Grand Hotel (1932)
Grand Hotel (1932)
Directed by Edmund Goulding
There was something magical about the movies of the early 1930’s, when films told big stories, and required even bigger stars to tell them. Classics like THE CHAMP, CAPTAIN BLOOD, MY MAN GODFREY, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, THE THIN MAN, and many others did their part to put Hollywood on the map during these early years, yet no film was quite as elaborate, quite as magnificent as 1932’s GRAND HOTEL.
The setting is Berlin’s finest lodgings; an establishment aptly named Grand Hotel. Baron von Geigern (John Barrymore) has both the title and bearing of an aristocrat, yet is, in reality, a notorious jewel thief. He’s checked into the hotel in order to steal a pearl necklace that belongs to the world-famous ballerina, Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo), who’s staying in an adjoining room. Ultimately, the Baron fails to obtain the necklace, but succeeds in stealing the temperamental dancer’s heart. Mr. Preysing (Wallace Beery), an important executive with a nasty disposition, hires Ms. Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), a secretary, to accompany him to the hotel so that he may catch up on his correspondences. While there, Preysing runs into Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), a sad, sickly man who works in the accounting department of Preysing’s firm. Kringelein is terminally ill, and has spent his entire life savings for a room at the hotel, all in the hopes of experiencing the glamorous life just once before reaching the end of the line.
GRAND HOTEL was the first bone-fide ’star-studded extravaganza’ ever produced in Hollywood, and its stars certainly did their part to make it a memorable one. Wallace Beery bellows and huffs as the egotistical Mr. Preysing, a man who’s used to getting his own way, and whose arrogant demeanor ultimately leads to a tragic turn of events. Joan Crawford is sexy in the role of Ms. Flaemmchen, perhaps a bit sexier than I would have thought possible for a film made in 1932. Her Ms. Flaemmchen is alluring enough to capture any man’s heart, and she darn near captures all of them. John Barrymore and Greta Garbo generate a great deal of passion as star-crossed lovers who throw caution to the wind, undertaking an intense love affair despite the fact they had only just met. Then there’s Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Kringelein, the everyman who longs to live like a king. Like us, Kringelein is an outsider to this world of opulence, which essentially makes him our guide throughout the film. In a lively barroom scene, Kringelein lives out the dream of every employee when he stands up to his boss, Mr. Preysing, and tells the villainous executive exactly what he thinks of him. Lionel Barrymore, who became well-known years later for his role as the villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra’s IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, is GRAND HOTEL’s lone heroic figure, a man who maintains his moral bearing to the very end.
If you’re looking for one film to exemplify everything that made the movies of the 1930’s great, then I would recommend a short stay at GRAND HOTEL. Chock full of romance, drama, humor and tragedy, GRAND HOTEL is quite grand, indeed.
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