Rating: 
Summary: A very dissapointing transfer to DVD.
Review: I was expecting a flawless transfer a la par with the MGM tradition but it was not to be.
I hope the people at Warner Bros. will pay attention and give us a truly Deluxe Edition of Garbo's most famous movies, such as Queen Christina, Camille, Anna Karenina, Ninotchka, and Anna Christie (German and English versions).
Rating: 
Summary: Joan Crawford and Lionel Barrymore Steal the Show!
Review: I watched this movie when I was first getting into old movies. I recognised Greta Garbo's and John Barrymore's names right away, but after seeing the movie, I wanted to see any and all Joan Crawford and Lionel Barrymore movies I could. They blew me away, she as a sexy stenographer and he as a meak, helpless, sweet man. The movie also has a good idea around it. I like that it just flows and takes the viewer on a ride, not knowing where things will go, if anywhere. The way things were filmed adds to this feeling. The only complaint I have is Garbo's overacting and the way her dramatic scenes were shot. I can't help but laugh everytime. Nonetheless, I love this movie and would and do gladly recommend it to anyone looking for a good movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Grand But Depressing
Review: I'm breaking a rule here. I usually write a review for lesser known vintage films to help them out but shun the big name classics. Looking at the boatload of reviews for GRAND HOTEL confirms my policy until I realized that nobody seemed to mention the one distinction that first time viewers will catch in the first five minutes - it's very depressing!I enjoy this film because I'm a big John Barrymore fan and it's neat to see him with his brother Lionel. But if you feel in need of a Prozac, then don't watch this film. Just look at the characters. Lionel B. of course is terminally ill. John B. is broke and buglarizes guest rooms until he's caught and killed. Garbo is a suicidal ballerina who will probably kill herself when she gets to Vienna and realizes that John B. won't be joining her there as planned (because he's dead). Joan Crawford is the secretary who lives on her youth and looks that will fade in time. Lewis Stone is the alcoholic face-scarred doctor who is numb to human interaction. Wallace Beery's industrialist winds up utterly ruined both personally and financially. And Jean Hersolt's wife has the longest labor to deliver a baby in history. If this is living the high life, spare me please. But in 1932, GRAND HOTEL must have been a welcomed diversion to the very real problems the nation faced as the Great Depression worsened. After all, who would want to trade places with any of the characters? Even the news reel of the film's premiere is depressing as Jean Harlow walks up with her husband Paul Bern (who tries to hide his face). Bern committed suicide a few months later. Prozac anybody?
Rating: 
Summary: Bizarre
Review: I've seen this movie several times, and have always hated it. I don't know why - I love old movies, but I find this one impossible. Garbo is simply bad - incredible histrionics and inexplicable gyrations and shakes of the shoulders which I'm sure were meant to demonstrate her character as a ballerina, but which look only odd to the modern viewer. The whole film is stilted and shallow. The only other "classic film" I've ever come away from feeling shafted by was "Mrs. Miniver" for, I think, similar reasons. I think the modern viewer is simply incapable of viewing these movies in the spirit in which they were intended.
Rating:
Summary: MGM at its best!
Review: If you want to know about Hollywood splendor... this is your movie. The "golden age of the movies" greatest studio was the MGM and Mr. Mayer and company put all the best in this brilliant adaptation of Vicki Baum novel. I love every frame of it. The art deco, the music, the stars... Oh, my God! This is cinema! The cast is superb. The Barrymore brothers, the little Crawford (then), the great Beery. And Lewis Stone, what a kind of gentleman and good actor. And Garbo, of course. When she is sad, you are sad. When she is happy, you are happy. And when she said: "The sun!". Is summer for us.
Rating:
Summary: MGM at its best!
Review: If you want to know about Hollywood splendor... this is your movie. The "golden age of the movies" greatest studio was the MGM and Mr. Mayer and company put all the best in this brilliant adaptation of Vicki Baum novel. I love every frame of it. The art deco, the music, the stars... Oh, my God! This is cinema! The cast is superb. The Barrymore brothers, the little Crawford (then), the great Beery. And Lewis Stone, what a kind of gentleman and good actor. And Garbo, of course. When she is sad, you are sad. When she is happy, you are happy. And when she said: "The sun!". Is summer for us.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing Ever Happens?
