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March 25, 2008
Oscar Challenge: Grand Hotel
Imagine The Love Boat set in a gorgeous Art Deco hotel in Germany in 1932. That's pretty much Grand Hotel in a nutshell. And let me emphasize the word "nut". There wasn't a single character in this film who wasn't in serious need of some medication.
Don't get me wrong. I really liked it. The Barrymores were both amazing, Joan Crawford was at her maximal hotness, and once I stopped wanting to slap her, Greta Garbo was hypnotically interesting.
But gee, it was unsettling. Aaron Spelling neatly tied up every plot, happily or not, on The Love Boat. At the Grand Hotel, we are left with an unfinished chord, never to see the spectacular Garbo freakout that's looming on the horizon, nor will we witness the catastrophe that awaits Crawford in Paris. Bummersby.