Week-End at the Waldorf

Director: Robert Z. Leonard Robert Z. Leonard

Overview

Weekend at the Waldorf is an unabashed remake of MGM's 1932 Oscar-winner Grand Hotel: in fact, at several points in the story, the cast makes pointed references to the earlier film. The posh Waldorf Hotel in the heart of New York is the setting for several plots and subplots. Ginger Rogers plays the Garbo counterpart, a successful but severely depressed movie star who wants to be alone. Walter Pigeon steps into John Barrymore's role, sort of; whereas Barrymore was a thief posing as nobility, Pigeon is a war correspondent posing as a thief. Hotel stenographer Lana Turner (originally Joan Crawford) latches onto tycoon Edward Arnold (originally Wallace Beery) in hopes of a life of luxury. And, in the film's biggest adaptation stretch, Van Johnson is cast as a war hero who, about to undergo life-threatening surgery, wants to thoroughly enjoy what may be his last days on earth. It takes a while to figure this out, but Johnson is supposed to be the character played in Grand Hotel by Lionel Barrymore: the meek clerk who, upon discovering that he's dying, blows his life savings on one last fling. On the whole, Weekend at the Waldorf is a lot more light-hearted than Grand Hotel, as indicated by the expository character played by humorist Robert Benchley, not to mention the presence of Xavier Cugat as the Waldorf's orchestra leader.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/21/2009
UPC:	0883316174425
Original Release:	1945
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Full Frame]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:10:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ginger Rogers	Irene Malvern
Walter Pidgeon	Chip Collyer
Lana Turner	Bunny Smith
Van Johnson	Capt. James Hollis
Robert Benchley	Randy Morton
Keenan Wynn	Oliver Webson
Edward Arnold	Martin X. Edley
Leon Ames	Henry Burton
Warner Anderson	Dr. Campbell
Phyllis Thaxter	Cynthia Drew
Porter Hall	Stevens,Cassidy, the Doorman
Samuel S. Hinds	Mr. Jessup
George Zucco	Bey of Aribajan
Bob Graham	Singer
Michael Kirby	Lt. John Rand
Cora Sue Collins	Jane Rand
Rosemary DeCamp	Anna
Jacqueline de Wit	Kate Douglas
Frank Puglia	Emile
Charles Wilson	Hi Johns
Irving Bacon	Sam Skelly
Miles Mander	British Secretary
Nana Bryant	Mrs. H. Davenport Drew
Russell Hicks	McPherson
Ludmilla Pitoeff	Irma
Naomi Childers	Night Maid
Moroni Olsen	House Detective Blake
William Halligan	Chief Jennings
John Wengraf	Alix
Ruth Lee	The Woman
Jack Luden	Clerk
Mel Shubert	Clerk
Ruth Warren	Telephone Operator
Jean Carpenter	Telephone Operator
Hope Landin	Telephone Operator
Karen Lind	Telephone Operator
Gertrude Short	Telephone Operator
Byron Foulger	Barber
Harry Barris	Anna's Boy Friend
Dorothy Christy	Cashier
Bess Flowers	Guest
Ella Ethridge	Guest
Franklyn Farnum	Guest,Actor
Sandra Morgan	Guest
Richard Gordon	Guest
Oliver Dross	Guest
Gladden James	Assistant Manager
Carli Elinor	Orchestra Leader
Dick Crockett	Bell Captain
Wyndham Standing	Literary Type
Rex Evans	Pianist
Arno Frey	Maitre d'Hotel
Gordon Richards	Headwaiter
Dick Hirbe	Newsboy
Shirley Lew	Chinese Girl
Billy Louie	Chinese Girl
Charles Madrin	Assistant Hotel Manager
Kenneth Cutler	Desk Clerk
Frank McClure	Florist
Estelle Etterre	Assistant Florist
Barbara Bowers	Cigarette Girl
Lina Romay	Juanita
Constance Collier	Mme. Jaleska
Xavier Cugat	Himself
William Tannen	Photographer
Hal Dawson	First Clerk
Johnny Green	Composer
Sidney B. Cutner	Composer

Technical Credits

Bella Spewack

Guy Bolton

Robert Z. Leonard	Director,Producer
Bella Spewack	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Guy Bolton	Screenwriter
Arthur Hornblow Jr.	Producer
Warren Newcombe	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

Never the studio to leave well enough alone, MGM resurrected Vicki Baum's ancient Grand Hotel, performed a vigorous spring cleaning and re-titled the result Weekend at the Waldorf. But along with the dust, the posh hostelry also lost some of its heart and soul. Rather than world-weary and slightly decadent like their predecessors, Ginger Rogers and Walter Pidgeon come across as merely bored. In fact, only Lana Turner, in the spot once occupied by Joan Crawford, adds a bit of glamorous sparkle to a hodgepodge all too preoccupied with such World War II fads as Van Johnson and Xavier Cugat and his orchestra. But Weekend at the Waldorf was certainly a handsome advertisement for the famous New York establishment.

All Movie Guide - Hans J. Wollstein