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Grand Hotel (film)
Encyclopedia
Grand Hotel is a 1932 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding
. The screenplay by William A. Drake
and Béla Balázs
is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Drake, who had adapted it from the 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel by Vicki Baum
. The film is the only one to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture
without it or its participants being nominated in any other category.
In 2007, Grand Hotel was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The line "I want to be alone," famously delivered by Greta Garbo
, placed #30 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.
The film was remade as Week-End at the Waldorf
in 1945. It also served as the basis for the 1989 stage musical of the same title
. The phrase "Grand Hotel theme" came to be used for any dramatic movie following the activities of various people in a large busy place, with some of the characters' lives overlapping in odd ways and some of them remaining unaware of one another's existence. Such "grand hotel" films have been set at airports, aboard ocean liners, in large department stores, etc., as well as in hotels. Neil Simon
alone used the format in both play and film versions of Plaza Suite
, California Suite
, and London Suite.
), a disfigured veteran of World War I
and a permanent resident of the Grand Hotel in Berlin
, wryly observes, "People come and go. Nothing ever happens," after which a great deal transpires. Baron Felix von Geigern (John Barrymore
), who squandered his fortune and supports himself as a card player and occasional jewel thief, befriends Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore
), a meek accountant who, having discovered he is dying, has decided to spend his remaining days in the lap of luxury. Kringelein's former employer, industrialist General Director Preysing (Wallace Beery
), is at the hotel to close an important deal, and he hires stenographer Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford
) to assist him. She aspires to be an actress and shows Preysing some magazine photos for which she posed, implying she is willing to offer him more than typing if he is willing to help advance her career.
Another guest is Russia
n ballerina
Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo
), whose career is on the wane. She is high strung and seemingly on the verge of a breakdown and utters the famous line "I want to be alone." When the Baron is in her room to steal her jewelry and she returns from the theatre, he hides in her room and overhears her as she talks to herself in despair about wanting to end it all, holding a vial of medication in her hand. He comes out of hiding and engages her in conversation, and Grusinskaya finds herself attracted to him.
The following morning, a repentant Baron returns Grusinskaya's jewels, but she is able to forgive his crime. Instead, she invites him to accompany her to Vienna
, an offer he accepts.
The Baron joins Kringelein and Flaemmchen at the hotel bar, and she cajoles the ailing man into dancing with her. Preysing interrupts them and imperiously demands she join him. Irritated by his former employer's coarse behavior, Kringelein - who is aware of Preysing's many swindles - tells him what he thinks of him. Surprised by his uncharacteristic audacity, Preysing attacks Kringelein and the two men must be separated. The Baron is desperate for money to pay his way out of the criminal group he had been working with. He and Kringelein decide to get a card game going, and Kringelein wins everything, and then becomes intoxicated. When he drops his wallet, the Baron locates and quietly stashes it in his jacket pocket, intending to keep the winnings for himself. However, after Kringelein begins to frantically search for his lost belongings, the Baron - who desperately needs the money but has become very fond of Kringelein - pretends to have suddenly discovered the wallet and returns it to him.
As part of a current desperate merger plan, Preysing must travel to London, and he asks Flaemmchen to accompany him. Later, when the two are in her room, which opens on to his, Preysing sees the shadow of the Baron rifling through his belongings. He confronts the Baron; the two struggle, and Preysing bludgeons the Baron with the telephone, killing him. Flaemmchen comes in and sees what happened and tells Kringelein, who confronts Preysing. He insists he acted in self-defense, but Kringelein summons the police and Preysing is arrested.
Grusinskaya departs for the train station, fully expecting to find the Baron waiting for her there. Meanwhile, Kringelein offers to take care of Flaemmchen, who suggests they go to Paris
and seek a cure for his illness. As they leave the hotel, Doctor Otternschlag once again observes, "Grand Hotel. People come and go. Nothing ever happens."
purchased the rights to Vicki Baum's novel Menschen im Hotel for $13,000 and then commissioned William A. Drake to adapt it for the stage.
It opened on Broadway
at the National Theatre
on November 13, 1930 and ran for 459 performances. Pleased with its success, Thalberg had Drake and Béla Balázs write the screenplay and budgeted the project at $700,000.
There was also some controversy about Greta Garbo, with her strong Swedish accent, playing a Russian.
