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Hotel

1967, Movie, NR, 124 mins

Hotel: Review

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The Arthur Hailey novel was vastly improved upon by the film, which was a cut above average, but no more. HOTEL is really a variation on the 1930s GRAND HOTEL. Here it's the St. Gregory Hotel in New Orleans, one of the last of the great luxury hotels; its elegance and grace reflect the personality of its elderly owner, gentlemanly Douglas. The hotel is in financial trouble. Douglas relies upon his loyal manager, Taylor, to find a solution. McCarthy, owner of a chain of plastic hotel palaces, wants to buy the St. Gregory and reshape it in his own pedestrian image. He arrives with his mistress, Spaak. She tries to vamp Taylor into helping out her boy friend but quickly grows to respect him. Meanwhile, Rennie and Oberon, British aristocrats, arrive and are soon in trouble. Rennie, after having one too many, runs over someone but leaves the scene of the accident and hides his car in the hotel garage. Hotel detective Conte discovers this and begins blackmailing the couple. Malden, one of the most clever hotel thieves around, takes a room and begins looting the wallets of the guests but finds that they all have credit cards, not cash. The shifty McCarthy pays a black couple to try to register at the hotel, and they create a scene when turned away in an incident which prevents a union from buying the hotel. Taylor, however, outwits McCarthy in the end, and Spaak joins Taylor. Douglas decides that he would rather see his hotel razed than turned into something cheap. Just as the police are closing in on Rennie, he is killed when one of the hotel elevators gives way. Police let Oberon go and, since Rennie is dead, drop their investigation, but Conte gets his comeuppance at the end for his attempted blackmail. Malden is apprehended with some difficulty, but, as he is led from the hotel in handcuffs, he can't resist pocketing a hotel ashtray. It's all lightweight fare, but the super cast raises this potboiling story above the average, as does Quine's inventive direction. Hailey's story and dialog are often laughable. Some location shots were made in New Orleans. Carmen McRae appears as a singer in the hotel lounge, and she is really special. leave a comment
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