The Academy expanded the number of film nominated for Outstanding Production to an unprecedented eight for the year 1931/1932. They had previously never had more than five nominated films, so we can see again that even in its infancy, the Academy was retooling and tweaking its process for determining the year’s best film.

Grand Hotel, the 1931/1932 winner was in many ways the most sophisticated film yet to win the award. Just as Cimarron impressively opened with a reenactment of the Oklahoma Land Rush, Grand Hotel opened with a more subtle, but equally impressive bit of camera work and scene planning. The film actually opens with the main players all speaking to different unseen people on the telephone. The Porter is on the phone with the hospital getting updates on his wife’s condition as she goes through labor, complaining that he can’t leave or he’ll lose his job. The Baron (John Barrymore) complains that he’s out of money, but he has his eye on the Dancer and will soon get what he came for. General Director Preysing goes over the details of a pending company merger with his father, fretting that they’ll be in big trouble if the merger does not go through. Finally, Otto Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore) speaks with the executor of his will, telling him that he’s been diagnosed with a terminal illness and that he’ll be spending his last days here at the Grand Hotel, living in the kind of opulence of which he’s only dreamed.

The following scene is an impressive dance of cameras and actors as the audience is introduced to the comings and goings of people in the hotel, including Flaemmchen, the stenographer (Joan Crawford), who is hired to record notes for Preysing. The whole scene is like a dance played out on stage with actors hitting their marks and their cues. The cameras and actors work in excellent synchronicity as we follow characters, learn their issues and are introduced to their stories. As the Baron and Kringelein meet outside of their room, Preysing gruffly enters his as well, and then they see Grusinskaya, the Dancer (Greta Garbo).  She’s depressed because no one is coming to see her dance anymore, and she doesn’t think she will dance ever again.

What happens from there is four seemingly unrelated stories that all come together over the course of the plot to one final gut wrenching conclusion. This is a fascinating story about friendship, ethics and living life to the fullest. Thematically it’s a powerful film as the Baron learns about what’s really important in life. As the audience, we’re rooting for him to be able to make the right choice. The problem for him is that he has a lifetime full of wrong choices, so even when he makes the right choice here he goes about it in the wrong way, ultimately causing his ruin. Conversely, we have Kringelein, a man who never had anything go his way, never ended up on the winning side of anything, but has now decided to live life to the fullest and to reward himself and a lifetime of hard work by spending his last few days in luxury. Their internal paths cross when the Baron finds Kringelein’s wallet and it has enough cash in it to pay his debts and allow him to run away with Grusinskaya, with whom he’s fallen in love, and he’s tempted to keep it, actually hiding it in his pocket. But upon hearing how losing the money will ruin Kringelein and destroy his last opportunity at a happy ending to a largely unhappy life, the Baron relents, and comes up with a ruse that he found the wallet on the floor and he returns it to Kringelein, earning the latter’s undying respect and gratitude.

That’s how we end up rooting for the Baron throughout the story. He’s a man who has lived beyond his means and now he owes money to nefarious characters. He has a plan to steal Grusinskaya’s pearls while she’s dancing, but she unexpectedly returns early, refusing to dance in her state of depression. She catches the Baron in her room and he has another ruse for her about admiring her so much that he needed to be in her room. Instead of being freaked out by an apparent stalker (it was a different time, after all), Grusinskaya stays up all night talking with the Baron and she feels alive for the first time in years. In fact, the Baron has reinvigorated her desire to dance.

The Baron has another girl fall for him as well in Flaemmchen. She’s the polar opposite of Grusinskaya, as she’s a plain girl with a plain job and not a lot of money or sophistication. However, her feet are firmly planted on the ground and she lives in the reality that the rest of us know. The Baron is thus presented with a choice between two women. One that he clearly wants to be with and one that he clearly needs to be with. Ultimately the Baron does what he’s done most of his life and he makes the wrong choice, trying to steal Preysing’s wallet while Preysing tries unsuccessfully to seduce Flaemmchen. Enraged, Preysing beats the Baron to death. That event allows Kringelein to show true heroism and bravery for the first time in his life as he stands up to Preysing, who has up to that point been a domineering presence in Kringelein’s existence. No more. Kringelein seizes the power and makes sure that Preysing is lead away in handcuffs. All of this leads Kringelein to a new lust for life. He no longer wants to die, and it seems as though he’s been reborn in an archetypal way. He leaves the hotel with Flaemmchen, promising to take care of her and she promises to keep him alive. Two  lost  souls who found each other.

That is the basis of good drama and that is why this is a film that aspiring screenwriters should see. There isn’t a lot of action in this film, but there is a lot of depth to both the story and to the characters. The plot has several twists and turns and there are competing story lines and subplots that are all woven together in a manner that will keep the audience engaged. Obviously the film is very dated, and there are certain things that happen that you simply wouldn’t see in a modern film, but the crafting of this story is instructive, and you can see that this film has influenced many, many films that have come after it.

Did the Academy get it right?

I believe they did. Shanghai Express starring Marlene Dietrich was one of the films nominated against it, and that film has become iconic for its use of lighting and production design to help tell a story that was intense and riveting. The original version of The Champ was also released that year, which was another iconic film in its own right. I haven’t seen any of the other films nominated, but based on the depth of the characters and how well their issues were interwoven into the story, along with the exceptional cinematography, Grand Hotel is the whole package and certainly worthy of Academy recognition.