Status conscious Millicent Jordan (Billie Burke) is throwing a dinner party for an elite group of guests including self-made tycoon Dan Packard (Wallace Beery) and his brassy wife Kitty (Jean Harlow), her husband's ex-lover Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler) and a desperate fading movie star (John Barrymore) who is secretly carrying on an affair with their young daughter (Madge Evans), who just happens to be engaged to another man. Meanwhile, Millicent's husband (Lionel Barrymore) is suffering serious health problems while his business teeters on the brink of collapse. At this unforgettable dinner party, anything can happen.
With an assigned budget of $420,000, Dinner at Eight began shooting at MGM on March 16, 1933. Despite the complications of a large ensemble cast to juggle, the filming went smoothly with no unforeseen problems arising. According to Jean Harlow, the picture was shot as close to chronological order as possible "so we could all feel the dramatic power of the climactic scenes."
Though Marie Dressler hadn't fit director George Cukor's idea of former beauty Carlotta Vance when she was first cast, she made the part her own with utter believability. "She acquired a peculiar distinction, a magnificence," said Cukor in a later interview. "She was a law unto herself. She'd mug and carry on—which she did in this picture—but she knew how to make an entrance with great aplomb, great effect." Harlow was in awe of Dressler's talents and praised the veteran actress for her generosity. "Being in the same cast with Marie was a break for me," said Harlow. "She's one trouper I'd never try to steal a scene from. It'd be like trying to carry Italy against Mussolini."
Dressler was also impressed with Harlow. "It was whispered behind more than one hand that Jean Harlow, Metro's much-advertised platinum menace, was picked for parts that called for more allure than art," said Dressler in her 1934 autobiography “My Own Story.” "And in Dinner at Eight, she had to throw a bomb in the works by proving that she is a first-rate actress! Her performance as the wife of the hard-boiled, self-made politician played by Wallace Beery belongs in that limited category of things which may with reason be called rare. The plain truth is, she all but ran off with the show!"
It was high praise indeed for Harlow coming from Dressler, and Dressler's warmth helped put the actress at ease. Harlow was understandably insecure about holding her own against such immense acting talent, and it was important to her to do a good job with her part. Harlow was an actress who got along with everyone—with one exception: Wallace Beery. She had worked with Beery before in The Secret Six (1931), and the two had developed a dislike for each other that carried over into Dinner at Eight. Beery thought that Harlow wasn't experienced enough as an actress and treated her rudely. Harlow found Beery gruff and boorish. Since the two were playing a husband and wife who can't stand each other, the real-life feelings worked to the comic benefit of the characters.
John Barrymore, who bravely took on the role of a fading matinee idol, relished the challenge of a strong character part. "Although [Barrymore] was playing a second-rate actor," said Cukor in a 1970 interview, "he had no vanity as such. He even put things into making himself hammier, more ignorant." Barrymore got involved in his part, making suggestions along the way to play up his character, such as having him misquote famous writers and botch his ill-fated resolution. Cukor was pleased that an actor of such prominence was confident and committed enough that he would be willing to sacrifice vanity for the greater success of the film.
Dinner at Eight was shot in a remarkable 27 days. "That was a wonderful record," said Cukor. "I owed it all to these marvelous performers; with them behind me, everything seemed possible." Later, Cukor considered his rapid directorial pace on Dinner at Eight as something more like a curse. "It's haunted me my entire career," he said. Ever since, he believed, people expected him to deliver all his pictures in that short amount of time.
MGM's faith in Dinner at Eight paid off. Upon its release, it was a huge success with critics and audiences alike. Despite not receiving any Academy Award nominations, the film endured and is now considered one of MGM's finest films from the '30s.
Director: George Cukor
Producer: David O. Selznick
Screenplay: Frances Marion, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Donald Ogden Stewart (additional dialogue) Based on the play Dinner at Eight by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber
Cinematography: William Daniels
Editing: Ben Lewis
Music: Dr. William Axt
Sound: Douglas Shearer, Charles Wallace
Costume Designer: Adrian
Cast: Marie Dressler (Carlotta Vance), John Barrymore (Larry Renault), Wallace Beery (Dan Packard), Jean Harlow (Kitty Packard), Lionel Barrymore (Oliver Jordan), Lee Tracy (Max Kane), Edmund Lowe (Dr. Wayne Talbot), Billie Burke (Millicent Jordan), Madge Evans (Paula Jordan), Jean Hersholt (Jo Stengal), Karen Morley (Lucy Talbot), Louise Closser Hale (Hattie Loomis), Phillips Holmes (Ernest DeGraff), May Robson (Mrs. Wendel), Grant Mitchell (Ed Loomis), Phoebe Foster (Miss Alden), Elizabeth Patterson (Miss Copeland), Hilda Vaughn (Tina), Harry Beresford (Fosdick), Edwin Maxwell (Mr. Fitch), John Davidson (Mr. Hatfield), Edward Woods (Eddie), Anna Duncan (Dora), Herman Bing (The Waiter), George Baxter (Gustave)
B&W -113 m.
