GRAND HOTEL = Dated Curiosity
MGM pulled out all the stars on contract for this melodrama supreme as various "character types" come to and fro in this still enjoyable but very dated movie from 1932. Greta Garbo ( yes, the infamous line "I want to be alone!" is here in tact ) stars as a very neurotic ballerina who finds love with John Barrymore's high-end hotel theif while brother Lionel is poor slob who thinks he only has months to live and Joan Crawford ( in an exceptionally good turn ) plays blohard Wallace Beery's "stenographer" who may or may not be a woman with a past. All very glitzy and fast-paced, this early talkie may be a strain on some viewrs who won't get past the wonderful b&w photography, but for those who stick with it, it turn out to be ultra hokey fun!