Dinner at Eight (1933)
You know this is one of those films you figure it's going to be a comedy but looking at it years later it feels more like a tragedy. Dinner at Eight is the story of a family (The Jordans) who are/were wealthy but it's the depression and one of the biggest stock holders (Marie Dressler) decides that she needs to sell her stake with the company.
The whole family is tangled up in business and sexual ties with Jean Harlow in the center chewing up scenery as a kept woman. One of the things I really appreciate about this film is how having a strong knowledge of Hollywood history the tragedies that befell the actors give it a bit of a boost.
This is a story very much of it's time as it's one of the last parties before everyone goes broke a WWII starts though the irony is so many member of the cast...
Wallace Beery is the villain of the story (sort of) his career basically ends in 5 years when he's involved in the murder of Ted Healy(the guy that created the Three Stooges). He passes on before 1950.
Marie Dressler the woman who starts the plot gets top billing but is really just there for the bookends. She was an unusual star from this era sort of like Meryl Streep and Oprah mixed together well you can kind of tell she's dying...and she does a year later.
John Barrymore was a legendary stage actor he plays a silent screen actor whose getting older and is running out of money, is getting dumped by his agent and is in a relationship with the 19 year old daughter. This is almost a parody of Barrymore's real life with the financial troubles alcoholism..he dies in 1942.
Lionel Barrymore plays the patriarch of the family...he's got health issues which is once again ironic because everyone knows Lionel ends up in a wheelchair a few years later.
And finally who really was the star of the film Jean Harlow
Who also dies just a couple years later at the age of 26(so I think she was 22 at this point)
So watching this film with all of this added historical weight makes the film seem less like a comedy and more like a docu-drama. This whole idea of these celebrities living in the dying days of opulence but we know that these people are literally going to die rather soon...it's adds a bit of heft to what feels like a basic stage production.
I love how all the old men have ridiculously younger wives...and it's a plot point...in the 30's. I like how it touches on sex, domestic abuse, and mortality...but it's also supposed to be a comedy. While I never laughed at anything in the film I did enjoy it...relatively.
BTW I strongly recommend the film Barrymore which stared Christopher Plummer who talks about John Barrymore