Grand Hotel
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: September 11, 1932 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
79
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York Daily NewsIrene Thirer
Each and every performer in the screened Grand Hotel does a remarkable piece of work. To us, Garbo is the supreme of magnificence.
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
GRAND HOTEL remains a classic of its kind. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
From Vicki Baum's novel, scrumptiously directed by Goulding, with a constellation of a cast that includes Greta Garbo, John and Lionel Barrymore and Joan Crawford. [28 Nov 1999, p.35]
100
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Boasting one of the most exciting all-star casts ever assembled, glittering with authentic glamour, this MGM hit is one of those happy instances when art and entertainment are one. [17 Jun 1991, p.F9]
100
Paste MagazineLeila Jordan
Grand Hotel is not just a film, it’s an event to be witnessed. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid Parkinson
Creaky, Aged and utterly enchanting. One to be seen on a proper print if you can. Read full review
80
VarietyAlfred Rushford Greason
The drama unfolds with a speed that never loses its grip, even for the extreme length of nearly two hours, and there is a captivating pattern of unexpected comedy that runs through it all, always fresh and always pat. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
In its day, it provided the ultimate two-hour vacation from the stark day-to-day realities of living during the Great Depression. For 21st century viewers, the film is little more than a curiosity, although it's entertaining enough. Read full review
75
LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen
How thoroughly does Joan Crawford own Grand Hotel? She makes Greta Garbo superfluous. A star parade (and Best Picture winner), Grand Hotel unfairly encourages such comparisons. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
The real reasons to see it are Barrymore, Barrymore and Crawford, the beating hearts of the picture. [21 Jun 2018, p.E5]
70
The New York TimesMordaunt Hall
In all, the picture adheres faithfully to the original and while it undoubtedly lacks the life and depth and color of the play, by means of excellent characterizations it keeps the audience on the qui vive. Read full review
60
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
The 'Nashville' of its day, Grand Hotel's reputation has outgrown its actual quality, and it is now interesting only as an example of the portmanteau style: an interwoven group of contrasting stories allowing a bunch of stars to do their most familiar turns. Read full review
60
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Most of the players give impossibly bad performances—they chew up the camera. But if you want to see what screen glamour used to be, and what, originally, “stars” were, this is perhaps the best example of all time. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
In some ways this 1932 item is the definitive MGM film, in which the direction (Edmund Goulding), screenplay (William A. Drake), and cinematography (William Daniels) all seem deliberately pale, the better to set off the glitter of the stars; they’re like jewels mounted in a deliberately neutral display case. Read full review
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