Saturday, February 21, 2009

dinners at eight, yet nobody eats

how did a 22 year old jean harlow hold her own among the screen legends of her day in 'dinner at eight? all i know is she did. as the spoiled young wife of a tycoon (wallace beery, 200 films to his credit) harlow's 'kitty' shares this delightful 1933 movie with both barrymores, marie dressler (oscar winner for this film), and the good witch of the north. john barrymore's role of a dissolute out of work ham actor who tries desperately to get just one more bottle is maybe too close for comfort, but he is as astonishing as ever.
 

1 comment:

DuPree said...

this is my favorite movie of all time. and the closing exchange between harlow and dressler is the most perfect movie ending ever.

love it all - from the madcap zaniness to the occasional nearly kabuki-like overacting.