Grand Hotel (1932)
[6] The lives of tenants at a Berlin hotel interconnect over the course of one day in Grand Hotel, based on the novel by Vicki Baum and produced by the famed Irving Thalberg. With Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Jean Hersholt,…
Ninotchka (1939)
[7]
It’s fun to watch Greta Garbo defrost in Ninotchka. She plays an oh-so-serious Russian sent to Paris to straighten out the sale of some allegedly stolen jewels. Melvyn Douglas gets in her way. At first, he’s an annoyance, but a curious one. Her no-nonsense attitude toward him makes for a unlikely cinematic romance. The highlight of their courtship is a restaurant scene where Douglas is determined to make Garbo laugh. He tells joke after joke to no affect. Then Douglas leans back too far in his chair and falls on his ass. This results in one of the most joyous reaction shots from the Golden Age of Cinema.