn the consequences" stenographer and the delightful Lionel Barrymore as a man living his last few days to the fullest.  Also in the cast are Wallace Beery as a German industrialist and Lewis Stone as a war veteran doctor who (presaging Waiting for Godot, perhaps) utters the movie's epigram:  "People come.  People go.  Nothing ever happens."

Actually, quite a bit happens in the film.  There are romances, comic bits, a birth, a death.  I found myself, as the film went on, interpreting the Grand Hotel as an extended metaphor for life.  Some, like Lionel Barrymore's character, are aware that life is fleeting.  Some are overcome with ennui. Some serve.  Some demand service.  All are "in this together," often in ways they don't suspect.

Two aspects of the story which I found particularly engaging were the "pre-code" morality which showed Crawford's character as quite willing to take money in exchange for "being nice" to Beery's industrialist.  Pre-code films are really a treat for their realistic reflection of the times rather than one that's been "morally" spruced up for general consumption.

In a way, the pre-code nature of the film allowed the second aspect I most enjoyed to flourish: a lively (if unspoken) debate over which characters are "moral" and which are not.  The "thief" turns out to be more moral than the industrialist.  The cheap girl has more to her than the famous ballerina.  The drunk loser surprises himself and everyone else by insisting on life on his terms.


The film's worth watching in almost every respect.  While I found Garbo somewhat tedious, the rest of the cast turns in strong performances.  Overall, a film well worth the time you'll invest, for its own merits as well as for a peek at the film that began the All-Star trend.



 


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