Grand Hotel (1932)

This starts with a rather downbeat description of life in the Grand Hotel where “…nothing ever happens”. Well maybe it is supposed to look like that, like the swan gliding effortlessly whilst it’s legs paddle like hell, but in reality it is a potpourri of the actually wealthy, the pretend wealthy, the aspirational, the petulant and one thoroughly decent old gent called “Kringelein”. He (Lionel Barrymore) has been given a terminal diagnosis by his doctor and so has decided to push the boat out and spend his remaining time, and money, enjoying caviar and champagne amongst those whom he hopes are a better class of individual. What he gets, though, is his erstwhile employer “Preysing” (Wallace Beery) who is up to no good with his investors; the charming “Baron” (John Barrymore) who hasn’t two pfennigs to rub together so has designs initially just on the pearls of dancer “Grusinskaya” (Greya Garbo) before falling hook line and sinker. Also, on the loved up front, is under appreciated secretary “Flaemmchen” (the charming Joan Crawford) who has taken a bit of a shine to the otherwise occupied “Baron” and then, just to top off this glittering array of profligacy and betrayal, we have the permanently sozzled “Dr. Otterschneig” (Lewis Stone). With the maître d’ expecting a baby; the cleaning staff unsure which rooms to clean or to avoid and card games proving make or break, it’s a maelstrom of activity and emotions that makes you realise exactly why Miss Garbo just wants to be alone! Director Edmund Goulding juggles the plates well here as his stars gel convincingly for almost two hours of gently simmering melodrama. In the end, will anyone get any fulfilment from their stay in this opulent Berlin facility? Aside from the engaging rapport between the two Barrymore brothers, Garbo hams up marvellously and as Stone stands beside that revolving door at the end, I wondered if it could all be about to happen again, only with different players. Which half dozen could equal these, though? Classy and stylish throughout, it’s a cleverly interwoven story that exposes humanity none too favourably sometimes, and is well worth two hours.