A hotel is merely a transit station. People come, people go. Guests partake in dinner, dancing and gambling; occasionally, something more dramatic unfolds – a man and woman fall in love, a heart is broken, a person is murdered. Then the guests leave, and new customers take their place, oblivious to the events that unfolded just the previous day. The slate is wiped clean; the hotel has a short memory. As Dr Otternschlag (Lewis Stone) knowingly muses, "Grand Hotel
always the same. People come, people go. Nothing ever happens." Edmund Goulding's Oscar-winning 'Grand Hotel (1932)' is a mere snapshot of several days in the life of Berlin's finest rest-stop, in which lives are changed forever, and yet the guests' full stories can never be known. An astonishing cast – Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Jean Hersholt – introduced a new style of storytelling, with ensemble casts of unrelated characters whose lives inexplicably interweave. A slew of imitations followed in the early 1930s, and author Graham Greene was inspired to write his first successful novel, "Stamboul Train."
In 1932, the United States was still in the midst of the Great Depression, but Hollywood was optimistic. Producers knew that audiences flocked to cinemas precisely to escape their own worrisome lives, to temporarily imagine themselves beside their favourite movie stars in glittering surroundings. Films like 'Grand Hotel (1932)' and 'Top Hat (1935)' delivered on this promise, with extravagant hotel rooms and wealthy businessmen flaunting their wealth. The dreams of the working-class are depicted through Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), an unremarkable clerk whose impending death prompts him to splurge his savings and enjoy his final weeks. The cycle of life is used allegorically to symbolise the circular narrative of life at a hotel. While hotel porter Senf (Jean Hersholt) awaits news of his child's birth, a guest awaits his own death. By the film's end, one man is dead, and a baby is born. Other characters are abandoned before their stories have reached a satisfactory conclusion, mimicking the continuous nature of life itself.
The film's cast is occasionally hampered by an acting style left over from the silent era, but is otherwise excellent. John Barrymore is suave and charming as a good-hearted pearl thief, and brother Lionel is even better, offering a poignant portrait of a dying man who finally understands what living life is all about. Joan Crawford and Wallace Beery provide able support, but aren't quite as memorable as their co-stars. 'Grand Hotel' was my first film to feature actress Greta Garbo, and for a few minutes I was left wondering exactly why she is held in such high regard. Where was the subtlety in her performance? Then she smiled, and it was like the sun had risen on a new day. Perhaps Garbo hadn't yet moved on from the silent era, communicating her emotions with thick brush-strokes, but when your face can so dazzlingly light up the movie screen, there's no hurry. A modern remake of 'Grand Hotel' would be difficult. The film's impact rests largely on the glamour and reputations of its main stars, and I think it's safe to say that today's Hollywood doesn't create "stars" like it did in the 1930s.
In 1932, the United States was still in the midst of the Great Depression, but Hollywood was optimistic. Producers knew that audiences flocked to cinemas precisely to escape their own worrisome lives, to temporarily imagine themselves beside their favourite movie stars in glittering surroundings. Films like 'Grand Hotel (1932)' and 'Top Hat (1935)' delivered on this promise, with extravagant hotel rooms and wealthy businessmen flaunting their wealth. The dreams of the working-class are depicted through Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), an unremarkable clerk whose impending death prompts him to splurge his savings and enjoy his final weeks. The cycle of life is used allegorically to symbolise the circular narrative of life at a hotel. While hotel porter Senf (Jean Hersholt) awaits news of his child's birth, a guest awaits his own death. By the film's end, one man is dead, and a baby is born. Other characters are abandoned before their stories have reached a satisfactory conclusion, mimicking the continuous nature of life itself.
The film's cast is occasionally hampered by an acting style left over from the silent era, but is otherwise excellent. John Barrymore is suave and charming as a good-hearted pearl thief, and brother Lionel is even better, offering a poignant portrait of a dying man who finally understands what living life is all about. Joan Crawford and Wallace Beery provide able support, but aren't quite as memorable as their co-stars. 'Grand Hotel' was my first film to feature actress Greta Garbo, and for a few minutes I was left wondering exactly why she is held in such high regard. Where was the subtlety in her performance? Then she smiled, and it was like the sun had risen on a new day. Perhaps Garbo hadn't yet moved on from the silent era, communicating her emotions with thick brush-strokes, but when your face can so dazzlingly light up the movie screen, there's no hurry. A modern remake of 'Grand Hotel' would be difficult. The film's impact rests largely on the glamour and reputations of its main stars, and I think it's safe to say that today's Hollywood doesn't create "stars" like it did in the 1930s.