The cast includes Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, John and Lionel Barrymore, and Billie Burke who is most famous for her role as Glinda The Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. Jean Harlow plays ex-showgirl Kitty Packard wife of thug turned businessman Dan Packard (Beery). In this movie Harlow created the image of the funny talking (“That's our trouble, you're an extrovert and I'm an introvert“), dumb blonde, gangster's moll. This performance has influenced everyone from Judy Holiday in Born Yesterday (for which she won the Oscar) to Lesley Anne Warren in Victor Victoria, not to mention many others.

The story concerns the events leading up to a New York socialite's party to take place next Friday evening, dinner at eight. Millicent Jordan (Burke), wife of shipping magnate Oliver Jordan III (Lionel Barrymore), has her sights set on entertaining The Lord and Lady Ferncliff upon their arrival from England. Also invited are Carlotta Vance, an aging theatrical Grand Dame who was the Belle of New York during the naughty nineties, vividly portrayed by the great Marie Dressler, her male counterpart for the occasion, the great yet fading movie star Larry Renault, played with a knowing sense of tragedy by the great profile himself, John Barrymore, and Mr. and Mrs. Dan Packard, these last very much against Millicent's wishes but since he is, after all, doing business with Oliver she must invite them. In addition to these guests the Jordan's daughter and her fiancé will also attend.

We soon find out that daughter Paula is having a torrid affair with the gloriously seedy Mr. Renault, and that the ditzy Kitty is carrying on with the dashing Dr. Talbot. She spends most of her time in bed thinking up ways to get the Doctor to come up and see her. Jean Harlow steals every scene she is in, she makes Kitty both completely real and movie star magical at the same time. As the week passes and the dinner party draws near we watch as these characters lives are interwoven with both hilarious and tragic results.

That this movie was made nearly seventy years ago, and that most of its stars were born well before 1890, I find fascinating. Not only is this great art, but it has become history as well. Romanticized and theatrical, to be sure, but history nonetheless.

For those not familiar with this movie, perhaps you have seen the final scene. The guests have all been called in to dinner and as they head for the dining room Carlotta and Kitty make small talk. Kitty says “I was reading a book the other day", to which Carlotta does a double take of amazement. “Yeah" Kitty continues, “ It said that some day machines are gonna take the place of every human profession." Carlotta raises her eyebrow and replies knowingly, “My dear, that is something you'll never have to worry about."

Scott
Robert Altman was only 8 years old when Dinner at Eight was released, but I have to bet he saw it and loved it.  It's the most Robert Altman of any non-Robert Altman movie.

Like many of Altman's movies, Dinner at Eight is about a whole bunch of different people who are only loosely connected to each other.  And like Altman's movies, only some of the characters are interesting.  In this movie for instance, I couldn't have cared less about the doctor and his wife, while I absolutely loved John Barrymore's past his prime actor and Jean Harlow's social climbing whor...wife.

So early in the history of talkies, this movie takes too much directly from the play it is based upon without changing anything to take advantage of being a movie.  It is just a series of static sets with no cutting from one location to another, but instead just complete scenes played out as they must have been in the play.

And some of the acting is a little dated.  The aging actress Carlotta's wide eyed stare near the end of the movie as she talks about death is a little groan inducing.

The one thing this movie can't be faulted on is its star power, which it has in excess.  Not being the huge fan of anything old, like Patrick, this was the first time I had seen some of these legendary actors actually perform.  Jean Harlow, John Barrymore, and Bille Burke (the only thing I've seen her do except Glinda), are the standouts.

A decent movie, that with a little more editing and adaptation for the screen, could have been as great as Patrick says it is.

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