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Grand Hotel - 1932
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Coming up next is 1932's "Grand Hotel", a film about the comings and goings of the guests in a German hotel. Fortunes can be made or broken, loves can be found and lost, and lives can hang in the balance at the Grand Hotel.
The film's cast includes Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt, and Rafaela Ottiano.
At the Grand Hotel in Berlin, permanent resident Dr. Otternschlag watches the comings and goings of the various guests. "Grand Hotel," he says. "People coming, going. Nothing ever happens."
Among these guests of which "nothing ever happens" is Baron Felix von Geigern (and his dachshund Adolphus). The baron is an impoverished aristocrat whose main supply of money comes from card games and jewel thefts. He needs money desperately to pay off a criminal gang with which he's become involved.
Businessman Mr. Preysing is at the hotel to put the finishing touches on a merger he's got brewing. He appears to be a respectable and honorable man.
Otto Kringelein has come to the Grand Hotel to die. He's sick and has pooled all his money so that he can spend what's left of his life in luxury.
Madame Grusinskaya is a washed up Russian ballerina who is performing in Berlin. Her career is nearly over and she knows it.
Flaemmchen is a secretary who has come to work at the hotel for Mr. Preysing. And she's quickly hit on by Baron von Geigern. As they stand on a balcony overlooking the main floor below, the baron says, "You know, I've often
wondered what'd happen to that old porter if somebody jumped on him from
here." Without missing a beat, Flaemmchen replies, "I'm sure I don't know. Why don't you try it and find out?"
When Madame Grusinskaya goes to the theater to dance, the baron overhears her telling her maid to return her pearls to her room. Seeing this as an opportunity to get out from under his debt to the criminal gang, he finds his way to her rooms and steals the pearls.
Meanwhile, Flaemmchen is busy working for Mr. Preysing. But she's got more than his dictation on her mind. She tells him that her aim is to get into movies, and she's done some posing for magazines. She shows him the pictures and he's amazed. She implies that she's willing to do more than secretarial work in order to achieve her goals.
Returning from the theater feeling discouraged, Madame Grusinskaya offers those famous words that Garbo immortalized: "I want to be alone". Feeling that her career is over and not wanting to go on with life, she makes preparations to kill herself.
The baron, who was watching from a window, breaks in at the right moment and stops the suicide attempt. "Who are you?" asks Grusinakaya. "Someone who could love you, that's all," comes the baron's reply. He returns the necklace to her and she forgives him for his theft. Feeling a spark between them, she invites him to join her as she travels to his next destination, which he accepts.
Finding hope in her relationship with the baron, Madame Grusinskaya finds the energy and new dedication to go on with dancing and with her life.
Mr. Kringelein, meanwhile, confronts his former employer Mr. Preysing. Facing death and with nothing left to lose, Kringelein tells Preysing what a terrible boss he was. "I've kept your books
for you and I know all about you! If one of your employees was half as stupid
in a small way as you are in a big
way..." says Kringelein.
Flaemmchen is finalizing the details which will see her in London with Mr. Preysing. She's hoping to become his mistress and that he will see that all of her needs are met.
The baron, still needing money, becomes close with Kringelein, who is having an extremely lucky streak at the card table. He steals the wallet. When he witnesses Kringelein's despair over losing the money, the baron returns it to him, and the two men part in friendship.
Next, the baron heads to Preysing's room. When Preysing catches him stealing, the baron tells him he was desperate and that he needed the money. In anger, Preysing savagely clubs him to death.
Flaemmchen goes to Kringelein for help. He rushes to the scene and calls the police, ensuring his former employer goes to jail.
In the morning, Kringelein and Flaemmchen talk. She tells him that he should focus on getting well, and he asks her to remain with him, which she agrees to. "Life is wonderful,
but very dangerous. If you have the courage to live it, it's
marvelous," he says as they depart and happily make their way to Paris, where they arrange to stay at that city's Grand Hotel.
On her way to her next venue, Madame Grusinskaya anxiously looks around for the baron. Not wanting to tell her that he's dead, her entourage makes her believe that he'll be waiting for her elsewhere. She triumphantly walks out of the hotel confident in the future.
More guests arrive as the old ones depart. Dr. Otternschlag watches the arrivals and departures, and he echoes his sentiments from the beginning of the film. "Grand Hotel...always
the same. People come. People go.
Nothing ever happens."
Cast rundown:
Greta Garbo...............................Madame Ouspenskaya
John Barrymore..........................Baron Felix von Geigern
Joan Crawford............................Flaemmchen
Wallace Beery.............................Preysing
Lionel Barrymore........................Otto Kringelein
Lewis Stone................................Dr. Otternschlag
Jean Hersholt.............................Senf, the Porter
Rafaela Ottiano...........................Suzette
And that's all for Grand Hotel. This film won the Academy Award for Best Picture. John Barrymore was very excited about working with Greta Garbo. He agreed to a 3 film deal with MGM. Greta Garbo was equally as excited. During their kissing scene, she continued kissing him for three minutes after the director yelled cut! The writer of this film drew on her experiences working as a chambermaid in hotels in Berlin in the creation of the script.
