Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

George Wright This movie has a stellar cast and lavish hotel for a setting. Rod Taylor, as Peter McDermott, hotel manager, and Melvyn Douglas as Mr. Warren Trent, hotel owner, are the most interesting characters in the movie. New money hotel tycoon, played by Kevin McCarthy as Curtis O'Keefe, tries to take over a venerable hotel called the St. Gregory. Into this environment, we find a key thief, Karl Malden, swindler, Richard Conte, and a corrupt aristocratic couple, Michael Rennie and Merle Oberon. The opening credits are creatively designed but lead to false expectations as to the quality of the production. Edith Head, the legendary costume designer, once again makes her mark with her stunning wardrobes on female actors, Catherine Spaak and Merle Oberon. Carmen McRae appears as a night club singer and the street scenes and jazz music are very fitting for New Orleans. McCarthy is badly miscast and seems worlds away from his patented roles in b-movies of the 1950's. Douglas, in his limited role, represents the old money world of a hospitality industry that no longer exists: elegant on the outside but full of vice and inefficiency. Trent dislikes O'Keefe and his profits-first mentality, that would see his hotel stripped of its beauty and tradition. As hotel manager, Taylor is able to keep the St. Gregory from sliding into bankruptcy by smart public relations and his personal rapport with the staff. Taylor is the rugged, well- groomed guy, a smart operator with a heart, a role that suits him to a tee. He also keeps Douglas in line, almost like a dutiful son to an elderly father. The movie has a certain style, impressive setting and cast but there is no coherence in the meandering storyline with several subplots.

Robert J. Maxwell This is one of those multi-narrative, all-star movies about diverse people being their dynamic selves in a vast enclosed space, missing only Max von Sydow as the resident psychiatrist. And, man, this is one grand hotel -- the St. Gregory in New Orleans, where twelve presidents have stayed. It's huge, it's rococo, it's prohibitively expensive except for presidents, people on expense accounts, CEOs of major corporations, and my plumber, Dan.But there's a rub. The St. Gregory may be the ne plus ultra of elegance but it's old fashioned and it's losing money. The crusty owner of the place, Douglas, refuses to change. He's stuck in the eternal zugzwang. He's known all his employees for years, he likes the marble pillars and the over-sized fountain in the lobby, and he endorses his policy of segregation. He doesn't understand all this new stuff, "unions, civil rights, indoor baseball -- MOTELS." His general manager, the skilled and savvy Rod Taylor, understands it but would like to preserve what he can of the traditional opulence while adapting to changing circumstances. Unfortunately, he's the victim of a plot that drags him away by the gonads from his post at the hotel, allowing some chicanery by a potential buyer to take place. But it's too complicated to get into.Rod Taylor is reassuringly himself, handsome, robustly masculine. I saw him in a recent movie and he's aged magnificently. His eyeballs bulge, his face is now one flab upon another, and his ears are those of the African elephant. He looks great. Catherine Spaak is the reformed spy. She's conventionally attractive, her features are inexpressive but her voice carries an infinity of subtexts. Comic relief is provided by Karl Malden as the hotel thief who scurries from room to room, pocketing cash, expensive watches, jewelry, and whatnot. He's fine too in an amusing role, with his bulbous nose and clownish smile. His last act, as he's being led away in cuffs by the police, is to pocket a hotel ash tray.For what it's worth, the Statler Hotel School at Cornell was about the most prestigious in the country, though you don't hear much about it outside of hotel management circles. Snobby and even semi-snobby universities have always been a little ashamed of their specialized programs. The thing is to be a proud, defiant liberal arts college. It took Harvard a couple of hundred years to finally establish a school of medicine or law. More pragmatic schools have no such difficulty. The old, fancy universities, in resisting specialization, were much in the position of old Melvyn Douglas, owner of the St. Gregory. There's a curious shot of the ancient, creaking potentate complaining about "all this new stuff" while the camera lingers on his fat, elderly dog who shifts slightly to a more comfortable position. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, you know.It's unusual -- I realize that -- but I'd like to dedicate this poor review to Zani. You'll notice I used the word "zugzwang" earlier. I'd never heard of the damned thing before she told me what it meant. (It's from German and means "pulled in two different directions.") Zani, I can -- excuse me, I'm all choked up -- I can't thank you enough. For me -- sob -- for me, the world wouldn't exist without that word. (Sniff.)

silverscreen888 "Hotel" was a very popular novel by Arthur Hailey. It told the story of the last days of the St. Gregory Hotel, an historic edifice in New Orleans, and of those who run it, visit it, covet it and try to use it for their own purposes. The conception of the screenplay that Wendell Mayes based on the novel is probably even better than the lovely execution of this cinematic gem; but that is only true I suggest because the idea was very clever indeed. The plot line concerns the hotel's aging owner, the great Melvyn Douglas, his young manager ably played by Rod Taylor, the man who wants to buy the hotel, Kevin McCarthy, and others such as troubled guests Michael Rennie and Merle Oberon, hotel thief Karl Malden, hotel detective Richard Conte, and the girl who comes into Rod Taylor's life, attractive but weak actress Catherine Spaak, plus many others touched by the edifice's power and struggling with the question of its future. These include Alfred Ryder, Harry Hickox, Ken Lynch, Clinton Sundberg, Roy Roberts, Tol Avery, Davis Roberts, Carmen McRae and many more. The art decoration by Casey O'Dell is memorable; the film has a very spacious look and fine fluid camera-work by director Richard Quine. The plot to expose Douglas as a racist that eventually ruins all deals to save the place from being sold and "modernized"or razed is equally memorable; so is the search for a murderer, Malden as a hot prowl "key-case" bandit who speaks no dialogue, and the use of the city of New Orleans as more than background to the hotel's past, present and future. Even the music is quite good. The movie lacks strong style, but voids gloss and achieves something quite unusual I assert; it becomes better than its material because it is functional, clean, intelligent--a sort of modern-architected house that provides a space for sparkling things to happen within. If it lack great meaning, this dramatic look at people's lives being lived in a fascinating building is one of the best of its sort since "Weekend at the Waldorf". For many reasons, it is a low-key but well-paced film that I can watch many times with pleasure.

BobLib The late Arthur Hailey was not a great writer, but he was a great storyteller, which made up for it. And that's evident in the films of his books, as well. The original "Airport" is probably the best known, but "Hotel," which later became a hit TV series in the 1980s, is a good, overlooked adaptation as well. One can easily dismiss it as colorful, all-star glitz and gloss, but one is fascinated by it as well.As directed by Richard Quine, written and produced by Wendell Mayes, and costumed by the legendary Edith Head, it has atmosphere to spare, even if most of that atmosphere is courtesy of the Warner back lot. The story is slight and somewhat diffuse, but the atmosphere and cast, especially Rod Taylor, Melvyn Douglas, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden (In a role with almost no dialog!), and the ageless Merle Oberon, keep you riveted every step of the way. And, as with "Airport," there's the usual crisis element, in this case an elevator crash sequence that's suspsnsefully staged.One complaint, though: Johnny Keating's music, while nice, is often loud and intrusive. Background music is supposed to be just that, BACKGROUND music. If I wanted to hear the score that badly, I would have bought the soundtrack album.