The film was also seen as an artistic achievement in its art direction and production quality. The lobby scenes were extremely well done, portraying a three hundred and sixty degree desk. This allowed audiences to watch the hotel action from all around the characters. It changed the way sets were made from that point onward.
Garbo and Crawford do not appear together in any scene of the movie.
said the film "may not entirely please the theatregoers who were fascinated by its deft stage direction and restrained acting, but it will attract and hold the wider public to which it is now addressed." He added, "The drama unfolds with a speed that never loses its grip, even for the extreme length of nearly two hours, and there is a captivating pattern of unexpected comedy that runs through it all, always fresh and always pat."
In later years, Channel 4
said the film "was possibly the first of the portmanteau films
and has a place in cinema history as a work that interweaves stories and characters like a tapestry to emerge eventually as a complete picture . . . Goulding, a master of camp, shepherds rather than directs his famous cast through the series of adventures and misadventures." Blake Goble of The Michigan Daily called it "the original Ocean's Eleven for its star power" and compared it to Gosford Park
"for its dense structure and stories." He added, "[T]he pacing is quick, the acting is eloquent and the stories are actually interesting. It’s pure theatricality. But Hotel lasted thanks to its simplicity, and the star power doesn't hurt either. This is grand, old Hollywood captured on film."
released the first Region 1 DVD on February 3, 2004. The film is in fullscreen
format with audio tracks in English and French and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. Bonus features include Checking Out: Grand Hotel, a documentary about the making of the film; a 1932 newsreel
with highlights of the Hollywood premiere; Nothing Ever Happens, a 1933 Vitaphone
short film spoofing Grand Hotel; and theatrical trailers.
Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding was a British film writer and director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 British made Paramount silent Three Live Ghosts alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. Also in the early 20s he wrote several screenplays for star Mae Murray and...
. The screenplay by William A. Drake
William A. Drake
William A. Drake , was an American screenwriter. He wrote 7 films between 1932 and 1939. His best-known work is the 1932 film Grand Hotel, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture....
and Béla Balázs
Béla Balázs
----Béla Balázs , born Herbert Bauer, was a Hungarian-Jewish film critic, aesthete, writer and poet....
is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Drake, who had adapted it from the 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel by Vicki Baum
Vicki Baum
Hedwig Baum was an Austrian writer. She is known for Menschen im Hotel , one of her first international successes....
. The film is the only one to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
without it or its participants being nominated in any other category.
In 2007, Grand Hotel was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The line "I want to be alone," famously delivered by Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
, placed #30 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.
The film was remade as Week-End at the Waldorf
Week-End at the Waldorf
Week-End at the Waldorf is a 1945 American comedy drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The screenplay by Samuel and Bella Spewack is based on Guy Bolton's adaptation of the Vicki Baum novel Menschen im Hotel, which was filmed as Grand Hotel in 1932.-Plot:The film focuses on various guests...
in 1945. It also served as the basis for the 1989 stage musical of the same title
Grand Hotel (musical)
Grand Hotel is a musical with a book by Luther Davis and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional lyrics and music by Maury Yeston....
. The phrase "Grand Hotel theme" came to be used for any dramatic movie following the activities of various people in a large busy place, with some of the characters' lives overlapping in odd ways and some of them remaining unaware of one another's existence. Such "grand hotel" films have been set at airports, aboard ocean liners, in large department stores, etc., as well as in hotels. Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
alone used the format in both play and film versions of Plaza Suite
Plaza Suite
Plaza Suite is a comedy play by Neil Simon.-Plot:The play is composed of three acts, each involving different characters but all set in Suite 719 of New York City's Plaza Hotel...
, California Suite
California Suite
California Suite is a 1976 play by Neil Simon. Similar in structure to his earlier Plaza Suite, the comedy is composed of four playlets set in Suite 203-04, which consists of a living room and an adjoining bedroom with an ensuite bath, in The Beverly Hills Hotel.-Plot:In Visitor from New York,...
, and London Suite.
Plot
Doctor Otternschlag (Lewis StoneLewis Stone
Lewis Shepard Stone was an American actor.Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, son of Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball. Stone's hair grew gray by the time he was twenty. He fought in the Spanish-American War, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting...
