Welcome to Panning for Gold, my new series looking back at every Best Picture winner in the history of the Oscars. Each newsletter will go over some of the other nominees, some historical context for each movie, and a brief review. Scroll to the bottom for a list of all previous entries in the series.
Today’s entry is Edmund Goulding’s “Grand Hotel,” a drama about the comings and goings of the guests at a Berlin hotel in the aftermath of World War I.
Other Best Picture Nominees
“Arrowsmith,” a drama about the culture of scientists and the scientific method
“Bad Girl,” a Depression-set romantic drama
“The Champ,” a sports drama about a washed-up alcoholic boxer trying to put his life back together
“Five Star Final,” a drama about tabloid journalism
“One Hour With You,” a musical comedy about a married couple who are attracted to other people
“Shanghai Express,” a thriller about a group of train passengers held hostage by a warlord during the Chinese Civil War
Other Awards
None. To date, this is the only Best Picture winner to not be nominated in any other category.
The Stats
Director: Edmund Goulding
Writers: William A. Drake (based on his 1930 play of the same name, which was adapted from the 1929 novel by Vicki Baum)
Producers: Irving Thalberg
Starring: Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, Jean Hersholt
Cinematography: William H. Daniels
Editing: Blanche Sewell
Studio: MGM
Running time: 113 mins.
Wide release date: Sept. 11, 1932
The Context
World War I ends in 1918; Braun writes her novel in 1929 and Drake’s play is first performed in 1930. “Grand Hotel” would go on to be remade in some form or fashion three times.
“Grand Hotel” was a massive commercial success- it made nearly $1 million in 1932
This is the second Best Picture winner to feature predominantly German characters, and, like “Cimarron” the year before it, features a series of plots about advancing one’s station in life, no matter what.
The Movie
“Grand Hotel” is like the “Ocean’s Eleven” of pre-Code films. A veritable Who’s who of silent film royalty and Old Hollywood favorites round out the cast: Two Barrymore brothers, Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone and Jean Hersholt. The star power alone would have been enough for success in 1932, but the acting and the vignettes about each guest’s life at the Grand Hotel in Berlin are what make this film endure.
You can see this film’s influence on indie films and slice-of-life films as well as big, Hollywood ensemble blockbusters from a century later (and it clearly was an influence on Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel”).
The plot of “Grand Hotel” is loosely strung together by Dr. Otternschlag, who isn’t a narrator as much as a grand observer of everything going on at the hotel.
"People come. People go. Nothing ever happens,” he notes at the film’s outset. Except for the characters in this film, over the course of 48 hours, everything happens. Loves will be ignited and lost, fortunes will be made, power will crumble and diseases may be cured. It’s a reminder that anyone you come across has a vast inner life.
In the end, Lionel Barrymore’s Otto Kringelein (weird to see him playing a hero after years of watching him as Mr. Potter in “It’s A Wonderful Life”) sums it up best:
“To life! To the magnificent, dangerous, brief, wonderful life... and the courage to live it!”
So far, this is my favorite of the Best Picture winners.
That wraps it up for now. I’ll be back in a few hours with 1933’s Best Picture winner: “Cavalcade.”
All ‘Panning For Gold’ newsletters
This newsletter is written by me and edited by my favorite person, Taylor Tompkins. Views expressed here are my own and don’t reflect the opinions of my employer.
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