Because the Stanislavsky method of playing bridge has no rules, it promotes marital harmony for those who stick with it.Because the Stanislavsky method of playing bridge has no rules, it promotes marital harmony for those who stick with it.Because the Stanislavsky method of playing bridge has no rules, it promotes marital harmony for those who stick with it.
Wally Albright
- Boy Bridge Player
- (uncredited)
William Bailey
- Van Dorn's Bridge Partner
- (uncredited)
Reginald Barlow
- Theodore
- (uncredited)
Maurice Black
- Paul
- (uncredited)
Harry C. Bradley
- Bridge Match Referee
- (uncredited)
Jack Byron
- Lola's Contest Escort
- (uncredited)
Walter Byron
- Barney Starr
- (uncredited)
Joseph Cawthorn
- Alex Alexandrovitch
- (uncredited)
Jimmy Conlin
- Oscar Smelt
- (uncredited)
George Cooper
- Josh
- (uncredited)
Gino Corrado
- Barber
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- William Dieterle
- Alfred E. Green(uncredited)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film uses the actual cover of the November 8, 1932 (no. 2572) edition of Life magazine. At the time, the publication was a humor magazine, like Punch in the UK, with limited circulation.
- GoofsIn the newspaper article about Peter beating Van Dorn, the second paragraph of the story is unrelated gibberish.
- Quotes
Marcia Stanislavsky: How have you been?
Philip 'Speed' McCann: Okay. I've been working pretty hard. I just finished writing a book called Sex and What Causes It. It's for Bernard McGovern. I got five grand out of it.
Marcia Stanislavsky: Five grand!
Philip 'Speed' McCann: For only two weeks work. How have you been?
Marcia Stanislavsky: Oh, boy.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits begin with bridge being played in the background. Then, closeups of cards are shown with a picture of one of the actor/actress, his/her name, and the role s/he plays in the movie; director credited also on a playing card.
Featured review
cards were taken so seriously
In a more leisurely era, lots of people played cards, bridge being one of the big games, and took the game very seriously. I had an old boss who hated cards because her relatives used to play and the next day, no one was speaking to anyone. I can remember my aunt and uncle getting into a big fight over bridge.
Bridge is still a big game, of course, and in this film, "Grand Slam," it's the biggest! Paul Lukas stars as a Russian waiter now in America who finds the game silly and develops his own system, the Stanislavsky system, which becomes all the rage. At the urging of his ghost writer friend (Frank McHugh), he puts together a book about it, written by McHugh. This was probably inspired by the Russian bridge player Culbertson (I was once a member of the Culbertson Bridge Club) who made a big splash in that era.
Loretta Young plays his admiring girlfriend, who becomes his wife and partner in bridge on the radio (I guess they did everything on the radio), as the Stanislavsky method is supposed to keep couples from fighting. It doesn't.
Young is gorgeous and a bright presence as usual, and Paul Lukas plays it straight, which is perfect for his character. He was a fine dramatic actor but he did whatever the studio gave him, including, of all people, Philo Vance! The movie has some fun things in it, including a performance by Glenda Farrell, and footage of the world stopping when the two great bridge players meet for their championship game - divers stop in mid-air, ocean waves stop, etc. - quite funny.
I used to stay up all night playing bridge and also whist, and this movie made me miss both of them. Unfortunately nowadays I'm too distracted to keep track of what's been played. That didn't seem to bother Paul Lukas - he just big 7 spades whenever anyone asked him for a bid.
Short, light film, with the beautiful Loretta and her amazing outfits.
Bridge is still a big game, of course, and in this film, "Grand Slam," it's the biggest! Paul Lukas stars as a Russian waiter now in America who finds the game silly and develops his own system, the Stanislavsky system, which becomes all the rage. At the urging of his ghost writer friend (Frank McHugh), he puts together a book about it, written by McHugh. This was probably inspired by the Russian bridge player Culbertson (I was once a member of the Culbertson Bridge Club) who made a big splash in that era.
Loretta Young plays his admiring girlfriend, who becomes his wife and partner in bridge on the radio (I guess they did everything on the radio), as the Stanislavsky method is supposed to keep couples from fighting. It doesn't.
Young is gorgeous and a bright presence as usual, and Paul Lukas plays it straight, which is perfect for his character. He was a fine dramatic actor but he did whatever the studio gave him, including, of all people, Philo Vance! The movie has some fun things in it, including a performance by Glenda Farrell, and footage of the world stopping when the two great bridge players meet for their championship game - divers stop in mid-air, ocean waves stop, etc. - quite funny.
I used to stay up all night playing bridge and also whist, and this movie made me miss both of them. Unfortunately nowadays I'm too distracted to keep track of what's been played. That didn't seem to bother Paul Lukas - he just big 7 spades whenever anyone asked him for a bid.
Short, light film, with the beautiful Loretta and her amazing outfits.
helpful•11
- blanche-2
- Jan 30, 2013
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- La gran jugada
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $164,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 7 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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