), a disfigured veteran of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and a permanent resident of the Grand Hotel in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, wryly observes, "People come and go. Nothing ever happens," after which a great deal transpires. Baron Felix von Geigern (John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
), who squandered his fortune and supports himself as a card player and occasional jewel thief, befriends Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
), a meek accountant who, having discovered he is dying, has decided to spend his remaining days in the lap of luxury. Kringelein's former employer, industrialist General Director Preysing (Wallace Beery
Wallace Beery
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
), is at the hotel to close an important deal, and he hires stenographer Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
) to assist him. She aspires to be an actress and shows Preysing some magazine photos for which she posed, implying she is willing to offer him more than typing if he is willing to help advance her career.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n ballerina
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
Grusinskaya (Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
), whose career is on the wane. She is high strung and seemingly on the verge of a breakdown and utters the famous line "I want to be alone." When the Baron is in her room to steal her jewelry and she returns from the theatre, he hides in her room and overhears her as she talks to herself in despair about wanting to end it all, holding a vial of medication in her hand. He comes out of hiding and engages her in conversation, and Grusinskaya finds herself attracted to him.
The following morning, a repentant Baron returns Grusinskaya's jewels, but she is able to forgive his crime. Instead, she invites him to accompany her to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, an offer he accepts.
The Baron joins Kringelein and Flaemmchen at the hotel bar, and she cajoles the ailing man into dancing with her. Preysing interrupts them and imperiously demands she join him. Irritated by his former employer's coarse behavior, Kringelein - who is aware of Preysing's many swindles - tells him what he thinks of him. Surprised by his uncharacteristic audacity, Preysing attacks Kringelein and the two men must be separated. The Baron is desperate for money to pay his way out of the criminal group he had been working with. He and Kringelein decide to get a card game going, and Kringelein wins everything, and then becomes intoxicated. When he drops his wallet, the Baron locates and quietly stashes it in his jacket pocket, intending to keep the winnings for himself. However, after Kringelein begins to frantically search for his lost belongings, the Baron - who desperately needs the money but has become very fond of Kringelein - pretends to have suddenly discovered the wallet and returns it to him.
As part of a current desperate merger plan, Preysing must travel to London, and he asks Flaemmchen to accompany him. Later, when the two are in her room, which opens on to his, Preysing sees the shadow of the Baron rifling through his belongings. He confronts the Baron; the two struggle, and Preysing bludgeons the Baron with the telephone, killing him. Flaemmchen comes in and sees what happened and tells Kringelein, who confronts Preysing. He insists he acted in self-defense, but Kringelein summons the police and Preysing is arrested.
Grusinskaya departs for the train station, fully expecting to find the Baron waiting for her there. Meanwhile, Kringelein offers to take care of Flaemmchen, who suggests they go to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and seek a cure for his illness. As they leave the hotel, Doctor Otternschlag once again observes, "Grand Hotel. People come and go. Nothing ever happens."
Cast
In credits order:- Greta GarboGreta GarboGreta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
as Grusinskaya - The Dancer - John BarrymoreJohn BarrymoreJohn Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
as The Baron Felix von Gaigern - Joan CrawfordJoan CrawfordJoan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
as Flaemmchen - The Stenographer - Wallace BeeryWallace BeeryWallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
as General Director Preysing - Lionel BarrymoreLionel BarrymoreLionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
as Otto Kringelein - Lewis StoneLewis StoneLewis Shepard Stone was an American actor.Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, son of Bertrand Stone and Philena Heald Ball. Stone's hair grew gray by the time he was twenty. He fought in the Spanish-American War, then returned to a career as a writer. He soon began acting...
as Dr Otternschlag - Jean HersholtJean HersholtJean Pierre Hersholt was a Danish-born actor who lived in the United States, where he was a leading film and radio talent, best known for his 17 years starring on radio in Dr. Christian and for playing Shirley Temple's grandfather in Heidi...
as Senf - The Porter - Robert McWadeRobert McWadeRobert McWade , was an American stage and film actor. From 1903-1927, he appeared in at least 38 Broadway productions, his last being The Devil In The Cheese, with Bela Lugosi and Fredric March...
as Meierheim - Purnell PrattPurnell PrattPurnell Pratt was an American film actor. He appeared in 114 films between 1914 and 1941.He was born in Bethel, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:* On with the Show...
as Zinnowitz - Ferdinand GottschalkFerdinand GottschalkFerdinand Gottschalk was an English film actor. He appeared in 76 films between 1917 and 1938. He was born and died in London, England....
as Pimenov - Rafaela OttianoRafaela OttianoRafaela Ottiano was an Italian-born American stage and film actress.-Early life:Born in Venice, Italy, she emigrated with her parents to the United States, and was processed at Ellis Island in 1910.-Career:...
