Although Chaucer and Boccaccio together with many successors dealt with literary interpretations of life in urban settings involving strangers meeting in public places, Vicki Baum was among the first to bring this genre into the twentieth century world of movies and popular fiction. Neil Simon and others owe much to her concept of romanticized drama taking place in a modern hotel setting.<br /><br />Unlike some other film buffs who write here from time to time, I enjoy comparing a movie version to its literary predecessor -- usually some novel or play. Neither is necessarily superior to the other; it's just that understanding the whole context of a good story lends depth and credibility to characters and their motivations.<br /><br />"Grand Hotel" was a first not only in the era of talkies, but of bringing together an ensemble of character actors who were all stars in their own right. Garbo and the Barrymores, Crawford, Wallace Beery (compare if you can his performance with that of Gert Fröbe in the later German version) may be seen as larger than life each in his or her own right.<br /><br />It is not enough to judge this film on its own merits from the perspective of the twenty-first century. Without historical context -- including knowledge of its origins and the people who made it -- no true appreciation will be possible.<br /><br />Personally, I like Baum's later film "Hotel Berlin" much more. But that may be because I found the book more complex and relevant. De gustibus non est disputandum. Or something like that.<br /><br />