Dinner at Eight

Dinner at Eight, a vastly entertaining behind-closed-doors glimpse into the lives of the troubled and troublemaking Who’s Who of people invited to a posh Manhattan party, is served with ample helpings of humor and melodrama. Buoyed by the success of the studio’s multi-starred, multi-storied Grand Hotel the year before, producer David O. Selznick aspired for something grander – and found it in this George Cukor-directed adaptation of the George S. Kaufman/Edna Ferber stage hit. Highlights include Jean Harlow and Wallace Beery’s bitter battle of the sexes, hostess Billie Burke’s tizzy fit and Marie Dressler’s grande dame worldliness. Of course, there’s only one way to catch all the great moments. Dinner at Eight. Don’t be late. (Warner Bros)