Grand for Its Women

This month, Criterion has a playlist of hotel movies, among them 1932's Grand Hotel, one of the keystone films of cinema history. I hadn't seen it in ages. Among its extraordinary ensemble cast are two of the most beautiful women ever to grace the screen, Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford. It'd been too long since I'd seen either one.

Garbo was a silent film star who successfully transitioned to sound films, though only for about a decade. Caricatures of Garbo and impressions of her generally are of someone cold and aloof so it always feels like a revelation seeing how emotional she was in her roles. The silent film star always had to convey a lot with expressions and gestures and in her trembling brows and lips you can see how finely tuned her instrument was. Far from cold, she's startlingly warm and natural.

Joan Crawford, though she'd been in silent films, was the future. Her brash, almost swaggering performances were paired with a different kind of vulnerability. How I love early Joan Crawford. I wouldn't say my addiction to old movies started with her but it was certainly given a shot of adrenaline when I watched a marathon of her movies from the '30s on TCM about twenty-five years ago. Beautiful, sharp, and aggressive, she effortlessly took control of every scene she was in.

John Barrymore is cool, too.

Grand Hotel is available on The Criterion Channel.