User Reviews

Like the Broadway theater in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Follies" about to be torn down to make way for a parking lot, the Hotel Continental is about to go way of the Hippedrome. The management of the hotel decides to throw a special party for their last night, which brings back a lot of the old guests who stayed there for special occasions, bringing back memories of royalty, former presidents and entertainers from various walks of the industry which we hear from a radio host narrating the festivities. While there are various small subplots going on, the major storyline involves "the boy embezzler" (Theodore Von Eltz) who just got out of prison and has checked in for the last night to find the stash of cash he hid there years ago. This brings on crooks who hire a former con-artist (Peggy Shannon) to trap him into revealing where the hidden treasure is. While romance blossoms between the two, various party goers go through their own situations, which includes one former guest who has had a share of bad luck, once the toast of the hotel, now a vagrant, and a drunk (Bert Roach) looking for his next snoot. A misunderstanding causes Shannon to believe that Von Eltz betrayed her with another woman, leading to her betrayal of him and a sudden act of violence which brings in the law to figure everything out. Suicide, shootings, accusations of infidelity and other issues add to the Auld Lang Syne feeling of this storyline which may not have been Tiffany's in budget (in spite of the studio name) but ultimately is satisfying, if not quite the equivalent of the more remembered "Grand Hotel". A fine supporting cast also includes Alan Mowbray and Henry B. Walthall, with a gripping conclusion that brings everything to a close with a great morale to the story.

Extraordinary thing - whenever these early 1930s "just another day, nothing ever happens at the ..... Hotel" type of movies were released they all paid homage to MGM's "Grand Hotel" but this movie was released 6 months before so cannot be accused of riding on the more prestigious film's coat tails. Quite prophetic, the story of a stately hotel's last hurrah was made by Tiffany in the studio's last year of production. It's star was the beautiful Peggy Shannon who, unfortunately, was soon to find out that alcohol and stardom didn't mix!!

Even in 1932, Alfred Newman's "Street Scene" concerto was beginning to show up in variations in any film that had a New York locale. Why they are tearing down the Hotel Continental next day is a big mystery but that evening the hotel foyer is simply teeming with guests - they are still open for business, whether for good time gals (I'm sure I saw Minna Gombel giving orders) or crooked card games.

The main story concerns A.R. Cooper (Theodore von Eltz), a former jewel thief whose arrest at the Hotel Continental a few years before is now part of the Hotel's folklore. He is now out of prison and eager to retrieve the hidden jewels and start afresh. Along the way he stops a potential suicide, Ruth Carlton (Peggy Shannon, looking like a million dollars) and she falls in easily with his plan to find some stolen happiness (shades of "Stolen Heaven"(1931)). But what's this!!! She is a crook herself who has quickly phoned her gang to say she has hooked him line and sinker - all very far fetched considering minutes after the call she is starting to have second thoughts. Well the movie is only an hour in length!!

Bert Roach does his usual "happy drunk" routine and introduces Henry B. Walthall to a bunch of shallow party goers. He was a somebody back in the Hotel's heyday but is now down on his luck and returns that night for a last hurrah. Ruth's feelings for Cooper change again when she sees him in the arms of another woman (Mary Carlisle in a fleeting glimpse) - of course it's a mistake, he is just trying to stop two timer husband's (Alan Mowbray) wife (Ethel Clayton) from finding out what a rat her husband really is!! Too late, Ruth changes her mind again, because now she has put the wheels in motion to assure there will be no happy ending for Cooper - or will there be??

Very hard to believe that someone from MGM didn't see this film and rework the John Barrymore/Greta Garbo storyline. Anyway, just a very entertaining film.