IMDb > Grand Hotel (1932)
Grand Hotel
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Grand Hotel (1932) More at IMDbPro »

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Grand Hotel (1932) -- Trailer for this black and white classic drama
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Overview

User Rating:
7.7/10   5,509 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 14% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Contact:
View company contact information for Grand Hotel on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 September 1932 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
Thank The Stars For A Great Entertainment !
Plot:
Berlin's plushest, most expensive hotel is the setting where in the words of Dr. Otternschlag "People come... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 1 win more
NewsDesk:
(20 articles)
User Comments:
Dated, melodramatic...and MAGNIFICENT more (81 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Greta Garbo ... Grusinskaya - the Dancer

John Barrymore ... The 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
Robert McWade ... Meierheim (as Robert Mc Wade)
Purnell Pratt ... Zinnowitz (as Purnell B. Pratt)
Ferdinand Gottschalk ... Pimenov
Rafaela Ottiano ... Suzette
Morgan Wallace ... Chauffeur
Tully Marshall ... Gerstenkorn
Frank Conroy ... Rohna
Murray Kinnell ... Schweimann
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Additional Details

Runtime:
112 min (Turner library print)
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Portugal:17 (original rating) | South Korea:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) | Norway:16 (1933) | Sweden:15 | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | New Zealand:PG | West Germany:16 | Australia:PG | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #2276-R: 13 May 1936 for re-release)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
During the filming of the busy lobby scenes, the actors wore socks over their shoes to prevent noise. Reportedly two hundred pairs of woolen socks were worn out daily. more
Goofs:
Continuity: At the end of the scene in which the Baron asks Flaemmchen for a date, he moves from behind her left shoulder to behind her right shoulder twice. Also, the Baron's cigarette seems to disappear without any indication he put it out. more
Quotes:
Baron Felix von Geigern: [looking down from the sixth-floor balcony over the front desk] You know, I've often wondered what'd happen to that old porter if somebody jumped on him from here.
Flaemmchen: I'm sure I don't know. Why don't you try it and find out?
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Kunstlerleben (Artist's Life), Op.316 more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
60 out of 67 people found the following comment useful.
Dated, melodramatic...and MAGNIFICENT, 20 June 2002
Author: Michael Stephens from Richmond, CA

I've seen "Grand Hotel" at least fifteen times -- more than any other '30s film with the possible exception of two other classics: "King Kong" and Astaire and Rogers' "The Gay Divorcee."

Quite a few others reviewers here have commented negatively on this "creaky" old film. They are correct -- it is -- and yet, who cares? It's utterly wonderful!

The whole cast is superb -- charming, desperate, vulnerable John Barrymore; cynical, sad, appealing Joan Crawford; pathetic, whining, irrepressible Lionel Barrymore; coarse, selfish, all-too-humanly cruel Wallace Beery; and of course, the great Greta Garbo. The supporting cast, led by Lewis Stone and Jean Hersholt, are equally good.

Those who criticize Garbo as over-the-top in her portrayal of the prima ballerina are right. She IS over-the-top, AND she is absolutely glorious, whether wallowing in self-pitying, suicidal despair or radiant as the spring with a new love which astonishes and transports her. What a unique, unforgettable screen presence! What a Goddess!

"Grand Hotel" holds this viewer, anyway, entranced from beginning to end. In addition to the superlative acting, the art deco design is stunning and the music always appropriate.

Creaky? You bet. Do they make movies like this anymore? Nope. Do I wish they did? I sure do.

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