Diagonaldi Very well executed

MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Konterr Brilliant and touching

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

thejcowboy22 I fondly recall my first long distance family vacation in sunny Mexico around November 1974. I was truly taken in my the awe and majestic grandeur of the tropical and mountainous seaside coastline. Among st the beauty I entered the luxurious grounds of the Camino Real Hotel. I felt like the character Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz seeing the Emerald City for the first time. Everything about this Hotel was first class from their nightclubs, ocean view rooms facing the turquoise waters of the Pacific ocean and the grand centerpiece the swimming pool with a waterfall at one side and a bar recessed in the pool at the other end with bar stools in the water. If that wasn't enough all the woman there were absolutely gorgeous. With in one hour I was invited to play volleyball with these beauties. At one point the ball rolled away and ended up in the Pacific Ocean. I ran to get the ball and paused for a moment as I knelt down into the salty surf. The girls ask whats wrong? I said I was making history entering the Pacific ocean for the first time. Nothing like a grand hotel to make you forget about your daily drab lifestyle. Arthur Hailey's novel Hotel puts you right inside the main entrance of the St. Gregory's Hotel in the adult playground called the "Big Easy" New Orleans, Louisiana. Our Story centers around the Hotel's manager Ian Peter McDermott (Rod Taylor) who overseas the daily operations of the lavish hotel. McDermott is employed under his out of touch, racial, elderly owner Mr. Trent (Melvyn Douglas). Our first prospective buyer is a Mr. Joe Laswell played by Ken Lynch. Lynch plays the quintessential New York business tycoon along with his tough sounding raspy voice waiting for a fair price from the elderly Mr. Trent. Most of his scene are via the telephone. Buyer number two is the energetic confident Curtis O'Keefe played by (Kevin McCarthy) who has ideas of modernizing the lavish hotel. O'Keefe has his french mistress Jeanne (Catherine Spaak) along side. Jeanne shows an interest in McDermott and an affair begins to blossom between the two. Meanwhile there's a thief running through the hotel stealing, "cash only" from room to room played by Karl Malden. If that wasn't enough, a black couple enter the hotel while McDermott is away with Jeanne enjoying the lunch and his hide-away apartment. Because of the McDermott's absence being detained by O'keefe's mistress, The concierge Bailey played by Roy Roberts takes it upon himself to restrict entrance for the smartly dressed black couple from Phildelphia. Bailey rejects the colored couple claiming the hotel never got their reservation, but is willing to book them in another hotel. Roberts reprises his role of the restrictive hotel clerk in an earlier movie Gentlemen's Agreement snubbing Gregory Peck as being of the Jewish faith. Another story line intertwined with the hotel is the Duke) Michael Renny) and Duchess (Merle Oberon) of Lanbourne who are entertaining at the hotel but earlier were involved in a hit and run accident killing a youth. One of the headlight rims was left on the scene and missing from their exposed Jaguar which currently is parked in the hotel parking garage noticed by house detective Dupere (Richard Conte). Dupere sees dollar signs as he confronts the Royal couple reverting to blackmail. The elegance and charm of the old hotel is magnificently filmed along with the well attired players in our movie. Rod Taylor was well tailored but I felt he could of been a more assertive character. A little stronger than just offering drinks on the house. Melvyn Douglas was very believable as the Trent character which he carried off as the old racial order. Kevin McCarthy's O'Keefe character shows an energy and confidence that holds the audiences attention. A different vehicle for actor Karl Malden's part. Less dialogue and more in the way of the physical timing. Malden the trespasser shows a grace as if you are stealing the items right along with him. At times I felt myself rooting for him instead of going with my conscience. Just a great way to "Check In" for a couple of hours at the Saint Gregory's Hotel where a reservation is not required. You might check in, but your memories of this film will never leave.

