John Barrymore Movies
Like his brother Lionel and his sister Ethel, American actor John Barrymore had early intentions to break away from the family theatrical tradition and become an artist, in the "demonic" style of Gustav Doré. But acting won out; thanks to his natural flair and good looks, Barrymore was a matinee idol within a few seasons after his 1903 stage debut. His best-known Broadway role for many years was as an inebriated wireless operator in the Dick Davis farce The Dictator. On stage and in silent films (including a 1915 version of The Dictator), John was most at home in comedies. His one chance for greatness occurred in 1922, when he played Hamlet; even British audiences hailed Barrymore's performance as one of the best, if not the best, interpretation of the melancholy Dane. Eventually, Barrymore abandoned the theatre altogether for the movies, where he was often cast more for his looks than his talent. Perhaps in revenge against Hollywood "flesh peddlers," Barrymore loved to play roles that required physical distortion, grotesque makeup, or all-out "mad" scenes; to him, his Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) was infinitely more satisfying than Don Juan (1926). When talkies came in, Barrymore's days as a romantic lead had passed, but his exquisite voice and superb bearing guaranteed him stronger film roles than he'd had in silents; still, for every Grand Hotel (1932), there were the gloriously hammy excesses of Moby Dick (1930) and Svengali (1931). Unfortunately, throughout his life, Barrymore was plagued by his taste for alcohol, and his personal problems began catching up with him in the mid-1930s. From Romeo and Juliet(1936) onward, the actor's memory had become so befuddled that he had to recite his lines from cue cards, and from The Great Profile (1940) onward, virtually the only parts he'd get were those in which he lampooned his screen image and his offstage shenanigans. In 1939, at the behest of his latest wife Elaine Barrie, Barrymore returned to the stage in My Dear Children, a second-rate play that evolved into a freak show as Barrymore's performance deteriorated and he began profanely ad-libbing, and behaving outrageously during the play's run. Sadly, the more Barrymore debased himself in public, the more the public ate it up, and My Dear Children was a hit, as were his humiliatingly hilarious appearances on Rudy Vallee's radio show. To paraphrase his old friend and drinking companion Gene Fowler, Barrymore had gone over Niagara Falls in a barrel; we are lucky indeed that he left a gallery of brilliant film portrayals before the fall. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1932
Katharine Hepburn made her auspicious film debut in the otherwise undistinguished A Bill of Divorcement. Based on a play by Clemence Dane, the film is set on the day that Hepburn's mother, Billie Burke, is to divorce her insane and long-institutionalized husband John Barrymore. But Barrymore escapes from the asylum and returns home, only vaguely aware of the passage of time (he was shell-shocked during WWI). His presence puts Burke in an uncomfortable spot, especially since she plans to wed Paul Cavanaugh. Pressured by her idiotically traditional family to renew her vows with her first husband, Burke is saved from a lifetime of misery by her spunky daughter Hepburn, who takes care of her child-like father. The film's attitude towards male-female relationships, not to mention its archaic approach to the problem of mental illness, make Bill of Divorcement a chore to sit through today. Its saving grace is the warm rapport between Katharine Hepburn and John Barrymore (contrary to Hollywood legend, they did not despise one another). Even given its dated quality, Bill of Divorcement is more palatable than its empty 1940 remake, which starred Maureen O'Hara and Adolphe Menjou. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Billie Burke, (more)
- 1915
Adapted by Leo Ditrichstein from an earlier German farce, Are You a Mason? served as one of John Barrymore's most popular stage vehicles. The film version likewise starred Barrymore, who breezed through the assignment with the youthful panache that would leave him all too soon. The hero, a young bridegroom, manages to get out of all sorts of scrapes by pretending to be a Mason, supremely confidant that he'll either be rescued or forgiven by his "fellow" Masons. Things get hairy when it turns out that Barrymore's new father-in-law has likewise been posing as a Mason for years, and for many of the same reasons. Hoping to make the material more "cinematic," director Thomas M. Heffron attempted at one point to stage a drunk scene from the drunk's besotted point of view. Charlie Chaplin was more successful with this gimmick in his 1916 two-reeler One AM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1932
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. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, (more)
John Barrymore is virtually the entire show as 18th-century British fashion plate Beau Brummel. Thanks to his sartorial splendor and quick wit, Brummel is a favorite of the Prince of Wales (Willard Louis)--and with several ladies, though his heart belongs to the beautiful, unobtainable Lady Margery Avanley (played by 17-year-old Mary Astor, who during filming was carrying on a most passionate affair with her leading man). The arrogant Brummel falls from grace after insulting the Prince and then refusing to apologize. We last see Brummel in an asylum, dressed in rags, but with still enough pride to turn away his true love rather than allow her to throw her life away on him. John Barrymore is superb throughout, especially in the poignant sequences after his descent into poverty and disgrace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Mary Astor, (more)
- 1937
In the second of Paramount's "Bulldog Drummond" thrillers, Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond (John Howard) is finally about to marry longtime fiancée Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell) when the girl is kidnapped. The hijackers, Mikhail Valdin (J. Carroll Naish) and his sister, Erena Soldanis (Helen Freeman), are wanted for the murder of an American millionaire, and Scotland Yard Inspector Neilson (John Barrymore) warns Bulldog that he may be next. But the intrepid hero pays no heed and is soon off on a dangerous journey that culminates at the Mere, a supposed haunted house. Bulldog Drummond Comes Back was based on H.C. "Sapper" McNeile's 1928 novel The Female of the Species, who, an opening credit warns, is "more deadly than the male." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, John Howard, (more)
Though John Barrymore is top-billed in Bulldog Drummond's Peril, the aging matinee idol is consigned to the supporting role of Inspector Nielsen. Drummond is portrayed by John Howard; once more, he is on the verge of marrying the ever-patient Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell). And yet again, the ceremony is interrupted by a late-breaking crime. The villains this time are trying to steal synthetic diamonds. Bulldog Drummond's Peril was the 5th in Paramount's B-picture "Drummond" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, John Howard, (more)
In the fourth of Paramount's "Bulldog Drummond" action-thrillers, the intrepid adventurer (John Howard) makes the grizzly discovery of a severed hand. Even more startling, attached to the wayward limb is a case filled with hextonite, a new and highly explosive substance desired by the enemy in general and one Draven Nogais (Frank Puglia) in particular. With his faithful servant, Tenny (E.E. Clive), fiancée Phyllis Clavering (Louise Campbell), and friend Algy Longworth (Reginald Denny) along for the ride, Captain Drummond trails the villain on board a train leaving Victoria Station for Paris. At first, the wily Nogais manages to elude his pursuers by disguising himself as a woman, but his plans to escape with the explosives are halted on the ferryboat to France. Despite the relative brevity of his role as Scotland Yard inspector Neilson, John Barrymore earned star billing in this series entry, which was based on H.C. "Sapper" McNeile's 1932 novel The Return of Bulldog Drummond. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Louise Campbell, (more)
Adapted from the play by Elmer Rice, Counsellor-at-Law is the story of a successful Jewish lawyer George Simon (John Barrymore) who finds it's lonely at the top. Simon's wife (Doris Kenyon) and children look down upon him because of his humble upbringings, while his mother reprimands him for turning his back on his heritage. Simon is threatened with disbarment when a rival digs up a big wormy can of legal wrongdoing in Simon's past, but this is only the beginning of the end. When the beleaguered lawyer discovers that his wife has been unfaithful, he looks out the window of his Empire State Building office and contemplates suicide. Simon is brought to his senses by his faithful secretary (Bebe Daniels), who has loved him all along. Filled with vivid character vignettes and blessed with energetic direction by William Wyler, Counsellor-at-Law is one of the best "lawyer" films of the 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, (more)
Based on the Broadway hit by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, Dinner at Eight is a near-flawless comedy/drama with an all-star cast at the peak of their talents. Social butterfly Mrs. Oliver Jordan (Billie Burke) arranges a dinner party that will benefit the busines of her husband (Lionel Barrymore). Among the invited are a crooked executive (Wallace Beery), who is in the process of ruining Jordan; his wife (Jean Harlow), who is carrying on an affair with a doctor (Edmund Lowe); a fading matinee idol (John Barrymore), who has squandered his fortune on liquor and is romantically involved with the Jordan daughter (Madge Evans); and a venerable stage actress (Marie Dressler), who since losing all her money has become a "professional guest." Nothing goes as planned, due to various suicides, double-crosses, compromises, fatal illness, and servant problems. But dinner is served precisely at eight. The script by Herman Mankiewicz, Frances Marion, and Donald Ogden Stewart is a virtual enclyopedia of witty lines and scenes, right down to the unforgettable closing gag. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marie Dressler, John Barrymore, (more)
- 1926
Historically important as the first film to carry a Vitaphone sound track (consisting of music and sound effects, but no dialogue) Don Juan is a first-rate production by any standards, and would have been just as good with or without musical accompaniment. John Barrymore plays the legendary lover Don Juan, raised by his cynical father (also played by Barrymore) to "love 'em and leave 'em", and to never trust any woman. All of this changes when he meets the beautiful Adriana Della Varnese (Mary Astor). When it seems that Adriana has betrayed him in favor of a wealthy marriage to the lecherous Count Donati (Montague Love), Don Juan renounces her and returns to his rakish ways. What he doesn't know is that Adriana is a political pawn, who has been forced into an alliance with Donati by the calculating Borgias (Estelle Taylor and Noah Beery Sr.). By the time Don Juan finds out that his true love is still true, he has been tossed in prison for killing Donati in a spectacular duel. He breaks out, rescues Adriana from the Borgias' torture chamber, and escapes with his beloved to the safety of Spain. The plot is, of course, more complicated than that, but so fascinating is John Barrymore's performance that it's difficult to concentrate on anything else. The film's highlights include the out-sized duel between Barrymore and Montagu Love, capped by Barrymore's spectacular leap from the top of a huge staircase, and the torture chamber sequences, wherein Barrymore sneaks past the Borgia guards by assuming the facial characteristics of fiendish torturer Gustav von Seyfertitz--and this without makeup. "In the know" film historians may read a lot more into the Barrymore/Mary Astor love scenes than is readily apparent, forearmed as they are with the knowledge that John and Mary had once been passionate lovers offscreen. Scenarist Bess Meredyth used the Lord Byron poem Don Juan as a mere stepping stone for this imaginative, exquisitely filmed romantic adventure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Mary Astor, (more)
In 1920, filmgoers were treated to no fewer than two different film versions of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this one, John Barrymore plays the humanitarian Dr. Henry Jekyll, who becomes obsessed with the notion of separating the good and evil impulses within every man. To this end, he develops a potion which unleashes his own darker side: the demonic Mr. Hyde. This was the adaptation which established the cliché of having both a "good" and "bad" leading lady, to parallel the doppelganger aspects of the Jekyll/Hyde personality. Martha Mansfield is the good girl, while Nita Naldi, wearing costumes that were daring indeed in 1920, is the bad one. The adaptors also borrowed the character of Lord Henry from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray in order to provide Jekyll with an evil mentor/blackmailer. Sadly, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde proved to be one of the last starring films for leading lady Martha Mansfield: she died horribly during filming of The Warrens of Virginia (1924) when her costume touched a discarded match and burst into flame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Martha Mansfield, (more)
Eternal Love was the last silent film of star John Barrymore and director Ernst Lubitsch; thereafter, both men would concentrate exclusively on talkies. Based on Der Konig der Bernina, a novel by Jakob Christopher Beer, the story is set in the Swiss Alps in 1812. Both forced into loveless marriages, sweethearts Marcus (John Barrymore) and Ciglia (Camilla Horn) continue to carry on a clandestine romance. When Marcus is falsely accused of murdering Ciglia's husband, the two lovers escape into the Alps, with the angry villagers close at their heels. With no other recourse, Marcus and Ciglia elect to commit suicide, walking hand in hand into the path of an avalanche. Filmed on location in the Canadian Rockies, Eternal Love was a most uncharacteristic venture into doom-and-gloom for director Lubitsch, who was never quite so dour again. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Camilla Horn, (more)
- 1929
This costume drama is the first all dialog film in which Barrymore appeared. He plays a mercenary who will serve anyone who pays him. He is currently working for the Austrian Emperor. His mission is to abscond with the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. En route, the hero marries a gypsy and leaves her to await his return in Vienna. While he is off doing the king's bidding, the Austrian ruler begins dallying with his wife. This enrages the mercenary who upon his return, seeks to dethrone the king. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Lowell Sherman, (more)
Based on Vicki Baum's novel and produced by Irving Thalberg, this film is about the lavish Grand Hotel in Berlin, a place where "nothing ever happens." That statement proves to be false, however, as the story follows an intertwining cast of characters over the course of one tumultuous day. Greta Garbo is Grusinskaya, a ballerina whose jewels are coveted by Baron von Geigern (John Barrymore), a thief who fancies Flaemmchen (Joan Crawford), a stenographer and the mistress of Preysing (Wallace Beery), businessman boss of Kringelein (Lionel Barrymore), a terminally ill bookkeeper who is under the care of alcoholic physician Dr. Otternschlag (Lewis Stone). Grand Hotel won Best Picture at the 1932 Academy Awards. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, (more)
- 1938
This tuneful campus comedy features aging star John Barrymore as a sly, blustery Southern governor with his eye on the Senate (aka Louisiana's Huey Long). He sees opportunity knocking when he learns how desperate his constituents have become to build their miserable state college football team into winners. He figures that if the team wins, so will he. To this end, he surreptitiously recruits a number of burly professional wrestlers to pose as football players. Unfortunately his chief opponent is running a similar racket with a rival university. When the governor's trickery is revealed on the eve of the big game, things look bleak until a quick-thinking coed shows up to save the day. The story is also titled Hold That Girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, George Murphy, (more)
- 1997
Though many fans will always fondly recall Judy Garland's wonderful portrayal of young Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Garland herself was apparently most proud of the role she played in A Star Is Born. In this film, which opened in 1954, Garland portrayed an actress who sees her career blossom as her husband's declines. This video features clips from the film's glamorous premiere held on September 29, 1954, at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre. Viewers will see a vast array of other stars arriving at this event that foreshadowed Garland's Academy Award nomination for this role. An added segment features Garland and Ken Murray, who was well-known for his "Hollywood Home Movies." ~ Elizabeth Smith, All Movie Guide
- 1939
Originally designed for exhibition at the 1939 World's Fair, Land of Liberty is a 137-minute compendium of filmclips from past American historical epics. The project was sponsored by the Motion Picture Producers & Distributors of America, Inc. and supervised by Cecil B. DeMille, who also edited the film with the assistance of his crack Paramount production staff. The narration was written by old DeMille hands Jeannie MacPherson and Jesse Lasky Jr. and spoken by a talented team of uncredited announcers (one of whom sounded suspiciously like old C. B. himself). Clips from such Hollywood productions as America (1924), Abraham Lincoln (1930), Alexander Hamilton (1931), Show Boat (1936), Man of Conquest (1939) and DeMille's own The Plainsman (1936), The Buccaneer (1938) and Union Pacific (1939) are woven together into a chronological continuity, tracing American history from the Revolutionary War to the "present," which is largely represented by newsreel footage of President Roosevelt, the TVA project, and other current personalities and events. In later years, Land of Liberty was redistributed on the classroom circuit, with new footage added from historical dramas of the 1940s and 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1934
John Barrymore is the Long Lost Father in this lightweight seriocomedy. Barrymore is felicitously cast as Carl Bellairs, who is unexpectedly reunited with Lindsay Lane (Helen Chandler), the daughter he deserted years earlier. Not surprisingly, Lindsay wants nothing to do with her prodigal dad, even though both are employed by nightclub owner Tony Gelding (Alan Mowbray). Despite Lindsay's icy hostility, Bellairs rescues her when she is falsely accused of theft. The bittersweet ending is somehow appropriate to this impeccably tailored star vehicle. Scripted by Dwight Taylor, Long Lost Father is a rare foray into sophisticated comedy by King Kong director Ernest B. Schoesdack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Helen Chandler, (more)
- 1921
Director Marshall Neilan proved to be a little ahead of his time when he made this satirical comedy-drama, based on the book by Albert Payson Terhune -- trade paper Variety opined that "the general public will be vaguely dissatisfied by the barbed humor pricking their bubble of romance" -- something screwball comedies made a habit of ten years later! A somewhat posey John Barrymore plays naive Jacques Lenoi, who marries money-hungry Madge Vance (Anna Q. Nilsson). When Madge realizes he isn't as moneyed as she assumed she turns a cold shoulder to him and he takes off on a balloon trip to China. The craft crashes onto a South Seas island, where the victims of several other wrecks have established an idyllic community. They all dress in Grecian-style costumes, no money passes hands, and everyone pursues their hearts' desires. Lenoi pursues pretty Mavis (rising star Colleen Moore), and they fall in love. But eventually he decides to return to New York and Madge -- e! xcept that he discovers upon his return that Madge has married someone else. When forced to choose between the two men, she runs off with a third, so Lenoi happily returns to the island, and to Mavis. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Colleen Moore, (more)
- 1914
This lighthearted Famous Players five-reeler was tailor-made for the talents of young John Barrymore. The "Great Profile" plays an ambitious stockbroker who goes out on a toot during his wife's absence. His celebrating gets out of hand, earning him a 30-day jail sentence. Briefly released on his own recognizance, Barrymore tells his wife that he's been called away to Mexico on business and won't be back for a month. This little white lie snowballs into an exhausting variety of comic complications, resolved only when it is revealed that wifey has a little secret of her own. Many of John Barrymore's staunchest fans are of the opinion that he was never better than when he was starring in such inconsequential fluff as The Man From Mexico. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
M.G.M.'s opulent costume drama Marie Antoinette marked a return to the screen after a two-year absence for reigning Queen of M.G.M. Norma Shearer. Shearer plays the title role of an Austrian princess who is married off to Louis Auguste (Robert Morley), the Dauphin of France. Marie, by becoming the Dauphine, finds herself plopped smack in the middle of French palace intrigue between Louis's father King Louis XV (John Barrymore) and his scheming cousin, the Duke of Orleans (Joseph Schildkraut). With Louis unable to consummate his marriage to Marie, she takes to holding elaborate parties and gambling her fortune away. In a casino, she meets the handsome Count Axel de Fersen (Tyrone Power) and they have an affair. But when Louis XV dies and Louis becomes King Louis XVI, Fersen takes his leave, telling her that he could carry on an affair with a dauphine but not the Queen of France. Marie vows to be a great queen and remain loyal to her king. But the Duke of Orleans is plotting against Louis XVI, financing the revolutionary radicals. When the monarchy is overthrown, Louis and Marie are thrown into prison, awaiting execution. But when word gets back to Fersen, he travels back to France in an attempt to rescue Marie. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norma Shearer, Tyrone Power, (more)
- 1937
The third of MGM's profitable Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy songfests, Maytime opens in the early 20th century, with a young girl arguing with her boyfriend over her wishes to become an opera singer. The girl's neighbor, a lonely old woman whom we gradually recognize as a convincingly "aged" Jeanette MacDonald, tells the girl of her own career in opera. The old lady was once the radiant young diva Marcia Mornay. In 1868 she was the toast of Europe, thanks to the tutelage of her voice instructor Nikolai Nazarov (John Barrymore). He proposes marriage, and Marcia accepts, more out of gratitude than love. In a euphoric pre-nuptial state, Marcia finds herself on Paris' Left Bank, where she meets handsome café crooner Paul Allison (Nelson Eddy). They meet again at a lavish Maytime festival, falling in love (to the accompaniment of Sigmund Romberg's most dazzling duets) in the process. Sadly, Marcia returns to Nazarov, while Paul goes off to America to lick his wounds. Seven years later, Marcia, making her New York debut in a fictional opera based on the works of Tchaikovsky, finds that the leading baritone is none other than Paul. Unable to envision life without her new love, Marcia begs Nazarov for a divorce. He smiles slyly and promises to give her her freedom-whereupon he heads to Paul's apartment and kills the poor fellow. The flashback done, Marcia advises her pretty young neighbor that one can never have both love and a career. Out of tragedy grows the happy ending, in which the spirit of the now-deceased Marcia is reunited with Paul in a blossom-filled Hereafter. On paper, Maytime may seem to be the ultimate in Hoke, but even in recent revival showings the film never fails to cast its spell over an audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, (more)
Paramount's screwball comedy Midnight is the first collaboration between director Mitchell Leisen and screenwriting duo Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder. The film merges Brackett and Wilder's early emphasis on repartee and masquerade with ex-costume designer Leisen's flair for high style and sophistication. American Eve Peabody (Claudette Colbert), a wily ex-showgirl, must impersonate Hungarian royalty in order to infiltrate the Parisian jet set. Midnight begins during a midnight rainstorm as Eve arrives penniless at Paris' Gare de L'Est, owning only the gold lamé gown on her back. She attracts the attention of Hungarian cab driver, Tibor Czerny (Don Ameche), but walks out on their budding romance; Eve will no longer make the mistake of dating for love rather than money. Instead, she finds shelter from the downpour by crashing a socialite's late-night soirée using a pawnticket and a pseudonym, the Baroness Czerny (the cab driver's surname). There, Eve meets aristocrat Georges Flammarion (John Barrymore), who entices her with a place in society if she agrees to remain disguised as the Baroness and seduce his wife's playboy lover. Meanwhile, Tibor Czerny has not given up his search for Eve. When he locates her whereabouts and discovers the fact that she is using his name, Tibor also travels to the Flammarion estate -- to win back Eve, and to pose as her husband, the Baron. What ensues is quintessential screwball comedy, full of deception, love, quadruple entendre, and outright farce. Midnight remains Leisen's most heralded directorial effort, as well as one of Brackett and Wilder's earliest successes. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, (more)
- 1930
Herman Melville's classic novel gets a major revision in this screen adaptation of his seafaring novel - Hollywood's first talkie adaptation of the work. (A silent version, The Sea Beast, had been produced four years earlier). Captain Ahab Ceely (John Barrymore), a crusty and hard-drinking sailor, falls in love with Faith Mapple (Joan Bennett), the daughter of a man of the cloth. Ahab has a rival for Faith's affections in Derek (Lloyd Hughes), his wicked brother, but as Ahab sets sail, Faith pledges to him that she'll remain loyal to him while he's out to sea. While hunting for whales, Ahab is thrown overboard, and he loses his leg to a mammoth creature known to seamen as Moby Dick. When Ahab returns, he tells Faith that he won't hold her to her pledge to marry him before showing her the wooden peg that has replaced his limb. Faith shrieks in horror, and Ahab is crestfallen to realize that his romance is over. Returning to the sea, Ahab spends the next seven years searching for the great white whale Moby Dick, obsessed with getting revenge on the creature that took his leg and ruined his life. In addition to rewriting the famous first lines of the novel, in this version of Moby Dick, Ishmael doesn't even appear. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Joan Bennett, (more)
- 1916
In spite of his acclaim as a stage actor, during his early motion picture career, John Barrymore generally played lightweight comedic roles. In this film -- another one of those mythical kingdom tales -- he plays a swashbuckler. It begins with an out-of-work actor (Barrymore) glumly contemplating the prospects of future employment. His valet approaches him with a screenplay he has written himself, and as the thespian reads it, the action comes to life: A crown prince (Barrymore again) is supposed to marry the princess of a neighboring principality, but he's in love with a dancer, so he leaves the country and has an American actor, Merriwell (Barrymore once again), take his place. Merriwell has already met and fallen in love with the princess on the voyage across the Atlantic, so the situation promises to be a happy one. But Merriwell is unmasked as an impostor and the Regent orders that he be put to death. However, it just happens to be the princess' birthday, and now that she has reached her majority, the regency is over and the people must do her bidding -- which is to leave her husband, impostor or no, in peace. A brief cut back to the unemployed actor shows that he approves of his valet's work. Whether they can convince a studio to buy the property is never addressed. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
