Unlike Vicki Baum, Arthur Hailey did not I think have direct experience of the hotel industry, though did have a multitude of jobs before this was published in 1965 and became a hit. It's not the best written novel but its multi-stranded stories are readable, some of which (obviously) were dispensed with for the film, which was adapted by Wendell Mayes. The best of these is that of a poor old man with pneumonia who is looked after by the efficient PA to the owner, Christine - turns out to be a multi-millionaire who buys the hotel! Now why didn't they leave that in?
In my last review, I wondered if the hotel might have been saved at the last minute, though it turns out the old man's plans are to invest the remaining half million in a new hotel, smaller. "I'll start looking", Rod says. Also, the way the countess takes the blame for her husband is noble indeed. But overall we're slightly lacking in action and event.
Quine and top DP Charles Lang move things along smoothly on Universal sets, Sam O'Steen is the editor. Watchable cast: Rod Taylor quite credible as manager, Melvyn Douglas, Catherine Spaak, Karl Malden, Merle Oberon (who was in 'Keeks!' - you know, That Uncertain Feeling - for Lubitsch in 1941; this was almost her last role), Michael Rennie, Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1954, then mainly on TV), Richard Conte, Carmen McCrae.
Johnny Keating's music anchors it firmly in the late sixties, but his main theme is overused to the point of irritation.
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