Review: Lewis Stone tells the audience at the beginning of Grand Hotel that people come and go through the expensive hotel, but nothing ever happens. Of course, the sharp viewer knows irony when he or she hears it, since the film then sets about to disprove his statement. Burglar John Barrymore is at the centre of the action. He's fallen in love with fading ballerina Greta Garbo, befriended dying office worker Lionel Barrymore who is at the hotel to live life before he dies, offended businessman Wallace Beery who is on the brink of financial ruin, and worked his considerable charm on stenographer Joan Crawford who has come to the hotel to work for Beery, but her job may go beyond typing. Everyone is at a turning point in their entwined lives, and these moments are played out in various plot lines that link together beautifully. Both Barrymores and Beery, along with Stone and Jean Hersholt give their customary excellent performances. There are two surprises in the film: Crawford and Garbo. I haven't seen Crawford in a lot of films since she holds no appeal for me as an actress. But in this film she lights up the screen with warmth, humour, energy, and real emotion. Her phone scene with Lionel Barrymore is a great moment in the film. Garbo, on the other hand, disappoints me in this film. Apart from her famous moaning of vanting to be alone, she is excessively theatrical. It's not easy to make a successful film with so many linked subplots, but Grand Hotel pulls it off with style, drama, fine acting, and humanity. Nothing ever happens? I don't think so!!
Rating:
Summary: They Don't Even Try To Make Them Like This Anymore.
Review: Some films in recent years are made with grand scope, thick plots, charming characters. I would say about 15%. The others just pass the time.
Grand Hotel, like, say "Dances With Wolves" has that scope. Grand Hotel, like "Chinatown," has that thick plot. Grand Hotel, like "L.A. Confidential," has those charming characters. It's a rare experience to see something done by people who care about making a good product. That's the 15%. The others make "Gigli."
This ensemble piece as all kinds of different stories going on, weaved together at the end with a common frame. The Barrymores are standouts as two unlikely friends: one a Baron/cat burlar who's down on his luck and the other, an older fellow with terminal health who is spending his last dime in the pursuit of fun before he dies. Wallace Beery plays an arrogant, self-centered tycoon who will burn anyone to keep his business afloat. Joan Crawford is his secretary. She's a nice girl who feels that she must occasionally sacrifice her dignity to survive. Rounding out the stellar cast is Greta Garbo, a famous dancer with serious self-esteem issues.
You really can't get much better than this for the 1930's. And it seems to be over before you know it.
Rating:
Summary: All-Star Cast in One of Hollywoods All-Time Classics
Review: The "divine" Garbo, along with many stars of the day sparkle in this Gem of a Hollywood Classic! -- A day at Grand Hotel: Garbo is a dramatic ballerina who falls for charming small-time crook John Barrymore. Her scenes alone are worth the price of this video! A young Joan Crawford plays a little secretary who first feels sorry for, then decides to become the mistress of an elderly accountant who had "saved his pennies" and now wants to "live it up" before he dies. A greedy rags to riches brute is the perfect villain; the entire cast delights in this dated but delicious piece of Hollywood candy. You won't be disappointed with this one!
Rating:
Summary: GRAND ENTERTAINMENT.....
Review: The Best Picture of 1931-2 "Grand Hotel" deserved it's Oscar and deserves it's place in history as a forerunner of star-studded films to come. The cast alone is worth watching the film for. But the film stands on it's own as well and is smoothly done considering the intertwining stories of various people whose paths (and fates) cross in that posh Berlin establishment. Greta Garbo as a depressed ballerina is one reason to see this but there's John and Lionel Barrymore in great roles, Joan Crawford as an ambitious stenographer with moral issues, Wallace Beery and other recognizable actors in character roles. Warner Bros. has done a good job with the DVD print so this is definitely a collector's item. There are some amazing interior shots inside the hotel with a wonderful art deco look to them. This hotel where "nothing ever happens" is a must for vintage classic film lovers. It's a rare treasure that's been wonderfully preserved for future film lovers to enjoy. See it for a classic look at what going to the movies in the 30's used to be about.
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