John Barrymore

  • Howard Hawks – Twentieth Century (1934)

    1931-1940ClassicsComedyHoward HawksScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis:
    Broadway director Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore) is a bigger ham than most actors, but through sheer drive and talent he is able to build a successful career. When one of his discoveries, Lily Garland (Carole Lombard), rises to stardom and heeds the call of Hollywood, Oscar begins a career slide. He hits the skids and seems on his way out, until he chances to meet Lily again, on a train ride aboard the Twentieth Century Limited. Oscar pulls out all the stops to re-sign his former star, but it’s a battle – because Lily, who is as temperamental as Oscar is, wants nothing to do with her former mentor.Read More »

  • John S. Robertson – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)

    John S. Robertson1911-1920HorrorSilentUSA
    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)

    Considered by many to be the first great American horror film, John S. Robertson’s DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE allowed stage legend John Barrymore to deliver his first virtuoso performance on film. Blending historic charm with grim naturalism, this version of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE is one of the more faithful of the many screen adaptations of Stevenson’s story (though greatly influenced by T.R. Sullivan’s popular stage treatment), recounting a visionary scientist’s ill-fated attempts to unleash the human mysteries that dwell beneath the shell of the civilized self.Read More »

  • Jack Conway – Arsène Lupin (1932)

    Jack Conway1931-1940MysteryRomanceUSA
    Arsène Lupin (1932)
    Arsène Lupin (1932)

    Synopsis by Mark Deming
    John Barrymore plays a burglar and his brother Lionel Barrymore is the detective trying to catch him in this cleverly cast drama. An upscale thief who works under the name of Arsene Lupin is making the rounds of the homes of the wealthy and privileged, and Detective Guerchard (Lionel Barrymore) is determined to track him down. What he doesn’t know is that the suave and sophisticated Duke of Charmerace (John Barrymore) is actually the man behind the robberies. Will Guerchard find out the thief’s true identity before he can execute a daring theft from the Louvre Museum? Karen Morely co-stars as Sonia, the Duke’s love interest.Read More »

  • Archie Mayo – Svengali (1931)

    1931-1940Archie MayoHorrorRomanceUSA

    Through hypnotism and telepathic mind control, a sinister music maestro controls the singing voice, but not the heart, of the woman he loves.Read More »

  • Mitchell Leisen – Midnight (1939)

    1931-1940ComedyMitchell LeisenRomanceScrewball ComedyUSA

    Frank S. Nugent wrote:
    ‘Midnight,’ With Don Ameche and Claudette Colbert, Strikes a Seasonal High in Comedy at the Paramount

    The ice went out of the river at the Paramount yesterday, and Spring came laughing in with “Midnight,” one of the liveliest, gayest, wittiest and naughtiest comedies of a long hard season. Its direction, by Mitchell Leisen, is strikingly reminiscent of that of the old Lubitsch. Its cast, led by Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, John Barrymore and Francis Lederer, is in the best of spirits. Its script, by too many authors to mention, is a model of deft phrasing and glib narrative joinery; and its production, while handsome, never has been permitted to bulk larger than its players. The call is for three cheers and a tiger: the Paramount is back on Broadway again.Read More »

  • William Wyler – Counsellor at Law (1933)

    1931-1940DramaUSAWilliam Wyler

    George Simon (played by John Barrymore in a memorable performance) has risen from his poor Jewish immigrant beginnings to become a high-powered lawyer with an office in the Empire State Building. His professional and private lives pass by at breakneck pace, and he hasn’t registered that his blueblood wife Cora (Doris Kenyon) is showing interest in another man, or that his secretary Rexy Gordon (Bebe Daniels) dotes on him.Read More »

  • George Cukor – A Bill of Divorcement (1932)

    1931-1940ClassicsDramaGeorge CukorUSA

    Synopsis:
    Meg Fairfield (Billie Burke) is set to marry Gray Meredith (Paul Cavanagh), pending a divorce from her first husband, Hilary (John Barrymore), who has spent nearly 20 years in an insane asylum. On Christmas morning, while Meg and Gray are attending church, Hilary returns home, having snapped out of his illness. He is met by his daughter, Sydney (Katharine Hepburn), who is worried she will inherit his mental problems. The Fairfields must decide how Hilary’s arrival will change their plans.Read More »

  • Harry d’Abbadie d’Arrast – Topaze (1933)

    1931-1940ClassicsDramaHarry d'Abbadie d'ArrastScrewball ComedyUSA

    Synopsis:
    An honest and naive schoolteacher gets a lesson in how the world works outside the classroom, when a rich Baron and his mistress use the teacher’s name and outstanding reputation in a crooked business scheme.Read More »

  • W.S. Van Dyke – Marie Antoinette (1938)

    1931-1940ClassicsEpicUSAW.S. Van Dyke

    With a seven-figure budget and veteran director W.S. Van Dyke at the helm, MARIE ANTOINETTE is one of the most opulent period dramas produced in the golden era of Hollywood. The film chronicles the life of the 18th-century queen, following her emotional transformation from childhood as a young Austrian princess to her last days in the court of Louis XVI before the French Revolution. Led by the talents of Norma Shearer as Marie, John Barrymore as Louis XVI, and Tyrone Power as Marie’s childhood friend and aspiring lover, Count Axel de Fersen, the film exposes the power plays and chicaneries of the French court, painting the Duke d’Orleans as the villainous source of Marie’s public relations tragedy. With the extravagance of the court matched vociferously by the extravagance of the production, a romantic score by Henry Stothart, and a strong performance from Shearer, MARIE ANTOINETTE is a quality period drama.Read More »

Back to top button