Grand Hotel

Grand Hotel

Director: Edmund Goulding

Written By: William A. Drake

Photography: William H. Daniels

Starring:  Edmund Goulding  and Joan Crawford

Year: 1931

Country: USA

 Something I've not reviewed on here yet is classic gem from the golden age of Hollywood. So to make up for this cinecrime I've committed, I'm reviewing MGM's best picture winner, Grand Hotel, directed by Edmund Goulding.


 The film is based on the stage play by the same name. And the play itself was inspired by the novel Menschen im Hotel by German writer, Vicki Baum.


 Grand Hotel stars two of Hollywood's biggest female stars; Greta Garbo, the meek Swedish actor that, in the words of the Kinks, turned her back on stardom, because she vanted to be alone. It also stars Joan Crawford and her impeccable eyebrows.


 Garbo gives one of her best performances in Grand Hotel and it's down in movie history as her movie. But for me, Joan Crawford is one of the best female actors of her time and she steals the show.


 The Grand Hotel is a prestigious institution in the centre of Berlin. Where, as one sharp guest dryly states "People come and go. Nothing ever happens"


 The film uses an intertwining narrative. It follows several stories of guest in the hotel and throughout these stories will cross.   


 As good as it is, you would be wrong to believe that Grand Hotel is anything more than a movie made to make money. The studios knew just as much then as they do today that stars bring in an audience, so it was filled with the five of the biggest names in 1931. Think of Grand Hotel as a 1930s equivalent of New Year's Eve    


The screenplay was adapted for the screen by its playwright, William A. Drake. The screenplay for Grand Hotel is fantastic, the dialogue is engaging and authentic. The line 'I want to be alone' delivered by Gerta Garbo came in at number thirty on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movie quotes. 


Score: 3.5/5