Search - Grand Hotel [Fullscreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Adult Situations Movie Release: 1932 DVD Release: 02/03/2004 Format: DVD - Black and White - Closed Captioned Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 52 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Drama, Romantic Drama, Melodrama, Ensemble Film See Also: Grand Hotel [Widescreen], Grand Hotel [Repackaged]

Based on Vicki Baum's novel and produced by Irving Thalberg, this film is about the lavish Grand Hotel in Berlin, a place where "nothing ever happens." That statement proves to be false, however, as the story follows an intertwining cast of characters over the course of one tumultuous day. Greta Garbo is Grusinskaya, a ballerina whose jewels are coveted by Baron von Geigern (John Barrymore), a thief who fancies Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), a stenographer and the mistress of Preysing (Wallace Beery), businessman boss of Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), a terminally ill bookkeeper who is under the care of alcoholic physician Dr. Otternschlag (Lewis Stone). Grand Hotel won Best Picture at the 1932 Academy Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Greta Garbo - Grusinskaya
John Barrymore - Baron Felix von Geigern
Joan Crawford - Flaemmchen
Wallace Beery - General Director Preysing
Lionel Barrymore - Otto Kringelein

Edmund Goulding's Grand Hotel (1932), based on Vicki Baum's novel, arrives on DVD with a lot of supporting materials -- including one key bonus feature that couldn't have been included if Warner Home Video hadn't taken over control of the MGM libeary -- and looking better than it did on laserdisc. The first modern all-star drama to weave together multiple characters and interlocking stories, it has a visual luster that's undiminished after 70-plus years. From the opening credits -- unique to the movie, and a reminder of who and what stars were in those days -- this movie is a most engrossing history lesson as well as killer entertainment; every detail, including the art-deco set designs, and the fluid camera work and the swift editing, is a feast for the eye, cinematic and otherwise-- at 13-and-a-half-minutes in, there's a shot of the circular terraces that's not to be missed, and it's just one momentary detail in a sequence in which John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore share one of many very touching scenes together (and that first one with lots of overtones referring to real life); and John Barrymore has some very suggestive dialogue with Joan Crawford (as a "stenographer") in the same sequence. And all of that is before we've even seen Greta Garbo, as the disillusioned ballet dancer. The movie doesn't look quite uniform -- some sequences, such as the scenes between Barrymore and Garbo leading up to the first hour, have the texture and delicacy of silver sprayed on black velvet; others glow a bit less brightly and look a little less sharp. In two or three places, there are missing or damaged frames that couldn't be corrected entirely through electronic means, most notably at just over 18 minutes in, and at 93 minutes and 30 seconds, when Wallace Beery's character attacks the Baron, but even those sections play smoothly. That the disc was treated with care is obvious from the 32 chapters programmed into the 113 minute movie. There is also an impressive array of special features, leading off with Checking Out: Grand Hotel, a documentary about the history of the film and the contribution of Irving Thalberg, who came up with the notion of filling every major role with stars from the MGM roster -- the late Maureen O'Sullivan and executive Joseph J. Cohn are among the studio veterans who are seen recalling people and the production. At least three of the lead actors initially balked at doing the movie for various reasons -- Wallace Beery took the part when he was told he would be the only one of the stars using a German accent, and the actor in him couldn't resist. Edmund Goulding's and Cedric Gibbons' contributions are also acknowledged as director and production designer, respectively. Shots of the premiere are well represented in this vest-pocket appreciation of the movie. Also present is a period newsreel/promotional film about the opening of the film (which includes the uncut premiere footage seen in Checking Out: Grand Hotel). Additionally, there's a teaser for the movie that includes no footage from it, and a delightful Warner Bros.-produced 1933 Vitaphone short called "Nothing Ever Happens" that parodies Grand Hotel and its stars -- Charles Judels is almost as charming as anyone in the actual movie, satirizing Lionel Barrymore's role in this 19 minute short, which is done operetta style and is worth the price of the DVD by itself. Trailers for Grand Hotel and the rather cheesier 1945 remake Weekend At The Waldorf, starring Ginger Rogers, Lana Turner, and Van Johnson, round out the extras in this rather full DVD. (One only hopes that Warner Home Video remembers that they also own Hotel Berlin (1945), based on a follow-up novel by Baum that has virtues of its own, having to do with events in Germany after 1932). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide