Friday 3 August 2012

Dinner At Eight 1933


Jan Gabrial states that her and Lowry went to see the film in London in 1933; "Later that week, after seeing Dinner At Eight and downing several cocktails, Malcolm became drunk and didactic and, of course we quarreled and separated." (Inside The Volcano Pg. 35).

Dinner at Eight is a Pre-Code 1933 comedy of manners/drama starring Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Lionel Barrymore, Lee Tracy, Edmund Lowe, and Billie Burke, and produced by MGM Studios. The film was adapted to the screen by Frances Marion and Herman J. Mankiewicz from the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, with additional dialogue supplied by Donald Ogden Stewart. Produced by David O. Selznick, it was directed by George Cukor. Read more on Wikipedia


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.

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