Hotel

HOTEL was the 1967 all star soap opera based on the novel by Arthur Hailey revolving around the goings-on at an old, yet elegant New Orleans hotel called the Saint Gregory. Basically, this is just a grounded version of Hailey's later AIRPORT, only not quite as interesting, but pleasant to look at with a competent enough cast. Rod Taylor plays Peter McDermott, the hard-nosed, but compassionate manager of the hotel. Melvyn Douglas plays Warren Trent, the owner of the hotel, trying to conceal his concern about a possible buyout from Kevin McCarthy as O'Keefe, who arrives with his mistress (the plastic Catherine Spaak), who falls in love with McDermott in about five minutes. Michael Rennie and a still gorgeous Merle Oberon play a Duke and Duchess staying in the hotel who are concealing an accident they were involved in and are being blackmailed by house detective Richard Conte and Karl Malden is amusing as Keycase, a thief and conman working the hotel. OK, it's not GRAND HOTEL...it's not even AIRPORT...but there are worse ways to spend two hours.

Very mild account of major New Orleans hotel facing closure and its last days as the owner (Douglas) and general manager (Taylor) attempt to secure its future without compromising its integrity and traditions. A number of story lines intertwine amid the closure backdrop, with Rennie & Oberon as the Duke and Duchess of Landbourne entangled in a police matter, Malden as the hotel's resident kleptomaniac and McCarthy as a potential investor keen to save the grand hotel but with a litany of changes in mind of which Douglas disapproves.

Taylor does a good job as the efficient right hand man, not tempted by McCarthy's graft offer to persuade Douglas to sell, taking Spaak instead as a consolation prize. Malden was a bit too hammy for my liking and the film never quite fulfilled its promise, although I thought Taylor and McCarthy in particular were very engaging. "Hotel" has a pseudo disaster film texture with its diverse characters coming in and out of focus against a common backdrop; it even indulges the genre with a reasonably tense elevator malfunction and a feverish rescue while the lift hangs by a thread.

The decorative touches, lounge music and brassy sets are all fashionable reminders of the mid-to-late sixties and the film itself is old-fashioned in its tone and sentiment, perhaps too dated for younger viewers today. I'd categorise this as a somewhat bittersweet tale, a window into the late sixties social culture, suitable with tea and biscuits moreso than beer and pizza.

Highly enjoyable adaptation of Arthur Hailey's bestseller about tumult in an older New Orleans hotel: nearly all the guests are up to no good! Rod Taylor, excellent as always, plays the hotel manager, Melvyn Douglas is the property owner, Kevin McCarthy is a takeover shark, Karl Malden plays a thief, Merle Oberon is a troubled duchess being blackmailed by Richard Conte, etc. Lots of intricate human action, well-written and staged. The romance between Taylor and Catherine Spaak doesn't get in the way, and there are some very humorous, mordant asides. Marvelous backing score by Johnny Keating; good fun. Later a TV series. **1/2 from ****

I love this movie, a smooth 1967 throwback to the "Grand Hotel" tradition of interweaving stories, stylishly directed by Richard Quine ("Bell, Book, and Candle.") Johnny Keating's lush score shifts easily from sad melancholy (for the grand lost past of this grand hotel) to sexy jazz (in accord with the film's New Orleans setting.) Three main stories interact: the business battle to takeover the hotel; cover-up and blackmail attendant to a hit-and-run by a regal guest; the comedy relief antics of hotel thief Keycase Milne as he tries to make a big score. It all comes together in an elevator cliffhanger. Favorite bits: the surrogate father-son relationship between hotel owner Melvyn Douglas and his ace manager Rod Taylor; the antics of Karl Malden as Keycase (in one of Malden's personal favorite roles); and the tough intelligence of the three-way battle to take over the hotel. The characters are smart, witty, and gracious (even the villains), the mood slightly mournful for the good old days. I hated checking out of "Hotel."

Warner Bros cast Rod Taylor, a perfect leading man, in this film directed by Richard Quine who made those great Kim Novak films at Columbia -Strangers When We Meet, Pal Joey, Notorious Landlady-when Hotel features two legendary stars Melvyn Douglas and Merle Oberon, both given wonderfully rich parts to play. Also cast Richard Conte and Michael Rennie. This is a film where the action on the set was likely to be even better than when the cameras rolled. Kevin McCarthy is properly tough minded. Lovely Catherine Spaak has the nominal female lead.

Merle Oberon one of the cinema's great all time beauties steals the movie. The real show stopper is Ms. Oberon then 60 but looking 35 and gorgeous to behold, and I recall Merle Oberon wore her own fantastic jewel collection in Hotel. While Oberon's peers like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Ann Sothern, and Olivia De Havilland were starring in horror films to stay in the public eye, Merle Oberon who in her legendary career worked with Brando, Cooper, Wyler, Laughton, et al stayed above the fray and lived the live of a real Movie Queen.