Spotlight
Spotlight Date: 5-October-03
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Dinner at Eight (1933)
Adapted from a stage play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, "Dinner at Eight" presents intersecting stories set during America's Great Depression that illustrate the rough passage from the old aristocracy, based on European customs and ancestral wealth, to the new aristocracy, hewn out of the free-for-all of 20th-century capitalism. Packed with capable actors allowed to shine in intimate, dialogue-heavy, extended takes, the movie offers an interesting study of culture, a thoughtful lesson on life, and an entertaining series of touching and amusing tales.
With varying degrees of (and reasons for) excitement, all of the characters in "Dinner at Eight" are preparing for a fancy party at the home of Oliver and Millicent Jordan (Lionel Barrymore and Billie Burke). For the flighty and pampered Mrs. Jordan, the party is a way to establish herself as one of New York's leading hostesses, for she has successfully invited a real British Lord and Lady to partake of her hospitality. Her husband's stake in the event is more serious: he hopes that an invitation to a crass but rich businessman named Packard (Wallace Beery) will help save his floundering company from a hostile takeover. The Jordan household also includes a daughter (Madge Evans) with her own big plans for the party, though of a decidedly unfestive nature. The trials and tribulations of these three characters form the bulk of the movie's larger message about what really matters in life and how easily one can lose sight of it, a message similar to that of another Lionel Barrymore picture, "You Can't Take It With You." (It's interesting that most people nowadays only know him as horrid old Mr. Potter from "It's a Wonderful Life," because in other films, like this one, he's just so cute. And also very like Bill Pullman for some reason, perhaps the floppy hair. But I digress.)
In addition to the British celebrities, the Jordans' guest list includes their family doctor (Edmund Lowe), who is blessed with good looks, a loving wife, and an illustrious career but can't seem to accept his good fortune or shake his penchant for adultery. As such, he stands smack dab in the middle of the movie's conflict between the "high" and "low" classes, linked on one side to the Jordans and on the other to Mrs. Packard (Jean Harlow), a conniving, bon-bon-eating, souped-up tramp who chafes at the trophy-wife expectations of her nouveau riche husband. The Packards, with their futile ambition for gentility, represent the new breed of leading American conceived during the Great Depression, a moneyed creature who isn't courtly and mannered but ruthless, single minded, and unabashedly suited for sin.
The most memorable story in "Dinner at Eight" takes the themes of a changing culture and life's true value and adds a somber look at what happens when a person fails to recognize and respond to them. John Barrymore is positively riveting as Larry Renault, a washed-up actor at the end of his rope who, despite being given some incentive to keep on trying, cannot see a place for himself in the future. Barrymore's performance derives some of its power from the fact that it overtly mirrors his own life; in 1933 he, like Renault, was an alcoholic actor outside his prime whose popular nickname was "The Great Profile." His excellent portrayal of desperation gains luster from equally fine work from Lee Tracy (reminiscent of Russell Crowe), who plays Renault's loyal but ultimately frustrated agent in a couple of intensely moving scenes.
By the time they finally sit down to dinner, all of the characters have passed through watershed moments in their lives, with the exception of a withered Broadway star from the old days (Marie Dressler), who has been around the block so many times that she doesn't have anything left to learn (although she does still have some wisdom to share). "Dinner at Eight" serves up various courses of humor, sadness, insight, and affection, and leaves an aftertaste of bittersweet resignation. But it's a satisfying meal overall.
Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.
