Like the Broadway theater in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Follies" about to be torn down to make way for a parking lot, the Hotel Continental is about to go way of the Hippedrome. The management of the hotel decides to throw a special party for their last night, which brings back a lot of the old guests who stayed there for special occasions, bringing back memories of royalty, former presidents and entertainers from various walks of the industry which we hear from a radio host narrating the festivities. While there are various small subplots going on, the major storyline involves "the boy embezzler" (Theodore Von Eltz) who just got out of prison and has checked in for the last night to find the stash of cash he hid there years ago. This brings on crooks who hire a former con-artist (Peggy Shannon) to trap him into revealing where the hidden treasure is. While romance blossoms between the two, various party goers go through their own situations, which includes one former guest who has had a share of bad luck, once the toast of the hotel, now a vagrant, and a drunk (Bert Roach) looking for his next snoot. A misunderstanding causes Shannon to believe that Von Eltz betrayed her with another woman, leading to her betrayal of him and a sudden act of violence which brings in the law to figure everything out. Suicide, shootings, accusations of infidelity and other issues add to the Auld Lang Syne feeling of this storyline which may not have been Tiffany's in budget (in spite of the studio name) but ultimately is satisfying, if not quite the equivalent of the more remembered "Grand Hotel". A fine supporting cast also includes Alan Mowbray and Henry B. Walthall, with a gripping conclusion that brings everything to a close with a great morale to the story.

"Hotel Continental" is a movie that starts off horribly. Fortunately, if you can possibly wade past the first 10 minutes or so, the film is pretty enjoyable...though a bit clichéd and stupid. As I mentioned above, the film begins badly. It almost comes off like the cocktail party skit on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in". Again and again, the camera pans on folks and they spout a line or two of supposedly funny or clever dialog and then the camera goes on to the next. It really didn't have much to do with the rest of the film.As for the REAL plot, the ultra-famous hotel is about to close forever. So, the owners are staging a huge party. Among the guests is a guy fresh out of prison. He is an embezzler and has apparently hidden the money somewhere in the hotel. Unfortunately, the nice woman he meets isn't so nice--and she was planted there by other crooks who want the money. Their relationship, while interesting, really makes no sense. Overall, a silly but enjoyable film that is like a super-low budget version of "Grand Hotel"....if it was written by an nice idiot.

Extraordinary thing - whenever these early 1930s "just another day, nothing ever happens at the ..... Hotel" type of movies were released they all paid homage to MGM's "Grand Hotel" but this movie was released 6 months before so cannot be accused of riding on the more prestigious film's coat tails. Quite prophetic, the story of a stately hotel's last hurrah was made by Tiffany in the studio's last year of production. It's star was the beautiful Peggy Shannon who, unfortunately, was soon to find out that alcohol and stardom didn't mix!!Even in 1932, Alfred Newman's "Street Scene" concerto was beginning to show up in variations in any film that had a New York locale. Why they are tearing down the Hotel Continental next day is a big mystery but that evening the hotel foyer is simply teeming with guests - they are still open for business, whether for good time gals (I'm sure I saw Minna Gombel giving orders) or crooked card games.The main story concerns A.R. Cooper (Theodore von Eltz), a former jewel thief whose arrest at the Hotel Continental a few years before is now part of the Hotel's folklore. He is now out of prison and eager to retrieve the hidden jewels and start afresh. Along the way he stops a potential suicide, Ruth Carlton (Peggy Shannon, looking like a million dollars) and she falls in easily with his plan to find some stolen happiness (shades of "Stolen Heaven"(1931)). But what's this!!! She is a crook herself who has quickly phoned her gang to say she has hooked him line and sinker - all very far fetched considering minutes after the call she is starting to have second thoughts. Well the movie is only an hour in length!!Bert Roach does his usual "happy drunk" routine and introduces Henry B. Walthall to a bunch of shallow party goers. He was a somebody back in the Hotel's heyday but is now down on his luck and returns that night for a last hurrah. Ruth's feelings for Cooper change again when she sees him in the arms of another woman (Mary Carlisle in a fleeting glimpse) - of course it's a mistake, he is just trying to stop two timer husband's (Alan Mowbray) wife (Ethel Clayton) from finding out what a rat her husband really is!! Too late, Ruth changes her mind again, because now she has put the wheels in motion to assure there will be no happy ending for Cooper - or will there be??Very hard to believe that someone from MGM didn't see this film and rework the John Barrymore/Greta Garbo storyline. Anyway, just a very entertaining film.

This poor knockoff of Vicki Baum's GRAND HOTEL -- or perhaps the MGM extravaganza produced the same year as this last gasp from Tiffany Productions -- is short of major stars in front of the camera, even though it does contain some notable names such as Theodore von Eltz, J. Farrell MacDonald and Henry Walthall from the silent era and future stalwart Alan Mowbray from the sound era. So it's fun to look at to see what they look like in 1932.Christy Cabanne, a prolific director whose reputation time has not been kind to, is in there pitching with this one. There are an awful lot of moving shots, including extended takes that look like they were shot with a crab dolly -- something that would not exist for another dozen years.Shot too cheaply to be done well, it shows that people did try, even when the roof was crashing in on their heads. Tiffany went under this year. Cabanne, who started out directing Raoul Walsh in LIFE OF PANCHO VILLA in 1912 and would continue directing for another sixteen years, always tried to give value for money. It's a pity he so rarely had much to work with.