Watch Week-End at the Waldorf For Free

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Highly Overrated But Still Good

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Forget the notion of this film as a version of "Grand Hotel." The only similarity is that both films are set in a luxurious hotel with stories about different hotel guests. The 1932 classic was based on a 1929 German novel, "People at a Hotel," by Vicki Baum. The "Week-End at the Waldorf" screenwriters borrowed the idea, but the time, place, culture, people and stories all are different. "The Longest Day" and "Saving Private Ryan" are both set in World War II, but that doesn't make them similar, or one a remake of the other. "Stagecoach" and "High Noon" are both Westerns with good guys, bad guys, horses, shooting and action, but their stories are completely different. "Grand Hotel" was a classic film of 1932. Instead of comparing apples to oranges, one can see that this film is a classic of its own. It has several very good stories. Some of them intertwine, but not all with one another. The greatest thing about this film is the humor. The earlier film had none, but this one has superb, sophisticated comedy. The repartee in several scenes between Ginger Rogers and Walter Pidgeon is priceless. She is Irene Malvern, a prominent movie star in New York for her latest film premier and to attend the wedding of a friend. He is Chip Collyer, a renowned war correspondent on a two-week visit to the States before heading back to report on the war in Europe. But, Irene mistakes Chip for the boyfriend of her maid, Anna. Anna has told Irene that her boyfriend plans to steal Irene's jewels. Irene tells her to give him the key to her suite, as planned, and that she, Irene, will confront Anna's lover about going straight. This is the funniest dialog in any film I know of with a theme of mistaken identity. It is riotously funny. Rogers and Pidgeon must have had a ball filming their scenes. I wonder how many takes were needed. There must have been frequent crack-ups from some of their lines. After Irene finds out who Chip is, they have even more hilarious scenes. The film has other very good subplots. A tender romance develops between hotel stenographer Bunny Smith (Lana Turner) and Army Air Force pilot Capt. James Hollis (Van Johnson). He has no living relatives and is heading to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC, for a serious operation to remove shrapnel from near his heart. Martin Edley (Edward Arnold) is a wheeler-dealer who plies an Arab potentate, the Bey of Aribajan (George Zucco) for a questionable oil deal at the end of WW II. Randy Morton (Robert Benchley) is a newspaper columnist who resides at the Waldorf and writes about life there and its interesting guests. Dr. Robert Campbell is an M.D. with an office in the Waldorf. A childhood friend of Irene's, he's getting married in the hotel's grand ballroom the next day. A young newlywed couple - he a naval officer, has come to stay at the Waldorf before he ships off to war. When they find there are no rooms, a longtime resident, Mr. Jessup, lets them use his apartment while he's away on business. Bandleader Xavier Cugat plays himself in a nice subplot, and his orchestra broadcasts live at night from the Starlight Room atop the hotel. The hotel itself takes center stage with the shining it gets by an army of employees before the morning traffic, and in the myriad services the hotel provides. Other small stories give a glimpse of the culture of the times. Banks of telephone operators busily connect guests with outside calls. Hotel room service, a barbershop, a florist and other shops are reminiscent of large hotels of the past.It's a wonderful combination of stories, with comedy, romance, drama, music and some skullduggery. A cast of more than 160 includes a number of other well-known actors. All do a superb job in their roles. Among those not already named are Keenan Wynn, Leon Ames, Phyllis Thaxter, Samuel Hinds, Porter Hall, Frank Puglia, Miles Mander, Warner Anderson, Rosemary DeCamp and Charles Wilson. "Week-End at the Waldorf" is a superb film that should be in any film library. Here's a sample of the funny dialog. For more, see the Quotes section under this IMDb Web page of the movie. Martin Edley, "You wrote a lot of lies about me. You know very well I was acquitted." Chip Collyer, "Yeah, that's because I went off to war."Oliver Webson, "Say, could I have a drink? I've had a tough day." Chip Collyer, "You sure it won't dull the keen edge of that razor-like mind of yours?"Irene Malvern, "You took a mean advantage of a poor, devoted soul." Chip Collyer, "Did I?" Irene Malvern, "You just can't help taking things, can you?" Irene Malvern, "Do you want to go to prison?" Chip Collyer, "Uh, that's uh... an experience I've never really had." Chip Collyer, "They, uh, call me The Baron." Irene Malvern, "Who's they?" Chip Collyer, "The gang." Irene Malvern, "You mean you work with a gang?" Chip Collyer, "Well, a syndicate, if you prefer."Irene Malvern, "Wait! Will the police know you by sight" Chip Collyer, "There isn't a cop in New York who doesn't." Irene Malvern, "Wait here, then. I'll get rid of the detective." Chip Collyer, "Oh, you don't think any lawyer in his right mind would have me as his client, anymore than any woman in her right mind would have me as a husband?" Irene Malvern, "Oh, I wouldn't say that." Irene Malvern, "Chip, darling?" Chip Collyer, looking up from a breakfast tray, "Huh?" Irene Malvern, "Precious. Cynthia, this is my husband. (Chip drops toast in his coffee.) Precious, this is Cynthia Drew. She's marrying Bobby Campbell this afternoon." Chip Collyer, "Huh?"

