Dinner at Eight (1933)

Dinner at Eight
Directed by George Cukor
Written by Frances Marion and Herman J. Mankiewicz from a play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber
1933/US
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Amazon Prime rental

Dan Packard: Remember what I told you last week?
Kitty Packard: I don’t remember what you told me a minute ago.

George Cukor and a team of talented screenwriters made this tragi-comedy with an all-star MGM cast a total delight.

Mrs. Jordan (Billie Burke), wife of ailing shipping magnate Oliver Jordan (Lionel Barrymore.) plans a formal dinner in honor of English aristocrats but nothing works out as planned. It’s the Depression and everybody has a secret, usually financial.

The guest list includes: Larry Renault (John Barrymore), a washed-up alcoholic movie star who is carrying on an affair with the Jordans’ young daughter Paula (Madge Evans); Kitty (Jean Harlow) and Dan Packard (Wallace Beery) a married couple that can’t stand each other; Carlotta Vance, a broke aging Broadway star; Dr. Wayne Talbot, who has been carrying on with Kitty Packard, and his long-suffering wife Lucy (Karen Morley); and, at the last minute, Mrs. Jordan’s cousin and her husband.  Plenty happens before the dinner, which we never see.  With Lee Tracy as Larry’s agent and Jean Hersholt as a Broadway producer.

I just love this one! All the actors, including both the Barrymores, do themselves proud but my very favorite part is the battles between Jean Harlow and husband Wallace Beery. Harlow had really developed her comedy chops by this time.  And of course Marie Dressler, my namesake, is a delight.  The screenplay is endlessly quotable.  Highly Recommended.