as Suzette - Morgan WallaceMorgan WallaceMorgan Wallace , was an American actor. He appeared in 28 films between 1914 and 1946, including It's a Gift and My Little Chickadee starring W.C. Fields and Mae West....
as Chauffeur - Tully MarshallTully MarshallWilliam Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...
as Gerstenkorn - Frank Conroy (actor)Frank Conroy (actor)Frank Parish Conroy was a British film and stage actor who appeared in many movies, notably The Little Minister, The Ox-Bow Incident, All My Sons, The Threat, The Royal Family of Broadway, The Young Philadelphians and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
as Rohna - Murray KinnellMurray KinnellMurray Kinnell was an English actor. He appeared in 71 films between 1930 and 1937. He was best known as the two-timing petty-larceny hood Putty Nose in The Public Enemy...
as Schweimann - Edwin MaxwellEdwin MaxwellEdwin Maxwell was an Irish character actor in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 1940s, frequently cast as shady businessmen and shysters, though often ones with a dignified bearing....
as Dr Waitz
Production
Producer Irving ThalbergIrving Thalberg
Irving Grant Thalberg was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and his extraordinary ability to select the right scripts, choose the right actors, gather the best production staff and make very profitable films.-Life and...
purchased the rights to Vicki Baum's novel Menschen im Hotel for $13,000 and then commissioned William A. Drake to adapt it for the stage.
It opened on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the National Theatre
Nederlander Theatre
David T. Nederlander Theatre is a 1,232-seat Broadway theatre located at 208 West 41st Street, in New York City . One of the Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres, the legacy of the theatre began with David Tobias Nederlander, for whom the theatre is named.Built by Walter C...
on November 13, 1930 and ran for 459 performances. Pleased with its success, Thalberg had Drake and Béla Balázs write the screenplay and budgeted the project at $700,000.
There was also some controversy about Greta Garbo, with her strong Swedish accent, playing a Russian.
The film was also seen as an artistic achievement in its art direction and production quality. The lobby scenes were extremely well done, portraying a three hundred and sixty degree desk. This allowed audiences to watch the hotel action from all around the characters. It changed the way sets were made from that point onward.
Garbo and Crawford do not appear together in any scene of the movie.
Critical reception
Alfred Rushford Greason of VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said the film "may not entirely please the theatregoers who were fascinated by its deft stage direction and restrained acting, but it will attract and hold the wider public to which it is now addressed." He added, "The drama unfolds with a speed that never loses its grip, even for the extreme length of nearly two hours, and there is a captivating pattern of unexpected comedy that runs through it all, always fresh and always pat."
In later years, Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
said the film "was possibly the first of the portmanteau films
Anthology film
An anthology film is a feature film consisting of several different short films, often tied together by only a single theme, premise, or brief interlocking event . Sometimes each one is directed by a different director...
and has a place in cinema history as a work that interweaves stories and characters like a tapestry to emerge eventually as a complete picture . . . Goulding, a master of camp, shepherds rather than directs his famous cast through the series of adventures and misadventures." Blake Goble of The Michigan Daily called it "the original Ocean's Eleven for its star power" and compared it to Gosford Park
Gosford Park
Gosford Park is a 2001 British-American mystery comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The film stars an ensemble cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, and Michael Gambon...
"for its dense structure and stories." He added, "[T]he pacing is quick, the acting is eloquent and the stories are actually interesting. It’s pure theatricality. But Hotel lasted thanks to its simplicity, and the star power doesn't hurt either. This is grand, old Hollywood captured on film."
DVD release
Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
released the first Region 1 DVD on February 3, 2004. The film is in fullscreen
Pan and scan
Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
format with audio tracks in English and French and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish. Bonus features include Checking Out: Grand Hotel, a documentary about the making of the film; a 1932 newsreel
Newsreel
A newsreel was a form of short documentary film prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, regularly released in a public presentation place and containing filmed news stories and items of topical interest. It was a source of news, current affairs and entertainment for millions of moviegoers...
with highlights of the Hollywood premiere; Nothing Ever Happens, a 1933 Vitaphone
Vitaphone
Vitaphone was a sound film process used on feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1930. Vitaphone was the last, but most successful, of the sound-on-disc processes...
short film spoofing Grand Hotel; and theatrical trailers.