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Dinner at Eight (1933)

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Movie Info

Based on the Broadway hit by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, Dinner at Eight is a near-flawless comedy/drama with an all-star cast at the peak of their talents. Social butterfly Mrs. Oliver Jordan (Billie Burke) arranges a dinner party that will benefit the busines of her husband (Lionel Barrymore). Among the invited are a crooked executive (Wallace Beery), who is in the process of ruining Jordan; his wife (Jean Harlow), who is carrying on an affair with a doctor (Edmund Lowe); a fading

Mar 1, 2005

Cast

All Critics (20) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (18) | Rotten (0) | DVD (9)

A deluxe flipbook of caricatures, a blatant pageant of studio thoroughbreds, a study of tuxedoed, bejeweled pretense

June 7, 2010 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion

Features a stellar cast of all-star MGM veterans who all know how to overact.

April 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Taking advantage of MGM's talent pool, George Cukor directed this witty 1933 comedy with a big-gun cast that includes Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, Wallace Beery, and Jean Harlow.

December 30, 2005 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Scintillating '30s comedy with an all-star cast and quip-happy script.

September 9, 2005 Comment
Las Vegas Review-Journal

A sparkling script and game efforts from an all-star cast easily overcome the creakiness.

March 18, 2005 Full Review Source: Creative Loafing | Comment
Creative Loafing

A comedic roundelay in which colorful character, tension, quips and societal norms all entertainingly commingle.

March 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine | Comment

Featuring a crème de la crème assortment of Hollywood players, character actors, and rising stars, Dinner at Eight is entitled to a more deluxe treatment.

March 2, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

The dinner party that closes Dinner at Eight wouldn't feel like dancing at the end of the world without Renault's final gesture.

March 2, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

Each star has a memorable moment.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Sterling film version of the play with some great performances.

May 20, 2003 Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Dinner at Eight

After you get through the first half of the movie, which is really talky and long, it gets good. It's dramatic and exciting, and the story has a great realistic ending. The actors are good too. This was a good movie.

September 15, 2010
ajv2688

Super Reviewer

Incredibly good play-turned-movie adaptation. An all-star cast, with exceptional performances by John Barrymore, holding up the tragic end of the balance, and Marie Dressler delivering the best laughs. A must-see just for the great weave of comedy and tragedy.

January 12, 2009
binky013

Super Reviewer

    1. Kitty Packard: I was reading a book the other day.
    2. Carlotta Vance: Reading a book?
    3. Kitty Packard: Yes. It's all about civilization or something, a nutty kind of a book. Do you know that the guy said that machinery is going to take the place of every profession?
    4. Carlotta Vance: Oh, my dear, that's something you need never worry about.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Dinner um Acht (DE)
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