Grand Hotel

Originally published on social media on March 24th, 2022

When people discuss the first few years of the Oscars, they typically discuss how those years were rough as film was just figuring itself out. That’s valid for many reasons. However, I surprised by how good 1933’s best picture was in that it was better than I expected.

To be quite honest, this film starts off boring and gets more interesting as it goes on. That is not too unusual for this era, but it’s important to point out. Also, you care more about each of the characters as the film goes on and you gain the whole picture of who each character is. Looking at this film in hindsight, I wonder if it is the the film that created the concept of differing storylines interacting with one another. Examples of modern films that do this include Love Actually and Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

This film also discusses a lot of challenging subjects in a way that’s surprising for a 1930’s film. For instance, worker’s rights. Other subjects include it depression, suicidal thoughts, and sexual harassment. In this way, the film could be considered controversial, but less controversial than expected for a 30’s film discussing these subjects. What is important to consider though is how we cannot mark progress in society without first identifying the wrong social morals and customs of the past.

Aside from these elements, this film has a very famous cast including the Barrymore brothers (Lionel and John), Greta Garbo, and Joan Crawford. Lionel and Joan are the least recognizable compared to the older and more famous versions of themselves. Also, going into this film NOT being a Joan Crawford fan (for so many reasons), I initially found the younger version of her to be almost likable. As the film went on though, I started to like her less and less. Lionel Barrymore (who I primarily knew from It’s A Wonderful Life) is very likable in this the entire time.

With all those things being said, I liked this film, but it is a one time see.