Grand Hotel (1932)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

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

Release Date:

15 July 1932 (France)

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:

Typewriter | Phone Booth | Pocketbook | Switch Board | Fraud

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Greta Garbo	...	Grusinskaya
John Barrymore	...	Baron Felix von Geigern
Joan Crawford	...	Flaemmchen
Wallace Beery	...	Preysing
Lionel Barrymore	...	Otto Kringelein
Lewis Stone	...	Dr. Otternschlag
Jean Hersholt	...	Senf
Robert McWade	...	Meierheim
Purnell Pratt	...	Zinnowitz
Ferdinand Gottschalk	...	Pimenov
Rafaela Ottiano	...	Suzette
Morgan Wallace	...	Chauffeur
Tully Marshall	...	Gerstenkorn
Frank Conroy	...	Rohna
Murray Kinnell	...	Schweimann

Runtime:

112 min

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 | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Adapted from a Broadway play "Grand Hotel" by William A. Drake, as translated from the German play "Menschen im Hotel" by Vicki Baum. The original Broadway production opened Nov. 13, 1930 at the National Theatre in New York and ran for 459 performances. Albert Dekker was in the original cast as Baron von Gaigern, the part played by John Barrymore in the film.

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: Who are you?
Baron Felix von Geigern: Someone who could love you, that's all. Someone who's forgotten everything else but you.
Grusinskaya: You could love me?
Baron Felix von Geigern: I've never seen anything in my life as beautiful as you are.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Garbo (2005)

Soundtrack:

Soldier on the Shelf

Lavish Early-Era Oscar-Winning Soap Opera

A drunk doctor, an eccentric dancer, a high-class thief, a businessman, his mistress and a terminally-ill bookkeeper cross paths in "Grand Hotel", the Best Picture Oscar winner from 1932. One of the first true soap operas ever produced by Hollywood follows an array of colorful characters as they all stay at a luxury hotel in 1930s Germany. Sub-stories, amazing performances and a clever screenplay keep this very large film above water. The film is also a strange footnote in Oscar history as it was only nominated for Best Picture and won that honor. Edmund Goulding became only the second of three people to direct a Best Picture winner and not be nominated himself (William A. Wellman for "Wings" in 1928 and Bruce Beresford for "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1989 are the only other two). The all-star cast acts as an ensemble with John and Lionel Barrymore making the biggest impressions on the audience. 4.5 out of 5 stars.