Phelps claimed that he had been diverted for fly-fishing to Ireland -- so that they could impersonate him at the reception.Tom: (dour-faced) (to Bill): Looks like you""ll have to look for a new river.Bill: I""ll run on this river if I""m the only passenger on the boat.After a fade-out, Bill receives a vaguely-worded telegram (that arrived four days earlier) from his son, announcing the time of his arrival and how he can""t be mistaken:William Canfield Sr...the dancerJOHN BARRYMORE as The BARONJOAN CRAWFORD as FLAEMMCHEN...the stenographerWALLACE BEERY as General Director PREYSINGLIONEL BARRYMORE as OTTO KRINGELEINLEWIS STONE as DOCTOR OTTERNSCHLAGJEAN HERSHOLT as SENF, the PorterAfterwards, the film opened with a left-to-right tracking shot atop a busy row of telephone operators at consoles, answering calls at Berlin""s ritzy hotel: "Hello, Grand Hotel.The main character, Freder (Gustav Frohlich), he young, pampered, (motherless) son of a ruling, aristocratic capitalist - the autocratic master of Metropolis, is introduced as he plays hide-and-seek with the ladies.Colonel Stone is adamant on attacking even though it will be a "costly" battle: "It""s worth he whole regiment.