Welcome ladies and gents to Day 1 of
Joan Crawford Week. Today we look at the adaptation of screenplay
of the same name to film by playwright/screenplay writer William
A. Drake (The
Trespasser, Paramount on Parade, Riptide, The Flame Within, Dark
Victory and The Old Maid)
and working alongside with actor/writer/director Edmund
Goulding (Reaching
for the Moon, Night Angel, A Night at the Opera, Dark Victory, The
Old Maid and The Razor's Edge)
This film's influence stems to this day with the famous line "I
want to be alone", uttered by Greta Garbo and in American Film
Institute placed at number 30 of the 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes.
This
is Grand Hotel.
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| Fame overwhelms the mind, don't it? |
The
Grand Hotel hails from Berlin and houses a curious collection of
people from every walk of life. The standards view is people come
and go, and nothing ever truly happens. With a crippled veteran of
World War I, Doctor Otternschlag (Lewis Stone of
The Lost World, Queen Christina, Love Finds Andy Hardy, Scarmouche
and The Prisoner of Zenda)
being the hotel's lone permanent resident, much goes on in the hotel
he calls home.
A
member of the Kaiserreich a one Baron Felix von Geigern (John
Barrymore of Here Comes the Bride, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Sea
Beast, Moby Dick, Dinner at Eight and The Great Profile)
a squander of his fortune keeps himself afloat by being a card
player and indulging in the odd spot of jewel theft befriends
mild-mannered accountant Otto Kringelein (Lionel
Barrymore of Captains Courageous, You Can't Take It With You, It's a
Wonderful Life, Key Largo and Lone Star)
who recently discovered he is dying and will spend his remaining days
on this Earth in the lap of luxury. Let go from his job he is
excited for a bit of action and entertainment.
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| Sir, stop farting on my scotch and soda! |
Meanwhile
his former employer, Industrialist General Director Preysing (Wallace
Beery of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, Another Man's Wife, Dynamite
Smith, The Champ and Viva Villa!)
is dictating to his secretary Flaemchen (Joan
Crawford of Mildred Pierce, Goodbye, My Fancy, Torch Song, Sudden
Fear, This Woman Is Dangerous, Johnny Guitar and The Caretakers)
who exhibits a certain naivete' explaining to Preysing how she
aspires to be an actress and displays a few photo magazine shots that
frankly had a bit of cheesecake quality towards them, slowly hinting
that she will give more than typing if he assists her in her budding
career. Last but certainly not least is the Russian ballerina whose
career seems out of sorts, Grusinskaya (Greta
Garbo of The Temptress, Flesh and the Devil, The Divine Woman, The
Kiss, Mata Hari, As You Desire Me and The Painted Veil)
manages to catch the Baron's eye for her stunning beauty and fine
quality jewels.
Snatching
the goods, the Baron finally sees an opportunity to get ahead when he
sees Grusinskaya enter the room, speaking to herself about suicide
with medication in hand. The Baron comes out of the shadows of where
he was hiding and simply speaks with her bringing a little happiness
to her face. The next day the Baron filled with remorse returns
Grusinskaya's precious jewels to her in the hopes she may forgive him
in his moment of weakness. Rather than summon the authorities she
invites him to journey with her to Vienna. See? I would have just
gotten the cops called on me and charges pressed. Go figure. With
tempers flaring between Kringlein and his former boss Preysing it
can only in tears, violence and quite possibly a murder.
A
quick couple of facts on the film. While made in 1932, the budget
for the movie was 700,000 clams. Wallace Beery would storm out of
rehearsals and only return "When Joan Crawford learns to act."
Both Joan and Greta were reluctant to star as their characters.
Ms. Crawford felt she would be censored immensely for her provocative
character and Ms. Garbo felt she would be lost in the crowd of so
many stars.
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| Did Jake forget I am the star of this week? The hack! |
