He has his eyes set on a pearl necklace owned by depressed Russian ballerina Grusinskya (Greta Garbo), but he is enough of a decent chap to befriend Otto (Lionel Barrymore), a dying accountant who decides to live life to the fullest before his time runs out.Powerful German businessman Preysing brow beats Kringelein, one of his companys lowly bookkeepers but it is the terminally ill Kringelein who holds all the cards in the end.Meanwhile, the Baron also steals the heart of Preysings mistress, Flaemmchen, but she doesnt end up with either one of them in the end.
Grand Hotel Torrent Movie Anymore WithoutI cannot watch this movie anymore without hearing those lyrics of the title song from the 1990 Broadway musical. Youre in the Grand Hotel The musical allowed the major characters to flow in for dramatic introductions, identified by the embittered partially blind doctor. Lewis Stone, so wise as Judge Hardy, fails to convince in character. Theres plenty happening in the most opulent hotel in all of 1930s Germany, a shell of itself after a world war, and at a turning point in its history. Scary for many here, facing their mortality through their immorality. The two immoral characters here are nobleman (and a thief) John Barrymore and sadistic businessman Wallace Beery. Dying clerk Lionel Barrymore is the most vulnerable, wanting one last fling with life, and finding more than he bargained for. Typist Joan Crawford gets a rare glimpse of heaven on Earth, and finds hell, exploited by Beery and finding supposed romance with John Barrymore. Her friendship with Lionel Barrymore is the one honest relationship in the film, outside of ballerina Greta Garbo and her devoted companion, Rafaela Ottiano. Authors of the musical were so taken by Ottiano that they named the character in the musical after her. Then theres hotel clerk Jean Hersholt, waiting for the news on his wife, in the hospital preparing to give birth. Its a minor part of the story, with the focus on Barrymores (John that is.) seductions of both Crawford and Garbo. The two divas never cross paths or seem to be aware of the others presence. Something in Garbos performance indicates that she was pretty bored, wanting to be alone like her character, although through camera on her works its magic to fool the audience into thinking shes fully in character. ![]() This has so much going for it that it is extremely difficult to find any fault. This was still the early days of the talkie era, and directors were too busy exploring new ways to exploit this wonderful new technological advancement to focus their attention on much else. Studios preferred to have a large roster of A-list talent under contract, leading men and women whose name alone on the post could attract a crowd. But one day, MGM producer Irving Thalberg had the bright idea to lump them all together into one massive superstar extravaganza. Drake from his own play (which was based on Vicki Baums novel Menschen im Hotel), Grand Hotel went on to inspire the ensemble movies of Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson, as well as the A-list smorgasbords of Garry Marshalls holiday-themed dreck. The magnificence of Berlins Grand Hotel attracts all kinds of people, each with their own story to tell.
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