mark.waltz It's really all about the cast, 'cause there's not much else in this lampoon of MGM's 1932 Oscar Winning Best Picture. All of the archetypes of the Vicki Baum characters are there, but it ends up being closer to an overlong episode of Aaron Spelling's 1980's TV series "Hotel". Once Ginger Rogers, as a lonely and exhausted movie star, mentions to war correspondent Walter Pidgeon (whom she mistakenly believes is a thief) that their situation is like "Grand Hotel's" Garbo and John Barrymore, the parody falls right out of the parlor,. and it becomes very difficult to take any of it seriously anymore, even with the lavish production, all-star cast and MGM gloss.The story lines seem far too preposterous to be believable in World War II era New York, especially that of Rogers agreeing to interview her maid's jewel thief boyfriend, Van Johnson disturbing Xavier Cugat (as himself) to search for sheet music, and Edward Arnold as a business promoter trying to finalize a big deal with Arab sheiks. Lana Turner is really wasted as a stenographer who bounces around from assignment to assignment, her sudden involvement with Johnson and being used by boss Arnold rather forced. The real problem is the transition from each sequence to another, unsuccessful in its flow. It's all professional to be sure, but ultimately, this hotel may be full on guests, but it is lacking in atmosphere.Another problem is the film's overlength: 90 minutes of situations disguised as a plot, 10 minutes of Xavier Cugat music, and 30 minutes of the situations exploding into a supposed plot resolution. This is really a missed opportunity with all that talent in front of and behind the cameras going to waste.

Panamint For some reason the sheik's assistant walking the goat on a leash stands out in my memory of this film. It's a nice humorous touch, but I believe it might be a small indication that the "Grand Hotel" genre was becoming a satire of itself by the time this film was made. Van Johnson was a terrific and underrated actor. He was so pleasant and made it look so easy that you may tend to not always notice his skill. However, you will see his ability in this film if you really try to notice what he is doing. Lana Turner is so tiny and beautiful that at first you might not notice the acting that she contributes here, but she does a good job and is perfect for this role.There is one major flaw in this film. The Lana Turner character would never in real life forgo the lucrative and exciting career (and all its $) to leave the state with a poor soldier. I hate to say it, but in the real world this would never happen - be it 1945 or today. It is totally movie fiction. He might likely come back to N.Y. to be with her, but not vise versa. Thus this film carefully sets you up for a big resolution, but then it doesn't ring true. Ginger Rodgers seems like a bored actress portraying a tired and bored actress. After all, she can't be expected to add her usual energy and verve if she is portraying a tired, burnt-out character. I will give her a pass and say it is not Rodger's fault. Pidgeon plays charm to the hilt and thereby salvages his portrayal of a tired man on leave for rest, and at least his character's actions are explainable in the context of a war.The supporting actors are all first-rate, especially Benchley as a self-absorbed eccentric. Good role and character that gives this film what it needs most- extra liveliness.Cougat and his lively music add to some extent- but when he is forced to repeatedly showcase a very slow ballad his potential is somewhat muted. Lina Romay of the exciting act but thin voice is also featured briefly.This is a watchable and professionally-made film and I can recommend that anyone view it, especially for the effective acting by Johnson. However, when a small Robert Benchley part and a goat are highlights, obviously it lacks something.

carvalheiro "Week-end at the Waldorf" (1945) directed by Robert Zigler Leonard is a bit of New York City and because of that, it is also a curious movie well illuminated by light inside the shadowy rooms, the elevators, the hall, the corridors and the floors, the views from the windows, even the decoration of the doors, when a kind of candidate for a burglar of high society and a melancholic actress lodged each one there, somewhere with a common door. That is the core of the story with countless sparks and stark's episodes, also a Mexican orchestra and a visit of a business delegation of a given country from an important region from the world. The oil affair is there as background of a trick for happiness like the loneliness of a gentle man officer remembering as the recently death of a friend in fighting on the finishing war in Europe. Even a small sequence, here and there of a kind of documentary in the middle of this fiction movie, it was very interesting from the time where "I guess he laughs" it was a line said by this Irene about him. The sensation of claustrophobia that this hotel as location in itself brings to the story is minor. When he goes traveling abroad by plane, this one turns the wings near the skyscraper where from the other side she stays observing it through the window of her room - as in close and counter close perspectives of the shots in the last scene - saying reciprocally good bye visually each other, in spite of distances with him by the small window from the plane as in an aerodynamic view of Manhattan and its architectural modernity of the time from the sky in a competitive way with the gray building of the hotel.

didi-5 "Week-end at the Waldorf" was MGM's attempt to cash in on its earlier success "Grand Hotel" (made in 1932) by re-using the idea of Vicki Baum's play and setting it in wartime.So the ballerina becomes the actress (Garbo becomes Ginger Rogers), the Baron becomes the war correspondent (John Barrymore becomes Walter Pidgeon), the sick worker becomes the Captain with a heart problem (Lionel Barrymore becomes Van Johnson), and there is still a stenographer (Joan Crawford becomes Lana Turner). In support is the ever reliable Keenan Wynn as an eager-beaver cub reporter.Where "Grand Hotel" was star-led and rather stagey, with an improbable plot and an air of glamour, "Week-end ..." is somewhat less starry, more cinematic but dull, and lacks the 30s glamour which ran through the earlier film. Rogers does well enough as the bored actress who is waiting for her next film premiere, and Johnson and Pidgeon are personable enough, but Turner doesn't seem to have enough to do and the film, although watchable, feels a little flat.Something of a pointless exercise, really, as the original film, overall, was much better.