"People come. People go. Nothing ever happens," one world-weary patron (Lewis Stone) of Berlin's finest hotel comments. Movie audiences knew better. They were witnessing the glorious comings, goings and intersecting stories of a starry array billed as "the greatest cast on stage or screen history!"

Ruined aristocrat John Barrymore. Terminally ill clerk Lionel Barrymore. Ruthless tycoon Wallace Beery. Scheming stenographer Joan Crawford. And disillusioned ballerina Greta Garbo. Teaming them was a masterstroke whose success fostered more star-packed extravaganzas. The radiant film captured the 1931-32 Best Picture Academy Award. What a grand showcase of the allure and style of classic moviemaking!