Dinner at eight
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Dinner at eight |
| Original title | Dinner at Eight |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1933 |
| length | 111 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | George Cukor |
| script |
Frances Marion , Herman J. Mankiewicz , Donald Ogden Stewart |
| production | David O. Selznick for MGM |
| music | William ax |
| camera | William H. Daniels |
| cut | Ben Lewis |
| occupation | |
| |
Dinner at eight , also known as Friday evening at 8 (original title: Dinner at Eight ), is an American film directed by George Cukor from 1933. The play of the same name by the star cast served as a template for the mixture of comedy and drama George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber .
action
Millicent Jordan, the status-conscious wife of a New York shipping company, wants to host a dinner for a select company. Her husband Oliver, however, is not particularly fond of spending another boring evening of this kind, although his former flame, the former stage actress Carlotta Vance, is also invited. Oliver is concerned, as his business as a shipowner has been more than bad since the Great Depression. He expects financial support from the newly wealthy industrial tycoon Dan Packard. He agrees because he wants to snatch Oliver's ailing shipping company under the nail anyway. Thereupon Oliver persuades his wife to also invite Packard and his low-level, but socially ambitious Mrs. Kitty to the planned dinner. While Kitty wants to accept the invitation immediately, Packard only accepts when he learns that Lord and Lady Ferncliffe, the richest married couple in England, will also attend the dinner. Another guest is also Dr. Wayne Talbot, who is having an affair with Kitty.
Since Millicent needs a table man for her daughter Paula, who has suddenly been betrothed, she invites silent film star Larry Renault without further ado , without knowing that Paula and Paula have a relationship. The three times divorced and alcoholic Larry then learns from his agent Max Kane that he has lost the leading role he was supposed to play in a play. Instead, he should now take on a small supporting role. In view of this, Larry gives in disappointed and desperate to alcohol.
Meanwhile, Dr. Talbot's wife Lucy finds out that her husband is cheating on her with Kitty. Dr. Talbot openly admits that he is addicted to women, even though he still genuinely loves Lucy. Shortly thereafter, he is called to his practice to examine Oliver Jordan, who is complaining of chest pain. Dr. Talbot tries to appease his actually very serious diagnosis, but Oliver sees through it and is certain that he will not live much longer. When Oliver goes home and asks Millicent to excuse him at the upcoming dinner so that he can relax, Millicent is on his nerve because the Ferncliffes have since canceled.
As the Packards get ready for dinner, the couple argue. Angry, Kitty tells her husband that she is having an affair. Packard threatens her with a divorce, whereupon Kitty respects him, demanding that she will bring his shady business practices to the public if he doesn't back down from his plan to take over Oliver's shipping company. After Larry has finally fallen out with his agent and the management of his hotel asks him to look for another place of residence, he flees to suicide. Carlotta Vance, who lives in the same hotel, visits Paula to tell him about her lover's suicide and empathetically advises her to return to her ex-fiancé Ernest - who was abroad and did not notice anything about her relationship with Renault.
Shortly before dinner, Millicent learns from Dr. Talbot, how bad things are for her husband. She eventually realizes that she has always been way too selfish and is determined to be less wasteful and a better wife for the good of the family. When the guests arrive punctually at eight o'clock, at Kitty's urging, Packard turns to Oliver to assure him that he no longer wants to take over the shipping company.
background
For David O. Selznick , Dinner at eight was the first production after moving from RKO Pictures to MGM . After Irving Thalberg established a star cast for the first time with the film People in the Hotel (1932) , numerous other productions followed the concept. Selznick wanted to prove that he could keep up with Thalberg and land just as much a hit. As a director he engaged George Cukor , whom he was allowed to loan from RKO Pictures. For dinner at eight , which, like people in the hotel, was a film adaptation of a successful stage play, Selznick also put together a star cast. While John Barrymore , Wallace Beery , Lionel Barrymore and Jean Hersholt were used as in Menschen in the hotel , Marie Dressler in particular , who was a big star in the early 1930s despite her advanced age and her matronly appearance, should be the audience in the cinemas beckon. For the role of Kitty, director Cukor desperately wanted Jean Harlow after seeing her in the jungle in the storm and prevailed despite Selznick's concerns. The film was shot within 27 days from March to April 1933.
Dinner at eight was premiered on August 23, 1933 at the Astor Theater in New York and subsequently proved to be a great success with critics and audiences. The New York Times and Film Daily counted the film among the ten best productions of 1933. In Germany, the film comedy was shown for the first time in January 1934 under the title Friday evening at 8 in cinemas. On July 14, 1982, it was broadcast for the first time on German television under the title Dinner at eight .
