MGM's Glamour Wallow: "Weekend at the Waldorf"

Ginger Rogers, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, & 2/8 birthday girl Lana Turner head a fine cast in MGM's Americanized WWII take on "Grand Hotel" called "Weekend at the Waldorf." It's war time escapism at its very peak & was a huge hit. At 24, Lana's beauty & warmth in a sympathetic role helps show why audiences adored Turner for so many years. My look at "Waldorf."

[quote] Wallow

No, drowning.

Pointless and value-less.

[quote] MGM's Americanized WWII take on "Grand Hotel"

But "Grand Hotel" was American.

It *was* a hit? I don't remember it ever showing on the late show when I was a kid. I mean in comparison to Grand Hotel....well, actually I'd guess Waldorf has more warmth.

Commercially, "Weekend at the Waldorf" was a huge war time hit. Ginger Roger's biggest grossing movie, Lana's 2nd, next to Peyton Place.

I think this was Ginger's first film at MGM.

I figure she brings a tad more warmth than Greta.

Ginger was a brassy broad.

And Van Johnson was a plain-looking, gormless, slightly effeminate wet blanket.

When did Rogers scoot to MGM? I thought she only made Barkleys of Broadway. How long did she stay?

Rogers was either loaned out or was freelancing for these films, Ginger was never a MGM star...

It looks to me that Ginger made only two MGM films, this and Barkleys.

Terrible movie.

Ginger was well over, heading into her Freak Face and McCarthyite phase.

One of the things I love about DL is how unexpectedly it is revealed that there is someone besides me on here that actually knows about and has seen a movie like "Weekend at the Waldorf".

And I even have the DVD.

I love the Walter Pidgeon and Ginger Rogers plot line.

Fascinating to watch "Waldorf" as an MGM fantasy for war time audiences. A huge hit in '45.

1The Bells of St. Mary's(RKO Radio Pictures):$8,000,000

2Leave Her to Heaven(20th Century Fox):$5,500,000

3Spellbound(United Artists/Selznick International Pictures):$4,900,000

4The Valley of Decision(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer):$4,566,000

5Anchors Aweigh (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) : $4,498,000

6Week-End at the Waldorf (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer): $4,364,000

7Thrill of a Romance(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) : $4,338,000

8The Lost Weekend(Paramount Pictures):$4,300,000

9State Fair(20th Century Fox):$4,100,000

10The Dolly Sisters (20th Century Fox): $4,000,000

That's a very mixed bag, tone-wise, r14.

A lot of the crowdpleasers that make the top-grossing movies each year are often not the classics we remember later...

Well, r16, I'd say half of those movies are classics.

Someone above suggested that Greer Garson could have done a good job playing the Ginger Rogers role opposite Walter Pidgeon. While that is no doubt true, the list of '45's top box office films shows that Garson's star power was great enough for her VALLEY OF DECISION to outgross the all-star WATW by $200,000. M-G-M knew what it was doing by giving Garson a starring vehicle rather than throwing her into an ensemble cast.

I'd say one of those top ten grossing movies listed for '45 is a classic...

I'd consider these classics, r19:

1 The Bells of St. Mary's (RKO Radio Pictures): $8,000,000

2 Leave Her to Heaven (20th Century Fox): $5,500,000

3 Spellbound (United Artists/Selznick International Pictures): $4,900,000

5 Anchors Aweigh (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) : $4,498,000

8 The Lost Weekend (Paramount Pictures): $4,300,000

I consider Spellbound a classic *because* it's Hitchcock even though it isn't a "Hitchcock classic".

I'd consider "The Lost Weekend" a classic. Leave Her to Heaven and Spellbound camp classics. The Bells of St. Mary's a crowdpleaser sequel. Have never seen Anchors Away...

I consider it a classic, r21, simply for this...

[quote] Have never seen Anchors Away...

Have you never seen 'Anchors Away'?

Ginger Rogers replaced Judy Garland (for reasons well-known to the world) in Barkleys of Broadway.

It's always fascinating to think how a film meant for Judy would have turned out if she really had been in it (and able to perform at her top level). Think Annie Get Your Gun.

I think Comden and Green wrote Barkleys of Broadway specifically for Judy.

Weekend at the Waldorf is 40s MGM at peak glam and slick soap opera storytelling. Lana is very charismatic in this though not one of her most memorable roles but it's obvious why she's a star and why audiences of the time liked her.

[quote] very charismatic … though not one of her most memorable roles

Which is her most memorable charismatic role?

Van Johnson was plain-looking and gormless.

You wouldn't hire him to play a hero or 'carry' a million-dollar movie.

I heard Van was spending too much time with that fag Ted Casablanca!

Van had 2 movies in the top ten. He was huge back then, it's clear why MGM pressured him into a beard marriage

[quote] the top ten

Are you talking about that suspicious list at R14?

[quote] 2/8 birthday girl Lana Turner

OP, what does that mean? She is very sort?

Given the war, they probably didn't have a big glamorous premiere...

[quote]I think Comden and Green wrote Barkleys of Broadway specifically for Judy.

And Ginger was terrible in it.

I think it is was a true regret of Judy's that she wasn't well enough to do this film. I believe Burton Lane pulled some of his songs from the original script because if Judy wasn't going to be singing them the deal was off. She would have been wonderful and it would have been a bigger hit with Judy.

From that list, "Thrill of a Romance" is a generic and dopey Esther Williams movie. It isn't even one of her better films and I like Esther Williams' movies! It just shows you how tastes certainly do change.

^ Pidgeon is no sex symbol.

Ginger Rogers ornate hairstyles in "Waldorf" looked like MGM hair guru Sydney G. was having a hair hangover from Marlene Dietrich's "Kismet."

"Waldorf" is very entertaining, but Ginger's best '40s role is "Roxie Hart".

Old Hollywood experts? Why did they force Johnson to marry Keenan Wynn’s ex wife? How is breaking up a marriage good pr? Couldn’t they pay some obscure starlet to marry him? Very odd story.

It was pretty twisted that breaking up your best friends' marriage was preferable to being "a confirmed bachelor."

Obviously Keenan was willing to go along with it...wasn't he?

R40, from what I remember Louis B. Mayer basically told Van he had to marry and he said Evie was the ONLY woman he would marry. I wouldn't say he "broke up" the marriage since Keenan went along with it

I guess if the wife was the only woman VJ would marry, that sealed the deal. They had a child together and stayed married for 15 years so it worked out in a way.

Life at the "MGM Family."

[post redacted because independent.co.uk thinks that links to their ridiculous rag are a bad thing. Somebody might want to tell them how the internet works. Or not. We don't really care. They do suck though. Our advice is that you should not click on the link and whatever you do, don't read their truly terrible articles.]

Ginger's best 40's movie was definitely "The Major and the Minor."

Look at that, R36. Pidgeon is so naturalistic and truthful, and Ginger is so mannered and false. Sure, she's playing an actress and perhaps that's part of her characterization, but to my eye it's pervasive in her work, especially post-Fred, no matter what vocation her character is.

Ginger was once a fairly natural actress, but as the '40s went on, Rogers looked and acted more over the top... some things never change, right? I bring this up in my review, and it kinda works for this role, though I'm sure it wasn't intentional.

The name on everybody's lips...

[quote] MGM's Glamour Wallow. . .

I don't like the word 'wallow'.

It evokes an image of elephants or a rhinocerus rolling about in a muddy pond to keep cool or avoid the mosquitoes.

I liked Ginger in Roxie Hart

Roxie Hart director William Wellman was pretty fun and irreverent, I'd check Ginger out in this...

Walter Pidgeon was utterly boring and bland.

What makes 1942's ROXIE HART such a treat is seeing the return of sassy Ginger a la 1933.

"Grab it by the horn - Hit it while it's hot!"

Disagree about Pidgeon. Plus, he was a hot daddy

[quote]Walter Pidgeon was utterly boring and bland.

But he sure was a great fuck!

Walter *definitely* had BDF.

Walter had a scrotum under his jawline.

Was surprised how much I liked Van Johnson in this. Usually I don't...

I really liked him in State of the Union and In the Good Old Summertime

Wouldn't Hedy Lamarr have been the logical and more preferred choice for Ginger's role? Wasn't Hedy brought to Metro to succeed Garbo?

We couldn't have the ethereal goddess Hedy being worshipped by that old dog Walter and that fat freckled young puppy named V.J.

Well, they should have been recast with Spencer Tracy and Robert Walker, r65.

More stars than there are in heaven, remember?

You gotta remember it opened in 1945 and the world was weary from battle, bad news and rationing. Standards were low. Abbot & Costello were among America's favorite actors. During the war years Ginger was in the top 5 of all actresses and higher paid than most of them.

This brassy woman's real name was Virginia McMath.

Hedy Lamarr never rose to the occasion to replace Garbo. However, the sets from Waldorf were used to serve as the sets for "Her Highness and the Bellboy," with Hedy and Robert Walker starring...

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pa3TmqOorZ6csm%2BvzqZmraCimq6le5Jra2pvY2iEbrnGpmSsZZehrq671KtksJmcoby4edaenKSdnpl6osCMrZ%2BeZaeWuaW70Z9k