Robert J. Maxwell This is one of those multi-narrative, all-star movies about diverse people being their dynamic selves in a vast enclosed space, missing only Max von Sydow as the resident psychiatrist. And, man, this is one grand hotel -- the St. Gregory in New Orleans, where twelve presidents have stayed. It's huge, it's rococo, it's prohibitively expensive except for presidents, people on expense accounts, CEOs of major corporations, and my plumber, Dan.But there's a rub. The St. Gregory may be the ne plus ultra of elegance but it's old fashioned and it's losing money. The crusty owner of the place, Douglas, refuses to change. He's stuck in the eternal zugzwang. He's known all his employees for years, he likes the marble pillars and the over-sized fountain in the lobby, and he endorses his policy of segregation. He doesn't understand all this new stuff, "unions, civil rights, indoor baseball -- MOTELS." His general manager, the skilled and savvy Rod Taylor, understands it but would like to preserve what he can of the traditional opulence while adapting to changing circumstances. Unfortunately, he's the victim of a plot that drags him away by the gonads from his post at the hotel, allowing some chicanery by a potential buyer to take place. But it's too complicated to get into.Rod Taylor is reassuringly himself, handsome, robustly masculine. I saw him in a recent movie and he's aged magnificently. His eyeballs bulge, his face is now one flab upon another, and his ears are those of the African elephant. He looks great. Catherine Spaak is the reformed spy. She's conventionally attractive, her features are inexpressive but her voice carries an infinity of subtexts. Comic relief is provided by Karl Malden as the hotel thief who scurries from room to room, pocketing cash, expensive watches, jewelry, and whatnot. He's fine too in an amusing role, with his bulbous nose and clownish smile. His last act, as he's being led away in cuffs by the police, is to pocket a hotel ash tray.For what it's worth, the Statler Hotel School at Cornell was about the most prestigious in the country, though you don't hear much about it outside of hotel management circles. Snobby and even semi-snobby universities have always been a little ashamed of their specialized programs. The thing is to be a proud, defiant liberal arts college. It took Harvard a couple of hundred years to finally establish a school of medicine or law. More pragmatic schools have no such difficulty. The old, fancy universities, in resisting specialization, were much in the position of old Melvyn Douglas, owner of the St. Gregory. There's a curious shot of the ancient, creaking potentate complaining about "all this new stuff" while the camera lingers on his fat, elderly dog who shifts slightly to a more comfortable position. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, you know.It's unusual -- I realize that -- but I'd like to dedicate this poor review to Zani. You'll notice I used the word "zugzwang" earlier. I'd never heard of the damned thing before she told me what it meant. (It's from German and means "pulled in two different directions.") Zani, I can -- excuse me, I'm all choked up -- I can't thank you enough. For me -- sob -- for me, the world wouldn't exist without that word. (Sniff.)

ijonesiii HOTEL was the 1967 all star soap opera based on the novel by Arthur Hailey revolving around the goings-on at an old, yet elegant New Orleans hotel called the Saint Gregory. Basically, this is just a grounded version of Hailey's later AIRPORT, only not quite as interesting, but pleasant to look at with a competent enough cast. Rod Taylor plays Peter McDermott, the hard-nosed, but compassionate manager of the hotel. Melvyn Douglas plays Warren Trent, the owner of the hotel, trying to conceal his concern about a possible buyout from Kevin McCarthy as O'Keefe, who arrives with his mistress (the plastic Catherine Spaak), who falls in love with McDermott in about five minutes. Michael Rennie and a still gorgeous Merle Oberon play a Duke and Duchess staying in the hotel who are concealing an accident they were involved in and are being blackmailed by house detective Richard Conte and Karl Malden is amusing as Keycase, a thief and conman working the hotel. OK, it's not GRAND HOTEL...it's not even AIRPORT...but there are worse ways to spend two hours.

davidshort10 I find Hotel strangely compelling and have watched it countless times on cable TV. In fact, it is playing right now as I write. I remain fascinated by the fact that the hotel thief (Karl Malden) leaves his own room unlocked. Perhaps he knows there's only ever one thief in any hotel. I like the scene when the hotel security and manager describe the thief as wearing a grey suit. They too, all three of them, are wearing grey suits, like just about every other male in the hotel! At least Malden has a hat on (at about two in the morning) to distinguish him from every other male (now how dumb is that?). Plus I can never figure out why Malden, once he has the briefcase stuffed with money from the Duke, doesn't simply check out right away and go retire (to some hotel or another...). I agree with other contributors that the jazz riff in the background, especially signalling the activities of Malden is really annoying and it serves to date the movie too much.