Old Movie Time - "Hotel" (1967)

Thanks to the voluminous film library at TCM and the magic of the DVR, I watched this wonderfully cheesy piece of 1960's kitsch last night.

"Hotel" is based on the Arthur Hailey best selling novel of the same name, and it featured the proverbial all-star cast....Rod Taylor, Catherine Spaak, Karl Malden, Melvyn Douglas, Richard Conte, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Rennie, Merle Oberon, and Harry Hickox.  

The story centers on the pending sale/bankruptcy/demolition of the Hotel St. Gregory in New Orleans.  The St. Gregory is a grand hotel in the tradition of places like the Plaza in New York, the Ritz in Paris, the Peabody in Memphis...you get the idea.   Douglas is the owner of the joint who holds to the rich traditions (like segregation) of such places, Taylor is the manager of the place whose innovative ideas and business savvy has managed to keep the place afloat, and McCarthy, who spends most of the movie with his shirt unbuttoned down to his navel and does everything but twirl a mustache to indicate how evil he is, is the chain hotel owner who wants to buy the joint and "modernize" it, even if it's over Douglas' dead body!!  Boo hiss.

In the tradition of such movies, a la "Grand Hotel", there are a bunch of side stories.  Rennie and Oberon are a visiting Duke and Duchess who have a secret to hide, Conte is an unscrupulous house dick who may be a blackmailer, Spaak is McCarthy's mistress whom he uses to leverage his position but who, eventually, has a heart of gold, and Malden is "Keycase Milne", a hotel cat burglar just trying to make a buck but who is becoming increasingly frustrated because of all "those damn credit cards."  Malden earns the George Kennedy Award for Scenery Chewing in this one.

Everything, of course, resolves itself after a climactic scene that involves a short-circuited elevator that stalls and leads to an heroic rescue by Taylor. But does the St. Gregory get saved?  No spoilers here; you have to watch this one to find out for yourself.

Here are some other tidbits from the movie and some things I found out in researching this write-up.

My favorite bit of dialog occurred in a conversation between Oberon and Rennie.  As the Duchess frantically endeavors to protect and save her husband's reputation, Rennie looks at her and simply says "I detest you."  Don't you love it?

Catherine Spaak was - and still is - a French actress who was 22 years old when this movie was made.  She never quite made it big here in America, but she is still with us.  She will turn 76 in 2021, and is still working in Europe.  She has 85 acting credits in IMDB with the most recent one coming in 2019.

Merle Oberon was 57 years old when she made this movie and she was undeniably beautiful in it.  Fun Fact: The jewelry that she wore in this movie was her own and was reported to be valued at half a million dollars at the time.   It included a piece that was previously owned by Marie Antionette!  She died in 1979 at the age of 68.

A "Hotel" TV series based on the Hailey novel and this movie ran for five years in the 1980's and starred James Brolin and Connie Selleca.

Oh, and I mentioned Harry Hickox above, and I can still hear you whispering, "Who the hell is Harry Hickox?"  Well, I am sure that only Dan Bonk, Rob Tuchman, and myself can appreciate this bit of casting.  Hickox, who played another house detective (I think) in this one, was much more renowned for playing the role of Charley Cowell, the frustrated anvil salesman out get Harold Hill in "The Music Man."

In spite of my semi-smart assed tone in this write-up, I actually liked this movie.  Yeah, it's corny, cheesy, and predictable, but it was really fun to watch.  I highly recommend it.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

To Absent Friends - Catching Up

While we were on vacation, the passing of three significant persons occurred, and they merit Absent Friends recognition from The Grandstander.

The first of Rod Taylor's 92 acting credits listed in IMDB was for something called "Inland with Sturt" from 1951.  His most recent one was from 2009's "Inglourious Basterds" in which he played Winston Churchill.  It was a long and solid career that included many, many roles in both television and movies.  His most famous role, however, will always no doubt be that of Mitch Brenner in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" (1963).

Rod Taylor was just a few days short of his 85th birthday when he died earlier this month.

Swedish born actress Anita Ekberg was 83 years old when she died last week.  IMDB shows 63 acting credits for Miss Ekberg, mostly foreign films, probably the most famous one being 1960's  "La Dolce Vita". 

I can't tell you that I ever saw an Anita Ekberg movie, but I do know that back in her glory days, she had what Mad Magazine used to call the "VaVa Voom" factor, and for that alone, she gets recognized in this spot today.

TV director and producer Tony Verna passed away last week at the age of 81.  Who was Tony Verna, you may ask?  Well, something that Tony Verna did in a telecast of an Army-Navy football game in 1963 has had a profound effect on sports, sports fans, and the watching of sports ever since.  Allow me to quote from an online column form a gent named David Young from sportsgrid.com:

In December of that year, Verna unleashed his literal game-changer during the fourth quarter of the Army-Navy football game, a somber affair as it was played a couple of weeks after JFK’s assassination. Verna and his team had been trying all game long to make the technology work, but didn’t get it going until late in the game. They replayed an Army rushing TD, which was so unexpected that the announcer had to tell the home audience that Army had not scored again; they were watching a tape of it. The term “Instant Replay” wouldn’t be coined until the next time the technology was used – a month later – by Pat Summerall.

Now, of course we take it for granted, and some sports actually incorporate it into their officiating, but over fifty years ago, it was a huge step out of the box for sports broadcasts. Verna had other noteworthy accomplishments, such as directing 1985′s multi-continent Live Aid and 1987′s world-wide “Prayer for World Peace,” but it’s his creation of instant replay that he will always be remembered for. 

So thank you, Tony Verna. May you rest in peace. 

So thank you, Tony Verna. May you rest in peace.

RIP Rod Taylor, Anita Ekberg, and Tony Verna.