| Grand Hotel (Snap case) | 
| Actors: John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Frank Conroy, Joan Crawford
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $3.35
You Save: $16.63 (83%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (52 reviews)
Sales Rank: 26272
Format: Closed-captioned, Black & White, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 112 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.6 x 0.5
MPN: WARD65084D
ISBN: 0790744678
UPC: 012569508422
EAN: 9780790744674
ASIN: B00011D1RC
Release Date: February 3, 2004
Theatrical Release Date: 1933
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
In this great screen drama, the glitz and glitter of Berlin's opulent Grand Hotel comes alive with its star-studded guests and employees: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore. Year: 1932DVD Features:
Documentary:New making-of documentary Checking Out: Grand Hotel
Featurette:Vitaphone musical short Nothing Ever Happens
Newsreel:Premiere newsreel
Other:Just a Word of Warning theatre announcement
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer:Trailers of this and the 1945 remake Weekend at the Waldorf
Amazon.com essential video
This Academy Award winner for Best Picture is a sweeping soap opera about the guests at the Grand Hotel. Several plots intertwine, but mostly it's about Stars! Stars! Stars! Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, and both Barrymore brothers head up the cast. Garbo is luminous as Grusinskaya, the neurotic and famous-but-slipping dancer and, yes, she "vonts to be alone." John Barrymore is a cat burglar with blue blood and a heart of gold, and Lionel Barrymore happily caroms off him as Mr. Kringelein, a dying man who wants to live out the time he has left with the rich. Joan Crawford is perhaps the biggest surprise of the movie: as Flaemmchen, a young career girl trying to decide between secretary and tart, she is uncharacteristically funny, vivacious, and downright bubbly. Along the way we discover that money, fame, and titles don't guarantee happiness, and being a jewel thief doesn't necessarily make you a bad person. The nicest touch is the hint that other, minor plots swirl around the edges of the film, suggesting that we've only seen a small chapter of the hotel's story. Grand Hotel is a great deal of fun and an excellent chance to see some famous faces in their prime. --Ali Davis
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| Customer Reviews: Read 47 more reviews...
 Saw it once, had to see it again December 17, 2008
After watching this show once on TV, I just had to watch it again. The variety of personalities and their effect on one another is great. The way our actions cause reactions in others is timeless, and this is a perfect example of that.
 Grand Hotel: Superb Example of MGM's Triumph of Style November 28, 2008
If you wish to learn more about the operations of the four major studios from the 1920s through the 1950s, I suggest you buy Thomas Schatz's excellent book, "The Genius of the System." Schatz's detailed research of the making of "Grand Hotel" clearly shows why MGM was considered Hollywood's top studio. Prior to going into production in January 1932, there were dozens of story conferences with producer Irving Thalberg, director Edmund Goulding, and several top MGM personnel. Complicated rewrites were needed before production could begin. Problems with the script remained even after dozens of rewrites. In mid January production began. There were no problems on the set due to such a professional cast under the supervision of Edmund Goulding, MGM's top director. In early March upon completion of the film, there were several previews held in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Much to the surprise of the studio and its cast, the film was not well received. Back to the rewrites, reshooting and editing. A month later, the film premiered and this time the audiences' reception was quite different. MGM proudly saw this film nominated for Best Picture--which it won months later.
Money, Money, Money October 6, 2008
Lewis Stone with his twisted and burned up face, that looks bright red when he shows his right profile, steals the show if you're looking for the freakish side to pre-Code films. They would not have allowed him to wear that makeup had the film been made a year later. It's still pretty startling and symbolizes, I suppose, Janus, the face that looks backward and forward at the same time: a suitable pendant for the mise en scene of the GRAND HOTEL, where nothing changes, everything is always the same, and yet everything happens if you look at it from a different angle.
It's sort of a mishmash of acting styles, but in general terms we are seeing the final bid of silent acting as a viable art form. Garbo in particular seems to think she is still in silents, as does Wallace Beery, and their wonderful faces are always exquisitely placed within the frame. The brothers Barrymore are in there trying to make sense of modern-day "talkie acting"--unfortunately this gives Lionel the permission he's seeking to go all over the place with those ridiculous moans, snorts and giggles. Really it's enough to make you wonder why all the characters (but Beery) think of him as such a cute "odd duck." He's about as cute as a toad. John Barrymore, on the other hand, breaks on through into the slick modernity of screen acting, calming down his larger than life gestures and sublimating them to a bigger scheme of the what the story demands. (Which is peculiar in many ways and is about as far from the present-day demands of the three act structure as you couldm imagine.) His part is the most difficult as well as the most integrated, but he has to show us that he has fallen in love with Garbo's ballerina at the same time that he is developing some sort of erotic/romantic/paternal feelings for the young stenographer Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford). All the stories revolve around him, and this is possible because of the bizarre "classlessness" of his Baron. Is the Baron a real gentleman, or are his aristocratic affectations part of the con artist's resume? This question is, exquisitely, never answered and the ambiguity is at the heart of the Weimar romance.
Of course things were changing in Berlin in the very year GRAND HOTEL was being produced. Here and there you could swear you are seeing the up and coming signs of Hitler's reign coming on: in the scene, for example, where the grown bellmen line up for their shift and turn their hands palm upwards and down for cleanliness inspection.
And yes, Joan Crawford is pretty great here--though again Lionel Barrymore's relentless hamming prevents me from actually believing Flaemmchen honestly cares for him--though even if she's just after his money, the storyline still works.
All Star MGM Extravaganza August 19, 2008
Yep, "Grand Hotel", MGMs star-studded extravaganza.
Joan Crawford, Greta Garbo, Lionel & John Barrymore, Wallace Beery and
more.
The art deco sets are incredible.
I never understood the attraction 30's audiences had with Greta "I
vant to be alone" Garbo.
She's not much of a "looker" and her acting is, at best, mediocre.
Her character, as written, is laughably pathetic. Poor widdle Greta,
she vants to be alone. Maybe she should go to the theatre where she
dances - nobody's there!
Lionel Barrymore cringing, whining character is also a bit annoying.
Wallace Beery is great, John Barrymore's hamminess works for him in
this movie, Joan Crawford is beautiful and turns in a credible
performance.
The DVD is great, lots of bonus extras and the video quality is excellent.
Crawford Takes Her Place at the Grand Hotel April 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Don't you understand? Don't you?" -- Barrymore telling Garbo he loves her.
Vicki Baum's popular novel was given the MGM treatment for the first time in "Grand Hotel." Though it does not hold up as well as its remake, "Weekend at the Waldorf," due to the lack of symmetry between a director and one of the stars, the overall impact is not muted in the least. It remains an entertaining time capsule to the early days of sound pictures, when MGM was just starting to roar.
The story of a diverse group of people crossing paths and dramas, forming bonds and loving, probably seems old hat today. But this is where it all began. With names like Greta Garbo, John and Lionel Barrymore, and Wallace Berry, it is really Joan Crawford who emerged the most memorable. Her sparkling performance showed she could not only hold her own among the more heralded prestige stars, but could actually overshadow them with her charisma.
Garbo is a lonely ballerina in need of love; love which jewel thief John Barrymore will unexpectedly and, surprisingly to him, give her, at least until his desperate need for money brings about tragedy. Lionel Barrymore shines as the dying man truly tasting life for the first time. His performance is adorable and the best here sans Crawford, whose worldly but wistful secretary in search of the good life leaves the most lasting mark.
John Barrymore hadn't yet lost his magic and is excellent here, his performance only muted in scenes with Garbo. This can be attributed in whole to the failure of Garbo and director Edmund Goulding to mesh. Garbo gave a silent film performance in a sound film and Goulding allowed her to do so. It doesn't work for the most part, and creates some stilted moments. Only in the moments when she gives in to Barrymore's love for her does her silent radiance appear, her joy afterward and sheer happiness intoxicating to the viewer.
Berry is also good as the heavy, but once again Crawford overshadows him. You simply can't take your eyes off her, her beauty and charisma luminous proof of her star power. William Daniels' photography, gowns by Adrian, and the art direction of Cedric Gibbons all come together to make "Grand Hotel" one of the spectacular events of early sound film and a must see for Crawford's fans.
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