Overview"Grand Hotel" is a 1932 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding. The film depicts a complex plot revolving around visitors at a glamorous Berlin hotel where guests come and go uninformed of each other's real identities. The film includes a host of Hollywood's biggest stars of the time, including Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, and Lionel Barrymore.
PlotIn the intricate web of characters tied together through the hotel setting, Baron Felix von Geigern, played by John Barrymore, is a down-on-his-luck nobleman who has turned to theft to repay his debts. He intends to take expensive pearls owned by fading Russian ballerina Grusinskaya, portrayed by Greta Garbo. However, the Baron is enchanted with Grusinskaya's vulnerability, falls in love with her, abandoning his strategies to rob her.
Meanwhile, a terminally ill guy, Otto Kringelein, provided life by Lionel Barrymore, who used to work as a bookkeeper for an oppressive organization mogul Preysing, enacted by Wallace Beery, is maximizing his remaining days experiencing life in the elegant hotel. On another side of the story, stenographer Flaemmchen, played by Joan Crawford, is hired by Preysing, who is at the hotel to close a deal. She establishes feelings for the Baron, uninformed of his real objectives.
Occasions UnfoldThe interwoven connections further tangle when Preysing's deal falls through and, in a desperate state, he forces himself on Flaemmchen. As the Baron occurs to discover this, he attempts to protect her, just for Preysing to eliminate him in the taking place scuffle. Subsequently, the hotel management covers the murder to prevent scandal, and Preysing is apprehended.
After the traumatic event, Flaemmchen discovers comfort in the companionship of Kringelein, who proposes the two live out the duration of his days together in Paris, a bond possibly opening a much better life for Flaemmchen. The film ends with Grusinskaya leaving for Vienna, inadvertently getting away heartbreak, thinking the Baron has actually merely left her.
Final Thoughts"Grand Hotel" thrived in the film market by catching the glamour and drama of the 1930s with skyrocketing efficiencies by its A-list cast, which ultimately won it Best Picture at the 5th Academy Awards. The movie is distinct for the time as it uses no main characters, dealing with each subplot as equally influential. Even though the stories intertwine, each story stems from distinct scenarios, ultimately liquifying in their own strange ways, a storytelling technique that was new and innovative throughout the time of its release.
The film subtly unveils the underlying class departments and the optimism and vulnerability of each character whilst being embeded in an apparently safe and recognized environment. The hotel, while amazingly grandiose, becomes a mirror of the socio-political climate of the age, rendering "Grand Hotel" an iconic example of Golden Age Hollywood movie theater. In spite of being nearly a century old, the lessons from the movie are as relevant and poignant today, highlighting universal human experiences incorporating love, struggles, hopes, and anguish.
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