Dinner at Eight (1933)

Wait a minute, haven't I seen this movie before?

Well, not quite. But Dinner at Eight (1933) could remind viewers of Grand Hotel in several ways.

First off, several actors from Grand Hotel are back for Dinner at Eight. John Barrymore's Larry Renault is a washed-up actor who hasn't succeeded making the transition from silent films to the talkies. His best asset, his looks, is on the downside.

In Grand Hotel, Barrymore was The Baron, a thief posing as a supposedly suave aristocrat to pinch Marlene Dietrich's pearls. Oh, he also needed money badly or risked being roughed up, if not killed, by his criminal colleagues.

Lionel Barrymore was Kringelein in Grand Hotel, a bookkeeper for a big businessman who is dying and wants to live out his last days blowing his estate in fine living. Here, he's Oliver Jordan, an owner of a shipping business who finds tough times running his empire during the Great Depression. Plus, someone is buying up his company's stock with the goal of pushing him out as owner. It doesn't help that out flame Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler) wants to sell her shares in Jordan's company because she's starting to be squeezed for cash.

That brings us to Wallace Beery. He was Preysing in Grand Hotel, the businessman desperate to make a deal while finding time for some monkey business with Joan Crawford's stenographer. In Dinner at Eight, his character Dan Packard is a businessman eager to clinch deals and make connections in Washington. He's married a fine-looking, but tough talking, piece of eye candy in Kitty (Jean Harlow). She wants to play doctor with physician Wayne Talbot (Edmund Lowe).

So, three of Grand Hotel's principal cast are back for Dinner at Eight.

Well, how about the plot?

Grand Hotel was pretty much set at a swank German hotel.

Here, all the action is tied to a dinner party Jordan's wife Millicent (Billie Burke) wants to host to welcome a couple from England's high society.

Dinner at Eight runs nearly two hours, but all its attention centres on preparations leading up to the bash.

What can give viewers some indigestion is trying to figure out what type of movie Dinner at Eight is supposed to be. Its mood varies widely depending on the subplot. Larry Renault keeps pounding back booze with the knowledge the good times are long gone. No laughs there. The Packards start off looking like a couple fighting for laughs, but the unhappiness in their relationship gets fleshed out as the movie continues. This marriage is in rough shape. Even the maid sees a chance to cash in on their discord.

Millicent's efforts to organize her party are on the light side. There's problems in the kitchen. Her servants are at each other's throats. Meanwhile, hubby Oliver is dealing with a serious illness that could drop his anchor for good.

Karen Morley appears briefly as Talbot's wife, Lucy. She knows all about his dalliances with patients, but continues to stand by him. Again, the heaviness of wife confronting husband seems strange in a film that includes pratfalls on stairs.

Watch for some fine support work from Louise Closser Hale and Grant Mitchell. They're relatives of Millicent's who are pressed into service when some dinner party invitees can't attend. Mitchell's Ed Loomis wold rather be at the movies watching a Great Garbo film. There's another tie to Grand Hotel.

Great cast. Interesting storylines. But audiences might be confused about what type of movie they're watching. Comedy? Drama? Melodrama?


RATING: 8/10

MORBID AND FUN FACTS: Director George Cukor also helmed the very fine The Philadelphia Story .

Marie Dressler died in 1934. She was 65. Louise Closser Hale would only earn one more credit, Duck Soup , before her death in 1933 at age 60.

The Public Enemy (1931)

The Public Enemy is Ground Zero for Hollywood gangster films.


This 1931 crime drama from Warner Brothers is a breakthrough for James Cagney, one of the big screen's all-time gangster greats. The Roaring Twenties and White Heat would follow over the next two decades. Here, in only his fourth role, Cagney owns the screen as Tom Powers.


HORSES AREN'T SAFE EITHER


Powers is in trouble with the law even when he's a kid. Even a steady job with a good income isn't enough for Powers to escape crime's lure. When it comes to settling a score, Powers is a killer. This guy is so tough he even shoots a horse when it throws his boss, gangster leader Nails Nathan (Leslie Fenton), and kills him. That's called following through on anyone who challenges mob rule.


Watch for a scene near the film's end when Cagney offers an early peek at the psychotic Cody Jarrett he'd play in White Heat nearly 20 years later.


CHEERS TO CASH WITH BOOZE


The Public Enemy follows Powers, and long-time buddy Matt Doyle (Edward Woods), from their childhood through to the 1920s and Prohibition. There's lots of money to be paid in the booze business, but an awful price to be paid in gangland wars.


The Public Enemy was an early showcase for the all-too-brief career of Jean Harlow. Most of her previous work, in efforts such as Bacon Grabbers and New York Nights, were shorts or uncredited roles. She'd be dead six years later at 26.


Here, she's Gwen Allen, the gorgeous dame Powers eyes walking on a downtown street in Chicago.


What may surprise viewers is just how much reference is made to Powers' dealings with the ladies. He's living common-law with one woman he met in a bar, dumps her for Allen and, when drunk, is taken advantage of by another.


