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| Just look at those names!!! |
It's most famous now for being the film in which Garbo delivers her most famous line - "I want to be alone!". It's also probably the first film that can call itself "star-studded". The first time a big Hollywood movie had an A-list ensemble cast. There are five big names in this film - along with two more slightly smaller ones. This was unheard of in those days and was considered to be a ridiculous financial risk at the time. Except by MGM who had the last laugh - all the way to the bank. It's also considered to be the first film to be parodied - in comic strips, animations, comedy routines and other movies for years to come. High praise indeed!
By all accounts the cast didn't quite see eye to eye (although everyone loved John Barrymore - but you would, wouldn't you?!). There's probably another film to be made right there....
The Ceremony:
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| The first of many Disney Oscars |
The Ceremony took place on November 18th 1932 at the Ambassador Hotel.
The number of categories increased again, with this being the first year to give awards for Short Films - including one for Animation (which went to Disney - the first of many). Walt Disney was also given the first Honorary Award, for the creation of Mickey Mouse.
Disney produced a Mickey Mouse short to be played at the ceremony, called Parade of the Award Nominees. Here it is:
Other Notable Winners That Night:
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| I think Wallace Beery must have popped out for a minute! Possibly to try and do a deal with Manchester..... |
Best Actress went to Helen Hayes, who went on to have a long life and a varied and successful career - and who managed the rare achievement of completing an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony)
Best Director was much nominated Frank Borzage for Bad Girl - a typically pre-code crime drama which also won a screenplay award.
What We Could/Should Have Been Watching:
This was the first year that the Best Picture nomination list expanded - this time to eight. I won't list them all here but among the list are a few films that are considered classics now - Shanghai Express, Five Star Final (which sounds great - I'd love to watch that one!), The Champ (I remember the slushy remake in the late 70s!) along with a couple of Chevalier musicals.
Grand Hotel remains to this day the only Best Picture winner to have received just one nomination. Several other films that night took home multiple awards, but the general consensus was and still is that the right film won - and I'm certainly not going to disagree!
Our Verdict:
On one hand I really regret the fact that I allowed myself - a lifelong Hollywood fan - to get to the ripe old age of forty-five before finally watching this film. On the other hand, it was great to watch it for the first time with Andy as part of this challenge. We both really loved it. I think I like it even more one day later than I did at the time. I want to watch it again soon. It's probably now going to appear on lots of my "best of" lists. It is brilliant!!! (That's enough general gushing.....lets get on to some specifics...)
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| A double dose of Barrymore - utterly brilliant! |
Our five main characters are all staying at the hotel for a variety of reasons, with a variety of vices and secrets that intertwine and get revealed as the story progresses. Our two secondary characters are more permanent fixtures at the hotel who, in different ways, provide a more detached philosophical perspective on events.
Saying too much more would give too much away. I am so glad that I didn't know how it was going to end - who gets away with what, who ends up with who etc - because it helped to make the whole thing all the more satisfying.
The script is great - but it's the acting that absolutely nails it. My favourite among them is definitely John Barrymore. I had a great big grin on my face whenever he was on screen. Just wonderful. And his brother Lionel is with him, pre-wheelchair, playing an increasingly delightful character. Double Barrymore - that would have been enough for me!
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| John and Joan being fab in one of my favourite scenes. |
Add Joan Crawford into the mix (early and non-scary Joan Crawford) and it gets even better. She's brilliant. Apparently, by the time the film was finished, everyone was worried that she was going to outshine Garbo and so they called Garbo back in to add some more scenes. I'm not sure if that made any difference - but Joan absolutely shines in the far less showy role. She plays really well against all three male leads (she doesn't have any scenes with Garbo) and particularly in her quick and witty dialogues with John Barrymore.
Wallace Beery is great - the only one who gets to ham up a German accent (pretty effectively!). He's playing a part that is very different to the one he won the Oscar for that year. And he gives the impression that he's really enjoying it.
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| You heard her - go away! |
And then there's Greta. She insisted that her name came first in the billing list. Fair enough. She definitely stands out as more of a film star and less of an actor than the others (in her scenes with John B it's very clear who learnt their craft through silent movies and who started with Shakespeare...). However, the part she plays needs all the over-acting and emoting and she does it so well. I'm not sure that she intended her role to be as comedic as it was, but it worked.
With such a well put together and well acted story going on, it's easy to forget just how early this is in the great Hollywood scheme of things. This is only 4-5 years after the first full length talkies and at the very beginning of the new era of talking Hollywood movie stars.
There are some really clever technical things going on. Great use of background music - some of it ambient (ie part of the physical scene) and some of it an early example of musical score. It's the first non-silent film we've watched yet that does this. There are some great fades and cutaways between scenes that work well. A few cuts and edits within scenes are a bit clunky and they haven't quite worked out how to do continuity effectively in talkies - the quick cutting head shots when GG and JB are deep in conversation are distractingly dodgy in parts!
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| Finally I know who Jean Hersholt was - so much more than just an Oscar! |
One nice unexpected extra with Grand Hotel is that I finally got to find out who Jean Hersholt was (he of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award). Turns out he was a great man who did many humanitarian things himself, received the highest Danish honour and was single-handedly responsible for translating most of Hans Christian Andersen's work into English. And he was brilliant in this film as the Head Porter waiting for news on the birth of his child! I shall raise a glass to him when we are in Copenhagen next month!
As if the whole experience of watching this utter delight of a film wasn't enough in itself, I found this footage to put the cherry on the cake - about ten minutes of A List arrivals "signing in at the front desk" for the Hollywood Premiere. Wonderful stuff!
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