Bette and Joan The Divine Feud by Shaun Considine Page B

picture." This would greatly injure Garbo's prestige throughout the country, the trade paper added, "and greatly increase Miss Crawford's."
     
    Grand Hotel
—The Premiere
    On a warm foggy evening in late April, the gala opening of
Grand Hotel
was held at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. To celebrate the event, black-tie suppers and dinner parties were held at various homes and restaurants throughout Los Angeles, with guests transported by special limousines to the five-dollar-top-ticket event at the theater. "As huge searchlights scraped the low hung heavens, pots of incense perfumed the air," reported the Los Angeles
Times.
On hand were five hundred policemen to protect the two thousand invited guests from the twenty thousand fans lining the streets and sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard.
     
    The first to arrive were M-G-M's top executives—Louis B. Mayer, Nick Schenck, Eddie Mannix, Harry Rapf, and their spouses—followed by the brass from rival studio Warner Bros., including producers Hal Wallis, Darryl Zanuck, and Jack Warner, with their wives. "Seldom have I seen so many men and women with their own spouses," said Louella Parsons.
     
    Then the stars appeared—Norma Shearer with Irving Thalberg, Marlene Dietrich with husband Rudolph Sieber, Mr. and Mrs. Clark Gable, and Jean Harlow with Paul Bern. Escorted by special bellhops to a desk in the lobby, each guest was asked to sign in at the
Grand Hotel
register. "Do we need luggage?" the cheeky Miss Harlow asked, as a stampede erupted on the street outside, signaling the arrival of one of the stars of the picture—Joan Crawford. "Sunburned as a berry, dressed in an electric blue dress, with her hair in the new 'bangs style,' Joan's eyes sparkled and her voice choked with emotion when anyone spoke to her." Escorted by her Prince, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., the star waved to the fans, smiled demurely at the handsome policemen, then signed her name on the shirtfronts and hatbands of some of the men who mobbed her in the lobby. Greta Garbo was not expected to show, said director Edmund Goulding. "She has a fear of crowds, a psychosis that is increasing instead of lessening," he observed.
     
    Scheduled to begin at eight-thirty, the movie was not shown until 11:00 P.M. , "due to the late arrival of limousines, lined up for a mile on the boulevard, choked black with people." The stalled passengers and celebrities were not bored in traffic, it was noted, for many of the limousines were equipped with the latest in American luxury—car radios. Throughout the delay they were able to listen to the stage show being broadcast live from Grauman's.
     
    MC of the show was Will Rogers, who, between introductions of the acrobats, dancers, jugglers, dogs, and crooners, asked the stars in the audience to take a bow. "Joan Crawford stood in the aisle, waving and hugging an unidentified Ginger Rogers," said a reporter for
The Hollywood Tatler,
"then ran to the other side of the aisle where she embraced Louis B. Mayer." After the movie was shown, Will Rogers asked the audience to remain in their seats for a special surprise. "I am going to introduce a lady who is seldom seen," he said. "She is going away soon to her own country, but has consented to make this one personal appearance." As excited whispers of "Garbo ... it's Garbo" swept the theater, Rogers pointed to stage left. "Miss Greta Garbo!" he said. "There in the spotlight," said
Variety,
"was a woman in a rather dishevelled gown, with long unkempt blond hair. Wearing high-heels she wobbled her way towards center-stage. When she spoke the audience gasped, then giggled. It was Wallace Beery in drag. 'I t'ank I go home now,' said Beery, which prompted the weary audience to exit the theater."
     
    Two days later
Grand Hotel
opened as a special road-show attraction at the Astor in New York. The following day tickets were sold out for two months. "The most jubilant popular success of talking pictures," said the New York
World