Grand Hotel
Monday, December 21st, 2009Released – April, 1932 
Directed By – Edmund Goulding
Starring – Greta Garbo (Grusinskaya-the Dancer), John Barrymore (Baron Felix von Gaigern), Joan Crawford (Flaemmchen-the Stenographer), Wallace Beery (General Director Preysing), Lionel Barrymore (Otto Kringelein), Lewis Stone (Doctor Otternschlag), Jean Hersholt (Senf-the Porter).
Description – After the end of World War I, life at the plush Grand Hotel in Berlin has returned to normal for its oppulent residents and guests. Resident Doctor Otternschlag observation that “People come and go. Nothing ever happens” couldn’t be further from the truth.
Lonely ballerina Grusinskaya is being set up by her lover Baron von Gaigern to steal her jewels, but will he really steal her heart? And is this the only heart he steals?
Powerful German businessman Preysing is at the hotel to close a big deal. His continual mistreatment of terminally ill accountant Kringelein may turn out to be quite regrettable.
Preysing hires ambitious stenographer Flaemmchen to work for him. Flaemmchen, an aspiring actress, hopes to use Preysing to help start her acting career and makes it clear that she is willing to do more than be a stenographer if it will help.
There is truly more than meets the eye going on at the Grand Hotel.
NOTABLE: This motion picture won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
In 2007 Grand Hotel was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Greta Garbo’s famous line “I want to be alone” was delivered in this film.
If you notice, there are no scenes in the film shared by Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford. This was intentional as it was feared that each would only try to upstage the other. In fact, when passing on the set Crawford would say hello only to be ignored by Garbo.
John Barrymore also had concerns about working with the temperamental Garbo, but the two actually got along well together.
At the time production studios, including MGM, were hesitant to put more than two of their top stars in a film together. Their thinking was this would help to keep costs down and maximize profits. In Grand Hotel the top five stars were paired resulting in one of the highest grossing pictures in studio history.
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