Grand Hotel (Keepcase)

Buy This Item Grand Hotel (Keepcase) by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $8.99  on 8-29-2008     In this great screen drama, the glitz and glitter of Berlin's opulent Grand Hotel comes alive with its star-studded guests and employees: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery and Lionel Barrymore. Year: 1932 Reader Reviews It's hard to believe that a film made in the early days of talking pictures could be so totally enjoyable for today's audience! The secret, besides a clever script, dazzling sets and costumes, of course is the cast! Wow! Some people complain that the acting is too mannered, especially in the cases of John Barrymore and Greta Garbo but I heartily disagree. Garbo plays a grand diva of the old school--she thinks big, acts big, lives big. Mumbling of the type of modern acting brought on by The Actors' Studio is not appropriate here. This is more akin to Grand Opera---big passions, big gestures. The scenes with Barrymore and Garbo are priceless--two great, beautiful people---look at those perfect profiles! The chemistry between them was apparent. How fortunate we are to have this recorded on film for us. I did not know who played the spunky little stenographer and was amazed to discover it was Joan Crawford. She was very good here and showed a sweet, innocent quality that she lost somewhere along the way, unfortunately. The rest of the cast, as everyone else has mentioned, is ...stellar! Visually this is just such a treat. The costumes are wonderful..I loved Garbo's (politically incorrect) full length fur coats. Usually I have to make mental "allowances" for these old films to compensate for stilted acting and unsophisticated scripts, but this was totally not needed for Grand Hotel. Totally classy, totally enjoyable!

Grand Hotel (Keepcase) Available from Amazon Price: $8.99 Updated on 8-29-2008.

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