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Plot

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 matinee idol (John Barrymore), who has squandered his fortune on liquor and is romantically involved with the Jordan daughter (Madge Evans); and a venerable stage actress (Marie Dressler), who since losing all her money has become a "professional guest." Nothing goes as planned, due to various suicides, double-crosses, compromises, fatal illness, and servant problems. But dinner is served precisely at eight. The script by Herman Mankiewicz, Frances Marion, and Donald Ogden Stewart is a virtual enclyopedia of witty lines and scenes, right down to the unforgettable closing gag.
MPAA Rating:
Genre(s):
Comedy,Drama
Run Time:
110min.
DVD Release Date:
03/01/2005
Distributor(s):
MGM
Director(s):
George Cukor
Starring:
Marie Dressler , John Barrymore , Wallace Beery , Jean Harlow , Lionel Barrymore
Themes:
Nothing Goes Right,Party Film,Social Climbing
Tone:
Stylish,Elegant,Bright,Madcap,Witty
Keywords:
aristocracy,city,diner,dinner-party,double-cross,extramarital-affair,guest,high-society,party,plans,socialite,society,suicide,upward-mobility
Language:
English