Theatrical release
Despite the numerous stars who took part, the production cost ended up being just $ 420,000. The film was very popular at the box office, grossing $ 1,398,000 in the US alone, with a further $ 758,000 coming from overseas markets. With a cumulative income of US $ 2,156,000, the studio was able to realize a very high profit of US $ 998,000 in the end and thus make more than with the significantly more expensive productions of Ich tanze only für dich und Königin Christine .
Reviews
According to Variety , the plot is “full of tension from start to finish”, with “sad moments being balanced out by serene”, so that “a fascinating mosaic” is created for almost two hours. Within the cast, Dressler and Harlow deserved praise. As Kitty, the latter delivers “an amazingly balanced performance”. The New York Times said the film "lived up to all expectations". It is about "one of those rare productions that will tie you in your seat until the end because you don't want to miss a brilliant line of dialogue".
For the New York Daily Mirror , eight o'clock dinner was "a great movie not to be missed." Among the consistently “excellent” actors, “little Jean Harlow” stands out. She is just "adorable". In retrospect, the film critic Pauline Kael also praised Jean Harlow, who was “in top comedic form”. Director George Cukor succeeded in creating "a witty and much better version of Edna Ferbers and George S. Kaufman's play". The lexicon of international films found that Cukor relied "primarily on the dialogues and the star ensemble".
In March 1934 , Gretel Adorno wrote to Walter Benjamin that they were “amazed and enthusiastic” about the film . "There would be a lot to be said about it, it could almost seem as if the film wanted to convert to art after all." Walter Benjamin then wrote to Gretel Adorno that he had "seen the film a few months ago with great pleasure."
German version
A German dubbed version was made in 1991 at Interopa Film in Berlin. The dialogue book was written by Jürgen Neu , who also did the dubbing.
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Carlotta Vance | Marie Dressler | Bettina Schön |
| Larry Renault | John Barrymore | Christian Rode |
| Dan Packard | Wallace Beery | Helmut Krauss |
| Kitty Packard | Jean Harlow | Daniela Lohmeyer |
| Oliver Jordan | Lionel Barrymore | Hans W. Hamacher |
| Max Kane | Lee Tracy | Hans-Jürgen Dittberner |
| Dr. Wayne Talbot | Edmund Lowe | Lothar Blumhagen |
| Millicent Jordan | Billie Burke | Gisela Fritsch |
| Paula Jordan | Madge Evans | Liane Rudolph |
| Jo Stengel | Jean Hersholt | Eric Vaessen |
| Mrs. Lucy Talbot | Karen Morley | Petra Barthel |
| Hattie Loomis | Louise Closser Hale | Dagmar Altrichter |
| Mrs. Wendel, cook for the Jordans | May Robson | Tilly Lauenstein |
| Miss Copeland, Jordan's secretary | Elizabeth Patterson | Edeltraut Elsner |
| Fosdick, Jordan's secretary | Harry Beresford | Manfred Rahn |
| Hotel manager Fitch | Edwin Maxwell | Andreas Hanft |
| Waiter in the hotel | Herman Bing | Georg Tryphon |
Web links
- Dinner at Eight in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Dinner by eight at rotten tomatoes (English)
- Dinner at Eight at Turner Classic Movies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b cf. Andrea Passafiume on tcm.com
- ↑ See Illustrierter Film-Kurier , No. 2102.
- ↑ "The story grips from beginning to end with never-relaxing tension, its sombre moments relieved by lighter touches into a fascinating mosaic for nearly two hours. [...] Acting honors probably will go to Dressler and Harlow, the latter giving an astonishingly well-balanced treatment of Kitty. " See Dinner at Eight . In: Variety , 1933.
- ↑ “It lives up to every expectation. It is one of those rare pictures which keeps you in your seat until the final fade-out, for nobody wants to miss one of the scintillating lines. " The New York Times , cf. tcm.com
- ↑ "[A] great picture-you can't afford to miss it […] among all these great performers it is little Jean Harlow who stands out […] Harlow is magnificent." New York Daily Mirror , cf. tcm.com
- ↑ “Jean Harlow […] at her comic best. George Cukor directed this witty, much improved version of the Edna Ferber-George S. Kaufman play. " Pauline Kael : 5001 Nights at the Movies . ( see tcm.com ).
- ↑ Dinner at eight. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed February 2, 2020 .
- ^ Gretel Adorno / Walter Benjamin: Correspondence 1930–1940. Frankfurt a. M. 2019. P. 132.
- ^ Gretel Adorno / Walter Benjamin: Correspondence 1930–1940. Frankfurt a. M. 2019. p. 136.
- ↑ Dinner at eight. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on February 2, 2020 .