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1932: Grand Hotel
[Zip.ca] [IMDB] [Wikipedia]
People coming, going. Nothing ever happens declares the doctor at the beginning of this film. But that wouldn't be much of a movie, would it?
This movie appears to have popularized two different things: one, the plot device of having several unrelated characters in one setting and exploring the antics that befall them, and two, having an ensemble all-star cast.
Apparently, they were quite successful at the time, having won an academy award and bringing in oodles of money, and have been replicated over and over, so it doesn't seem original to modern eyes (my personal favourite of the unrelated characters being brought together device is Magnolia...). And because I've never seen them before, it doesn't have the star power for me that it had then (but it stars Drew Barrymore's grandfather, John. Heh!) Because of this, this movie doesn't seem to hold up quite as well as the other films I've reviewed thus far.
There's nothing really negative to say about the movie. The actors all have good performances (although, in a very 30s way; I quite enjoyed Joan Crawford as the stenographer, and John Barrymore as The Baron), the plot is interesting enough not to be boring and not too predictable, and the music is typical for the time. I laughed at the appropriate times, but otherwise there wasn't a large emotional pull or excitement to really pull it together to make it fantastic.
This is the raciest film of the early Academy Awards I've seen to date, and probably on the last for quite a while, as not long after Hollywood adopted the The Motion Picture Production Code, a set of self-imposed censorship guidelines, apparently to dodge government censorship. There's drunkenness, glamorization of gambling and thievery, lewdness, and suggestions of adultery, and these themes won't be seen much until the 60s, when the code is dropped in favour of the MPAA rating system.
So, summarized: good film, but wouldn't suggest going out of one's way to see it.
[Zip.ca] [IMDB] [Wikipedia]
People coming, going. Nothing ever happens declares the doctor at the beginning of this film. But that wouldn't be much of a movie, would it?
This movie appears to have popularized two different things: one, the plot device of having several unrelated characters in one setting and exploring the antics that befall them, and two, having an ensemble all-star cast.
Apparently, they were quite successful at the time, having won an academy award and bringing in oodles of money, and have been replicated over and over, so it doesn't seem original to modern eyes (my personal favourite of the unrelated characters being brought together device is Magnolia...). And because I've never seen them before, it doesn't have the star power for me that it had then (but it stars Drew Barrymore's grandfather, John. Heh!) Because of this, this movie doesn't seem to hold up quite as well as the other films I've reviewed thus far.
There's nothing really negative to say about the movie. The actors all have good performances (although, in a very 30s way; I quite enjoyed Joan Crawford as the stenographer, and John Barrymore as The Baron), the plot is interesting enough not to be boring and not too predictable, and the music is typical for the time. I laughed at the appropriate times, but otherwise there wasn't a large emotional pull or excitement to really pull it together to make it fantastic.
This is the raciest film of the early Academy Awards I've seen to date, and probably on the last for quite a while, as not long after Hollywood adopted the The Motion Picture Production Code, a set of self-imposed censorship guidelines, apparently to dodge government censorship. There's drunkenness, glamorization of gambling and thievery, lewdness, and suggestions of adultery, and these themes won't be seen much until the 60s, when the code is dropped in favour of the MPAA rating system.
So, summarized: good film, but wouldn't suggest going out of one's way to see it.