Grand Hotel (1997 film)

Grand Hotel
Directed by	Ed Crossley
Produced by	Linus Roberts
Written by	Robert Wright; George Forrest; Maury Yeston
Based on	Grand Hotel
Starring	Rebecca Nagan; Mark Jefferis; Wim Oppenheimer; Brian Herring
Music by	Robert Wright; George Forrest; Maury Yeston
Production; company	Warner Bros.
Release date	December 25, 1996 (UK); ; December 1, 1997 (AUS); ; December 21, 1997 (USA);
Running time	132 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

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Grand Hotel is a 1996/1997 American musical film directed by Ed Crossley and produced by Warner Bros. The screenplay by Eric Till is based the 1989 musical. It was released in cinemas on December 21, 1996, by Warner Bros.

Synopsis[edit]

The 1950s are still in high gear, and St. Louis is the center of high life. Guests come and go at the opulent Grand Hotel, as cynical Doctor Otternschlag, who still suffers wounds, injects his morphine. Assistant concierge Erik, busy at the front desk, waits to hear of his son's birth; his wife is having a difficult labor. Baron Felix Von Gaigern, young, good-looking, and destitute, uses his charisma to help him secure a room in the overbooked hotel while stiffing a tough gangster who pretends to be a chauffeur. Aging Russian prima ballerina Elizaveta Grushinskaya arrives with her entourage who tries to persuade her that she still can and must dance. Her confidante and dresser, Raffaela knows that they would have to come up with a lot of money if the dancer failed to show up for her contracted engagements. Raffaela has feelings for Elizaveta.

Jewish bookkeeper Otto Kringelein, who is fatally ill, wants to spend his life's savings to live his final days at the hotel in the lap of luxury. The Baron helps him secure a room. Meanwhile, Hermann Preysing, the general manager of a failing textile mill, hears that the merger with a Boston company is off, spelling financial ruin; he does not want to lie to his stockholders but gives in to the pressure. He plans to go to Boston to try to revive the merger and presses his temporary secretary, Flaemmchen, to accompany him and "take care of him". She dreams of Hollywood stardom and fears she might be pregnant, but flirts with the Baron. She also agrees to a dance, at the Baron's suggestion, with the surprised and delighted Otto. Elizaveta suffers through another unsuccessful dance performance and rushes back to the hotel. She bursts into her room to find the Baron as he is about to steal her diamond necklace to pay back the gangster, but he pretends to be her biggest fan. The two fall in love with each other and spend the night. He agrees to go with her to Vienna so that she can fulfill her dancing engagements, and they will get married; they plan to meet at the train station.

Two African-American entertainers, the Jimmys, sing at the bar and dance with Flaemmchen. Erik tries to get off work so that he can join his wife at the hospital, but the unpleasant hotel manager, Rohna, refuses to give him any time off. The Baron has persuaded Otto to invest in the stock market, and Otto has made a killing in the market overnight. But Otto is not feeling well, and the Baron helps him to his room, resisting the temptation to steal his wallet. Otto rewards the Baron with some cash. The gangster confronts the Baron and directs him to steal Preysing's wallet; he gives the Baron a gun. Preysing has cornered Flaemmchen in their adjoining rooms and pressures her for sex. The Baron, who was in Preysing's room trying to steal his wallet, hears Flaemmchen's cries next door and walks into her room to defend her while still holding Preysing's wallet. After a struggle, Preysing kills the Baron with the gangster's gun. Preysing is arrested. Raffaela struggles with how to tell Grushinskaya that her lover is dead and ultimately decides not to, leaving Grushinskaya ecstatic to see him at the train station when she leaves.

Otto offers to take Flaemmchen to Paris; he has plenty of money now so that they can enjoy the good life for as much time as he has left, and she realizes that she is fond of him. Erik has a son and finds out that his wife came through the labor just fine. Doctor Otternschlag observes: "Grand Hotel, Berlin. Always the same – people come, people go – One life ends while another begins – one heart breaks while another beats faster – one man goes to jail while another goes to Paris – always the same. ... I'll stay – one more day."

Cast[edit]

Mark Jefferis as Baron Felix Von Gaigern
Brian Herring as Otto Kringelein
Rebecca Nagan as Elizaveta Grushinskaya
Cornelia Booth as Flaemmchen
Joey Travolta as General Director Preysing
Marilyn Williams as Raffaela Ottanio
Nathan Ray as Colonel Doctor Otternschlag
Victor Ray Jr. as Erik Litnauer
Sammy Davis III and Maurice Hines as The Two Jimmys
Terrance Milner as Zinnowitz
Billy Bob Presley as Hermann Preysing
Ginger Miller as Lucy Martin
Carol Miller-Roberts as The Telephone Operator
Judy Miller-Roberts as The Telephone Operator
Megan Miller-Roberts as The Telephone Operator

Roles and original cast[edit]

The Doorman – Charles Mandracchia
The Countess - Ballroom Dancer – Yvonne Marceau
The Gigolo - Ballroom Dancer – Pierre Dulaine
Rohna - Hotel General Manager; a martinet – Rex D. Hays
The Bellboys - Georg Strunk, Kurt Kronenberg, Hans Bittner, Willibald (Captain) – Ken Jennings, Keith Crowningshield, Gerrit de Beer, J. J. Jepson,
The Telephone Operators - Hildegarde Bratts, Sigfriede Holzhiem, Wolffe Bratts – Jennifer Lee Andrews, Suzanne Henderson, Lynnette Perry
Sandor - Hungarian Theatre impresario – Mitchell Jason
Witt - Company Manager of Grushinskaya's ballet troupe – Michel Moinot
Madame Peepee - Lavatory Attendant – Kathi Moss
Scullery Workers: Gunther Gustafsson, Werner Holst, Franz Kohl, Ernst Schmidt – Walter Willison, David Elledge, William Ryall, Henry Grossman
Hotel Courtesan – Suzanne Henderson
Trudie - A Maid – Jennifer Lee Andrews
Detective – William Ryall

Soundtrack[edit]


Song	Sung by Cast
The Grand Parade	Nathan Ray and the cast
Some Have, Some Have Not	The cast
As It Should Be	Mark Jefferis
At the Grand Hotel/Table With a View	Brian Herring
Maybe My Baby Loves Me	Sammy Davis III, Maurice Hines and Cornelia Booth
Fire and Ice	Rebecca Nagan and the cast
Twenty-Two Years/Villa on a Hill	Marilyn Williams
I Want to Go to Hollywood	Cornelia Booth
Everybody's Doing It	Terrance Granger
As It Should Be (Reprise)	Mark Jefferis
The Crooked Path	Billy Bob Presley
Who Couldn't Dance With You?	Rebecca Nagan and Brian Herring
Merger Is On	Terrance Granger and the cast
Gru's Bedroom	Rebecca Nagan and the cast
Love Can't Happen	Mark Jefferis and Rebecca Nagan
What You Need	Marilyn Williams
Bonjour Amour	Rebecca Nagan
H-A-P-P-Y	Sammy Davis III, Maurice Hines and the cast
We'll Take a Glass Together	Mark Jefferis, Brian Herring and the cast
I Waltz Alone	Nathan Ray
H-A-P-P-Y (Reprise)	The cast
Roses at the Station	Mark Jefferis
How Can I Tell Her?	Marilyn Williams
The Grand Parade/Some Have, Some Have Not (Reprise)	Victor Ray Jr. and the cast
The Grand Waltz	The cast

Production[edit]

The film was also seen as an artistic achievement in its art direction and production quality. The art director, Cedric Gibbons, was one of the most important and influential in the history of American film. The lobby scenes were extremely well done, portraying a 360° desk. This allowed audiences to watch the hotel action from all around the characters. It changed the way sets were made from that point onward. It released on December 21, 1996 in United Kingdom. It released on December 1, 1997 in Australia It released on December 21, 1997 with What's Opera Doc? (1957) and Slick Hare (1947) in United States.

Home media[edit]

Warner Home Video released the first Region 1 DVD on February 3, 2004. The film is in 4:3 frame format, with audio tracks in English and French, and subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.

The 2013 Warner Home Video Blu-ray release of Grand Hotel contains an audio commentary track by film historians Jeffrey Vance and Mark A. Vieira.