WEEKEND AT THE WALDORF

WALDORF employs an all-star cast in a basic retooling of GRAND HOTEL, which, in this case, has our characters finding romance over the course of 48 hours at the famed New York hotel. Rogers plays a lonely and tired superstar actress plagued and intrigued by the witty attentions of a world-weary reporter (Pidgeon), who’s on a brief sabbatical from his assignment in Europe. Turner’s character is yet another regular gal (she’s a stenographer) looking for a way onto Park Avenue who discovers there’s more to life than pretty clothes and a nice apartment after meeting Johnson, a soldier with a bad heart and no place to call home. There’s a third plot about a businessman (Arnold) trying to trick a foreign sheik into investing in his company. This storyline is used mostly to give a few of the characters (namely Turner and Pidgeon) something to occupy their time when they’re not in the throws of passion with their respective love interests. Providing the comic relief are Pidgeon and Rogers, bantering like an old married couple, which the plot eventually forces them to pretend to be. She claims to hate him, but it's clear she's hooked from the get go. On the dramatic side, Johnson gives such a sweet and tender performance even the usually cold-hearted Turner is unable to resist him. She originally feels sorry for him, but his kindness and honest interest in her causes her realize she’s currently on the road to nowhere. Both couples have good chemistry, making the time pass amiably despite the occasional hokiness of the stories they’re trying to sell. What drags the film down is the business sub-plot, which only serves to waste time better spent with the main characters. If you like your comedy biting and your romance sentimental you'll probably enjoy this little flick. Proof that good acting can save mediocre writing.