Critics rolled their eyes when in 2010, the film “Valentine’s Day” (and
it’s 2011 companion film “New Years Eve”) was released, with it’s star-
studded cast, and measly plot lines. This film, while it had it’s
endearing moments, didn’t work, mostly due to it’s poor script, but also
because it had too much going on. “Dinner At Eight” is a very early
example of the same tactic that “Valentine’s Day” employs, and is a
film that does it right. An answer to the film “Grand Hotel” from a few
years earlier with similar elements, “Dinner At Eight” features an all-
star cast for 1933, which includes, but is not limited to Marie Dressler
(in a very memorable and perhaps show stopping role), Billie Burke (the
future Glinda the Good Witch), John Barrymore (who will break your
heart), Lionel Barrymore, Madge Evans, Wallace Beery, and Jean Harlow,
who is divine in the role of the spoiled, self centered wife of Beery.
The plot concerns Burke as a society lady who is planning a dinner for a
wealthy British couple coming into town and the people she invites.
The first half of “Dinner at Eight” almost plays like a series of vignettes as it expertly jumps between different story lines, telling us exactly what we need to know about these characters. Being a pre-code, depression era film, it also deals with depression era problems, and has a message about hope shoehorned in, which is of course what audiences probably needed to hear in 1933. The performances are all spectacular, but Harlow, Dressler, and John Barrymore, not to leave out the others, are standouts as well as smaller roles played by Louise Closser Hale (who died shortly after filming was completed) as society lady Hattie Loomis and Hilda Vaughn as Harlow’s put upon maid, Tina. No moment in the film is dull, nor does it lag. There is a purpose to every scene and character. The story expertly moves along at a rapid pace.
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| Promotional image of Jean Harlow |
Harlow was something of a sex symbol in the early to mid thirties. Her life and career was cut short by kidney failure, her last film being 1937's Saratoga. She died during filming and a body double and voice double had to be used. Popular films she appeared in besides Dinner at Eight included The Public Enemy, The Beast of the City, Redheaded Woman, Red Dust, China Seas, Wife Vs. Secretary, and Libeled Lady.
"Dinner at Eight" is truly a wonderful picture from start to finish, and helmed by the great George Cukor is a real treat to watch. It just goes to show you that with a good script, cast, and the right director (not to put down Garry Marshall), a film with many story lines can be done well.
