Grand Hotel - 1932

There are no scenes where Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford are in the same frame. This was done to eliminate the possibility that one of the two great stars might upstage the other.

Joan Crawford was irked by Greta Garbo's insistence on top billing and decided to take her revenge. Knowing that Garbo loathed tardiness and Marlene Dietrich in equal measures, Crawford played Dietrich records between shots and made sure to arrive late on set.

The only Best Picture Oscar winner not to be nominated for any other Academy Awards.

MGM bought the film rights for $35,000 and had already made a profit from the material thanks to the Broadway play.

Buster Keaton was first choice to play the Lionel Barrymore part.

Greta Garbo turned down the role not because she refused to share the spotlight, but because she believed that at 27 she was too old to play a prima ballerina.

Greta Garbo wanted John Gilbert to play her lover but his recent lackluster box office record precluded that.

Wallace Beery also turned down his part, only to take it again when promised that he would be the only actor to act in the film with a German accent.

Both Greta Garbo and John Barrymore were very wary about working with each other. In actuality they got on quite well, to the extent that she allowed rare backstage photos of them be taken.

Greta Garbo requested the stage be lit in red to create a more romantic atmosphere for rehearsals.

The ensemble cast never actually all appeared together.

Extra scenes with Greta Garbo were added after previews to ensure that Joan Crawford didn't walk off with the picture.

Depite them not having any scenes together, Joan Crawford often tried to talk to Greta Garbo, and would say "Hello, Miss Garbo" whenever the two would pass each other in the hall. Garbo never responded, so Crawford gave up and stopped saying anything. This led to Garbo stopping Crawford as she walked silently past her, and asking, "Aren't you going to say something to me?"

The quote "I want to be alone" spoken by Greta Garbo in this movie was listed at #30 in AFI List of Top 100 Quotes From U.S. Films.

Author and playwright Vicki Baum based "Menschen im Hotel" both on a true story about a scandal at a hotel involving a stenographer and an industrial magnate, and on her own experiences working as a chambermaid at two well-known Berlin hotels.

During the filming of the busy lobby scenes, the actors wore socks over their shoes to prevent noise. Reportedly two hundred pairs of woolen socks were worn out daily.

The role of Suzette was intended for Pauline Frederick but she was forced to pull out due to illness.

Wallace Beery was originally upset at being cast as Preysing, believing that playing an amoral business tycoon would wreck his image, and tried to stage a "walkout" in protest. When he relented, he reportedly decided to steal as much of the show as possible and constantly tried to upstage the other stars in the film.

The original MGM Grand in Las Vegas (where Bally's now stands) was built to resemble the design of this film.

In 1989, a new musical adaptation was produced for Broadway. It opened Nov 12, 1989 at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York and ran for 1,017 performances. Among the replacement cast members during its long run were Cyd Charisse as Grusinskaya (the Greta Garbo role in this film) and John Schneider as Felix Von Gaigern (the John Barrymore role in this film).

Adapted from the Broadway play "Grand Hotel" by William A. Drake, as translated from the German play "Menschen im Hotel" by Vicki Baum. The original Broadway production opened Nov. 13, 1930 at the National Theatre in New York and ran for 459 performances. Rafaela Ottiano originated her movie role of Suzette in the play. Other opening night cast members (with their character names) included Albert Dekker (The Baron), Sig Ruman (Preysing), Sam Jaffe (Kringelein), Romaine Callender (Otternschlag) and Walter Baldwin (Desk Clerk).
Vicki Baum's original play opened in Berlin in February, 1930.

Originally conceived by MGM production chief as one of the first All-Star vehicles. Conventional wisdom of the time was that you put no more than one or two of your biggest stars in a picture so as to lower production cost and to maximize profits. Grand Hotel (1932) featured 5 of MGM's top tiered stars and was one of the highest grossing pictures in studio history.

The theatrical trailer which is commonly shown on behalf of this film was designed for an intended, but unrealized, 1944 re-release, and reflects the promotional style and lettering of the 1940's, not the 1930's. The original 1932 trailer is apparently lost. It would have most likely looked similar in design to the film's opening credit sequence.

Irving Thalberg originally wanted his wife Norma Shearer to play the role of Flaemmchen. However, she received a lot of fan mail in which fans discouraged her to take the role, after which she refused the part.

The only film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture without receiving any other nominations.

Cast of Grand Hotel

Greta Garbo ..... Grusinskaya
John Barrymore ..... Baron Felix von Geigern
Joan Crawford ..... Flaemmchen
Wallace Beery ..... General Director Preysing
Lionel Barrymore ..... Otto Kringelein
Lewis Stone ..... Dr. Otternschlag
Jean Hersholt ..... Senf
Robert McWade ..... Meierheim
Purnell Pratt ..... Zinnowitz
Ferdinand Gottschalk ..... Pimenov
Rafaela Ottiano ..... Suzette
Morgan Wallace ..... Chauffeur
Tully Marshall ..... Gerstenkorn
Frank Conroy ..... Rohna
Murray Kinnell ..... Schweimann