Last night my wife and I, watched this film, made towards the end of WWII. When I sat down to watch this, it was immediately captivating once I accepted that this was to be made in the idiom of the time. This was shot when we were at war, with news of the death or maiming of a loved one a fear that those who went to the movies wanted to get some relief from. We first see Van Johnson, the decent every-guy who was facing an operation to remove shrapnel from his chest,close to his heart, that would obviously cut his life short, unless removed. The operation was scheduled for Tuesday (The Weekend is two days of real time.) The first scene is the surgeon dictating the letter to the military hospital, as we see the reaction of the stenographer, Lana Turner, as she learns he has only a fifty percent chance to survive, and that's only if he has a "will to live."Lana Turner and Van Johnson were movie stars whose picture on the cover of fan magazine was a sure boost for sales. In this film, with the complex plot unfolding, they were true actors playing their part, conveying lines written by others that they embraced fully. Johnson become the decent pilot whose best friend he "kidded" into joining him on a mission, that he did not survive. A guilt that consumed the Pilot, making that necessary will to live something that was problematic. For those who want a narrative of the story, it is on the Wikipedia article (with a note that it may be too detailed) but this is written on a political website, and I'm going to make detour using this film as a template for a conversation between two eras, that of when the film was written, that happens to be when I was just grasping the world as a toddler, and today, some three quarters of century of the progression of history. One graphic illustration of the change of this time span is the scene out the window, a view South showing the Empire State Building 18 blocks to the South, with this skyscraper then the tallest building in the world since completion in 1933, , and still standing alone like the Washington Monument in D.C. There was no building done in the United States, and actually the world, as the depression started soon after the opening, and then the war. That was twelve years of two very different causes of economic paralysis. So this contrived plot, from the view out the window to the interplay of the fictional characters had a ring of truth that is exceptional. We see Stenographer Lana Turner, with intelligence, ambition and beauty having to make a choice. Either she could become a private secretary to an amoral international con-man, allowing her to live a life that would wipe out the memory of her raw hell's kitchen childhood, or it was growing old as she worked in an office. While the lines were fiction, the choice for those times were genuine. And the film depicted this challenge, and her decision that was not sugar coated, but one that reflected perfectly what life as like for the vast majority of women. The several shots of the bank of telephone operators, an exaggeration of the numbers for the 1500 room hotel, but not of the millions of women who spent their working life with conversations limited to responding to "number please." As far as racial issues, they were completely avoided, as there wasn't a single frame, including in the crowd shots of anyone who was other than than, on appearance, being of the "Caucasian" race. In the two reviews that are extant, Variety and the N.Y. Times, this is not noted, as this is the way things were. There were "race films" in this era --and then everything else. The division between male and female, black and white in the film were a starting point for drama or comedy. Not a single person who viewed this film, absolutely absorbed in the humor and the drama sequestered in the darkness of their local theater could have imagined the world we live in now.

Pleasant reworking of Grand Hotel changes most of what made that film a classic but is entertaining enough on its own. For starters, the tone to this one is far different than Grand Hotel. This is a lighter film with more focus on romance and humor. The setting is changed as well as it is updated to WW2 America. The war figures heavily into several of the story lines. As with Grand Hotel, this is about various characters staying at a plush hotel and how their stories intertwine. The hotel here is the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Most of the plots have been altered from the original but certain characteristics remain. Ginger Rogers plays a weary actress who falls for equally weary war correspondent Walter Pidgeon, believing him to be a jewel thief. Lana Turner is a stenographer who ponders boss Edward Arnold's "indecent proposal" while falling for bomber pilot Van Johnson. Other actors include Robert Benchley, George Zucco, Keenan Wynn, Samuel S. Hinds, and Leon Ames. Xavier Cugat plays himself and provides a little music. It's all watchable enough and even enjoyable, especially if you aren't nagged by comparisons to Grand Hotel. The cast is nice (except for an overacting Rosemary DeCamp) and the MGM production is classy as you might expect. It won't change your life but I highly doubt you'll regret watching it.

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.