Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Matt Greene This Oscar winner is as varied tonally as it is in it's cast of characters. Romance, comedy, drama, mystery, tragedy...and yet, with all of this going on, it manages to stay fairly dull. The only things that really hold it together are the snappy dialogue and a couple of fantastic characters in Mrs. Flaemmchen and Otto, whose bittersweet ending is moving enough to raise the film above its own melodrama.

christopher-underwood Watching this last night, I was rather surprised to discover that I had never seen it before and also that it is really rather good. I know everybody says it is but I rather expected it to creak a bit, overstay its welcome, be a little too stagey but it is fine. Helped enormously by Joan Crawford who puts in the most sparkling performance and helps get the film off to a roaring start. I found the introduction of Greta Garbo less convincing but gradually warmed to her as she mellowed from the overwrought prima donna to love struck beauty. The Barrymore's, Lionel and John are fantastic and together with the rest of the cast help to keep this ever interesting and amusing film together. The script is perfect and well shared out amongst the fine array of talent, again helping to keep an even flow so that unlike other films of this period there is no plodding centre section and the ending is so sudden and splendid, one is inevitably left with a smile on the face. I can see myself watching this again.

lasttimeisaw This early MGM talkie is a trend-setter at its time for the all-star glamor, also an Oscar BEST PICTURE winner (oddly enough, without any other nominations). There are five centre characters hemmed in Berlin's Grand Hotel, a Russian prima ballerina Grusinskaya (Garbo), a moneyless Baron Felix von Geigern (John Barrymore), an accountant Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), a dying man who decides to shell out all his savings by living in the luxury. Then a young stenographer Flaemmchen (Crawford), hired by the industrial magnate Preysing (Beery), who is negotiating a merger deal and is the former employer of Mr. Kringelein. None of them are satisfied with their status quo, Grusinskaya is grievously rattled by the fading appeal of her dance as the turnout is ebbing away and the thought of suicide sneaks in, while the chivalric Baron must abase himself to theft in order to pay back his debt, but sadly that kind of deal doesn't go along with his blue blood, and when he resorts to his last straw - gamble, luck is not on his side when Otto's beginner's luck foreshadows his doomed nobility. But the ablaze passion between Grusinskaya and Felix appears so genuine and powerful, it might save both from their plights, they are planning to catch a train together but the twist of fate cannot let that happy ending happen. Here Garbo histrionically alternates between frowning in angst when dreads for her future and flitting about hyper-actively when a budding romance resuscitates her life. John Barrymore, revels in posing as suave and earnest, a heart-stealer in every sense, their ill-destined romance is the quintessential melodrama no matter how dated it comes across by today's standard. Flaemmchen is charmed by Felix's debonair appearance too, but he returns with an avuncular affection, calls her "the funny one" and promises a dance only. She succumbs to reality, a pretty girl who needs money, when the one she loves cannot love her back, she moves on, grants tacit consent to become Preysing's mistress, but eventually, after a heartbreaking incident, fate offers her a better option and she does't hesitate to take it. Crawford is my pick of MVP in this movie, at her utter prime, she blends her magnetism perfectly with the worldly wisdom, her acting is less mannered and occasionally sparks with certain flair of self-assurance, a true flapper of its time. As for Otto, he is supposedly to be a sympathetic character, but myself find Lionel Barrymore's all-over-the-place acting quite annoying, wanting any trace of subtlety needed to counterbalance the haphazardly-paced narrative, together with Beery's hateful Preysing, an outrageously repulsive character, becomes the nadir of star-power vehicle (Beery won BEST LEADING ACTOR at the same year for THE CHAMP 1931 though).Director Edmund Goulding (THE RAZOR'S EDGE 1946, 7/10) is an important name in the Golden Age Hollywood - although never won any substantial accolade for his directing work, plus his filmography being too comprehensive to sum up thus it is difficult to extract his own directorial touch to be categorised as an auteur - his adroit skill in manoeuvring a large and elaborate set, the outstanding fluidity of shifting his camera within a confined interior and magnanimously permitting enough space for his stars to enjoy the spotlight, is undeniably a key factor is this polished hit of its era.

elliedc I have always had a strange fascination with Greta Garbo, something about her aloofness makes me orbit around her films over and over again. Grand Hotel presents us with a very lonely persona, much to Garbo herself; stunning, yes, but lonely. The music, the acting, the feeling the film provides you inflicts you with greatness. Perhaps I am biased, considering my fanaticism with Garbo, but she's stunning in this role as the sad, dramatic, suicidal woman who drops her petals and folds her tent. John Barrymore is great as well and GOD (!) Joan Crawford? Always a pleasure for me to see her face. All I needed for this film to be spectacular was Bette Davis and Marlene Dietrich (probably fighting each other). I love this film and I reckon that I'll continue to watch it every couple of years. Highly recommend it if you like oldies, truly oldies, and are in the mood to be stunned by Garbo and Crawford.