a hotel be merely a transit station . people come and people go . guest partake in dinner and dancing and gamble while occasionally and something more dramatic unfolds a man and woman fall in love and a heart be break and a person be murder . then the guest leave and and new customer take their place and oblivious to the event that unfold just the previous day . the slate be wipe clean while the hotel have a short memory . a dr otternschlag ( lewis stone ) knowingly mus and grand hotel always the same . people come and people go . nothing ever happen . edmund goulding oscar win grand hotel ( 1932 ) be a mere snapshot of several day in the life of berlin fine rest stop and in which life be change forever and and yet the guest full story can never be know . an astonishing cast greta garbo and john barrymore and lionel barrymore and joan crawford and wallace beery and jean hersholt introduce a new style of storytelling and with ensemble cast of unrelated character whose life inexplicably interweave . a slew of imitation follow in the early 1930s and and author graham greene be inspire to write his first successful novel and stamboul train . in 1932 and the united state be still in the midst of the great depression and but hollywood be optimistic . producer know that audience flock to cinemas precisely to escape their own worrisome life and to temporarily imagine themselves beside their favourite movie star in glitter surroundings . film like grand hotel ( 1932 ) and top hat ( 1935 ) deliver on this promise and with extravagant hotel room and wealthy businessmen flaunt their wealth . the dream of the working class be depict through otto kringelein ( lionel barrymore ) and an unremarkable clerk whose impend death prompt him to splurge his saving and enjoy his final week . the cycle of life be use allegorically to symbolise the circular narrative of life at a hotel . while hotel porter senf ( jean hersholt ) await news of his child birth and a guest await his own death . by the film end and one man be dead and and a baby be bear . other character be abandon before their story have reach a satisfactory conclusion and mimic the continuous nature of life itself . the film cast be occasionally hamper by an acting style leave over from the silent era and but be otherwise excellent . john barrymore be suave and charm a a good hearted pearl thief and and brother lionel be even well and offer a poignant portrait of a die man who finally understand what live life be all about . joan crawford and wallace beery provide able support and but aren not quite as memorable a their co star . grand hotel be my first film to feature actress greta garbo and and for a few minute i be leave wonder exactly why she be hold in such high regard . where be the subtlety in her performance . then she smile and and it be like the sun have rise on a new day . perhaps garbo hadn not yet move on from the silent era and communicate her emotion with thick brush stroke and but when your face can so dazzlingly light up the movie screen and there no hurry . a modern remake of grand hotel would be difficult . the film impact rest largely on the glamour and reputation of it main star and and i think it safe to say that today hollywood doesn not create star like it do in the 1930s .