FAMOUS SCREEN MOM


Beryl Mercer notched two of the most-famous screen mother roles in back-to-back years. She was Paul's mother in All Quiet on the Western Front in 1930 and appeared as Cagney's mom the next year. Ma Powers loves her son, but never takes him to task for his errant ways. That job falls to his stiff older brother, Mike (Donald Cook). He's a straight-laced First World War veteran who repeatedly urges his sibling to leave the criminal underworld. To this viewer, it looks like Public Enemy suggests Mike might have a touch of post-traumatic stress disorder following his efforts to defeat the German army. He's a killer too, but on behalf of defending the United States.


How interesting that Cagney and Harlow went on to screen stardom, but
Edward Woods only made 13 films and was out of Hollywood before the decade ended. He died in 1989. Robert Emmett O'Connor, who appears as Paddy Ryan, made more than 200 screen appearances before his death in 1962 at 77. Here, he's Paddy Ryan, a mob boss Powers and Doyle follow after getting stiffed by Putty Nose (Murray Kinnell). Kinnell's film career was breif too, spanning 1930-1937.

The Public Enemy offers a disturbing finale after Powers is kidnapped from a hospital by a rival gang. Even 80 years later, his fate is unsettling.


If you have time, give a listen to commentary by film historian Robert Sklar. Details about the film's climatic scene, and the importance of family, are fascinating to hear.


RATING: 8/10

FUN FACTS: Director William Wellman directed the 1937 version of A Star is Born.

Libeled Lady (1936)

William Powell rocks.

He was a treat to watch in The Thin Man, reviewed earlier this year on this site.

Powell's a treat again in the comedy, Libeled Lady. This 1936 release from MGM earned an Academy Award nomination for best picture.

GREAT STORY, BUT IT'S NOT TRUE

A New York newspaper is in serious trouble. The daily has gone front page, above the fold, big type with news of millionaire socialitie Connie Allenburg's dalliances in England.

It's a juicy piece on the rich single woman (Myrna Loy), but there's not an ounce of truth to the sordid tale.

Editor Haggerty (Spencer Tracy) ends up delaying his marriage, again, to Gladys (Jean Harlow) to deal with the crisis. He's not as broken up about it as Gladys. Haggerty has some commitment issues.

THE PAPER'S FUTURE IS IN PERIL

His paper has repeatedly locked horns with Allenburg's father. This is the perfect chance for the vengeful pops to torpedo his print adversary with a $5-million lawsuit. Haggerty knows if he doesn't come up with a good plan an obituary will soon be penned for his publication.

Enter his old adversary Bill Chandler (Powell), a troubleshooter with plenty of past experience with the paper. He needs some serious scratch to make good on a rather large tab at the Grand Plaza where he's staying.

Haggerty and Chandler agree on a plan. They'll snag Allenburg in a fabricated sticky situation with a married man. To move things along, Chandler marries Gladys. The justice of the peace is a little confused when the bride kisses Haggerty longer than her new husband.

HE FALLS FOR HIS PREY

Connie, well familiar with gold diggers, is initially very much suspicious with Chandler rubbing shoulders with her and her father. But as her apprehensions ease, Chandler finds himself falling in love with the woman who gets some less than great press.

Gladys, sick of Haggerty continually pushing back their nuptials, falls for Chandler's attentiveness and kind ways. When she learns he's putting the moves on Connie, she's determined to get her husband back.

Libeled Lady is great fun. There's some time between the really loud guffaws, but that's OK. Adding to this film's enjoyment is the twists and turns as characters learn about each other's actions and adjust their own behaviour.

HE WROTE THE BOOK ON FISHING (NOT)

A fishing scene with Chandler and father and daughter Allenburg is a hoot.
Chandler, who has billed himself as a fishing authority, has never held a reel in his life. There's some great slapstick comedy and a great story about the fish he tangles with.

THAT'S HOW IT IS

This blogger, a full-time reporter with a daily paper, usually shakes his head in frustration when seeing how reporters are depicted in the movies. Here, most of the action at the paper rings true. Always fear trying to track down all the copies of an edition when a story makes print that shouldn't.

RATING: 8.5/10

WORTH REPEATING:

Gladys: "Today's my wedding day."
Maid: "Again, Miss Gladys?"

Connie on Chandler: "If he's first class, I'll travel steerage."

Haggerty on Gladys being married to Chandler: "She may be his wife, but she's engaged to me."

Gladys, when frustrated with Haggerty: "Well, marry the newspaper and be the proud father of a lot of headlines."

FUN FACTS: Harlow and Powell were dating when Libeled Lady was filmed. Their relationship is described in Charles Francisco's Gentleman: The William Powell Story. She wanted to get married. He, after two failed marriages, was hesitant. Harlow died in 1937 at age 26. Francisco describes Powell giving the funeral director a single gardenia to put in Harlow's casket. "Good night, my dearest darling," his note read.

See if you can find Harlow as an extra in Libeled Lady. Director Jack Conway was short a woman in the background of a scene. Harlow donned a wig and went to work.

E.E. Clive, who appears as a fishing instructor, had roles in The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein.