How can you praise a movie so much and not find anything wrong with it? That is the situation for "Dinner at Eight", the film version of the George S. Kaufman comedy/drama that covers the lives of people involved in a high society dinner party in Manhattan in the early 1930's. Billie Burke's Millicent Jordan is so excited that she has gotten the wealthy British Ferncliffs to come to dinner. But as soon as she gets the good news, everything else seems to go wrong. The kitchen staff is fighting, her daughter has romantic problems, and the guests she wants can't come, so she has to invite the guests she doesn't really want only because they are business associates of her husband's.
Burke is married to wealthy businessman Oliver Jordan (Lionel Barrymore) who is having health issues. When his old flame Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler) shows up for a visit, she too is invited, although she's a bit insulted when Oliver's secretary (Elizabeth Patterson) recalls seeing her on stage when she was just a little girl. "We must have a talk about the civil war some time", Dressler snaps, eyeing the obviously middle aged woman up and down in aghast fury. "Just you and I". With those huge sad eyes and that imperious presence, Dressler looks as if she ended up being re-incarnated as the St. Bernard in the T.V. series version of "Topper", and here, she steals every moment she's on, whether offering advice to Burke and Barrymore's daughter (Madge Evans) or taking her own pooch to task for being naughty on a hotel carpet.
Then, there's the Packards, Dan and Kitty (Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow), "new money" as Burke would refer to them as, and just as tacky as they appear to be. Kitty is obviously a philanderer, and Dan is too busy to even seem to care. He's working on a take-over of Jordan stock and when this is revealed to Oliver, his health begins to decline even more. Drunken actor Larry Renault (John Barrymore), in an ironic choice of casting, is desperate for work, but turns down a small supporting part in a play presented to him by his frustrated agent (Lee Tracy). In love with Evans but not wanting to saddle her with being down on his luck, Barrymore makes a drastic decision that will certainly have a massive effect on Burkes' plans.
If there had been Oscars for supporting performances in 1933, Billie Burke would have won for her role of the selfish, demanding Mrs. Jordan who goes haywire and finally has a breakdown as her plans all fall apart. She goes off on a tirade so delicious that you can't believe that this is Glinda the Good Witch and all of those dizzy socialites she later played spouting. In smaller performances, May Robson, Louise Closser Hale and Grant Mitchell shine. The direction by George Cukor is superb. In the just over two hour running time, everybody has something delicious to do, and in that time, you will find so many thrills, you will want to return to dinner again and again.
Burke is married to wealthy businessman Oliver Jordan (Lionel Barrymore) who is having health issues. When his old flame Carlotta Vance (Marie Dressler) shows up for a visit, she too is invited, although she's a bit insulted when Oliver's secretary (Elizabeth Patterson) recalls seeing her on stage when she was just a little girl. "We must have a talk about the civil war some time", Dressler snaps, eyeing the obviously middle aged woman up and down in aghast fury. "Just you and I". With those huge sad eyes and that imperious presence, Dressler looks as if she ended up being re-incarnated as the St. Bernard in the T.V. series version of "Topper", and here, she steals every moment she's on, whether offering advice to Burke and Barrymore's daughter (Madge Evans) or taking her own pooch to task for being naughty on a hotel carpet.
Then, there's the Packards, Dan and Kitty (Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow), "new money" as Burke would refer to them as, and just as tacky as they appear to be. Kitty is obviously a philanderer, and Dan is too busy to even seem to care. He's working on a take-over of Jordan stock and when this is revealed to Oliver, his health begins to decline even more. Drunken actor Larry Renault (John Barrymore), in an ironic choice of casting, is desperate for work, but turns down a small supporting part in a play presented to him by his frustrated agent (Lee Tracy). In love with Evans but not wanting to saddle her with being down on his luck, Barrymore makes a drastic decision that will certainly have a massive effect on Burkes' plans.
If there had been Oscars for supporting performances in 1933, Billie Burke would have won for her role of the selfish, demanding Mrs. Jordan who goes haywire and finally has a breakdown as her plans all fall apart. She goes off on a tirade so delicious that you can't believe that this is Glinda the Good Witch and all of those dizzy socialites she later played spouting. In smaller performances, May Robson, Louise Closser Hale and Grant Mitchell shine. The direction by George Cukor is superb. In the just over two hour running time, everybody has something delicious to do, and in that time, you will find so many thrills, you will want to return to dinner again and again.