Dinner at Eight (1933)
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Duration: 111 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: George Cukor
Stars: Jean Harlow, Wallace Beery and John Barrymore
IMDb score:
7,5 (9.674)
Releasedate: 22 December 1933
Dinner at Eight plot
"HERE IS THE SCREEN'S CLIMAX OF GLAMOR AND THRILL THAT RAN OVER A YEAR ON BROADWAY! THE STAGE SMASH NOW A SENSATIONAL FILM TRIUMPH!"
Millicent Jordan (Billie Burke), the wife of a New York shipping magnate (Lionel Barrymore) on his last legs, is oh so busy organizing a dinner party, where a British lord and lady will be present. Also invited will be an actor, Larry Renault, whose glory days are numbered, Carlotta Vance, a film diva from a bygone era, Dan Packard, an influential Texan businessman, who is surreptitiously trying to buy up the Jordan Line, his bored wife Kitty (Jean Harlow), who feels neglected and so reconciles with the family doctor, Dr. Wayne Talbot, who is also invited with his wife.
Actors and actresses
Carlotta Vance
Larry Renault
Dan Packard
Kitty Packard
Oliver Jordan
Max Kane
Dr. Wayne Talbot
Millicent Jordan
Paula Jordan
Jo Stengel
Reviews & comments
BBarbie
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- 12893 messages
- 7675 votes
A delightful comedy —with some dramatic touches here and there— about a pedantic group that is invited to a fancy dinner by the overbearing wife of a almost bankruptshipping magnate. Filmed theater and that offers the renowned cast the opportunity to act at the top of their abilities. A real actor's film (always right up the street of director George Cukor) with razor-sharp dialogues and a number of beautiful scenes. Very nice.
The last scene with Jean Harlow and Marie Dressler, seen in many a Hollywood compilation, is the proverbial icing on the cake. You can't miss it!
Translated from Dutch · View original
Dievegge
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- 3166 messages
- 8191 votes
This is a typical example of an ensemble cast, where different storylines are intertwined, without a clear leading role. Three actors stick out a bit: the original Hollywood blonde Jean Harlow and the Barrymore brothers.
It is simultaneously a tragedy, a comedy and a moral sketch. The tragedy is mainly in the storyline around Larry (John Barrymore), a silent-era actor who drinks too much and lives under the delusion that he is still a big star. The comic comes in the marital quarrels of Dan and Kitty Packard (Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow). The moral sketch revolves around the changing social relations at the time of the Great Depression. Shipping magnate Oliver Jordan (Lionel Barrymore) is on the verge of bankruptcy, but his wife (Billie Burke) throws a dinner party as if they were still in high society. At the same time, there are scammers like Dan Packard who get rich quickly through fraudulent practices. For many of these characters, it comes down to daring to face the truth.
The Jordans speak a refined English, unlike the foul-mouthed Packards. Jean Harlow uses colorful, outdated swear words: you big windbag, sour-faced frumps, nitwit, stuffed shirt, rummies (drunk) and mink (nonsense). The word swell was also used more often then. On the other hand, there is the soothing language of people who package a hard message with polite words and false rhetoric.
During the opening credits, you can see an Art Deco-style clock. The shipping magnate has a miniature ship in his interior. Jean Harlow and Marie Dressler smoke and wear fur, which would be inappropriate these days. John Barrymore has a touching scene without lyrics just before his suicide. Usually you're watching people talk in a room, but that's compensated by the quality of the dialogues and the actors.
Translated from Dutch · View original
clubsport
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- 3810 messages
- 6939 votes
The high society that more or less falls off its pedestal , a scrapped actor commits suicide , a spoiled brat of a businessman's wife cheats with her doctor , an actress over the hill is broke and the daughter of the house who is engaged is having an affair with the same scrapped actor .
These characters must eventually all come together for a dinner at eight in which we get to know all the ins and outs of all the characters beforehand.
Good mix between sharp humor and drama and the characters all play their roles well.
Translated from Dutch · View originalLatest News
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