A Fall to November...

...yeah, sorry about that pun.

The truth is, fond Lionel-fans, that I had to have carpal tunnel surgery and I'm barely allowed to type, basically. I had no idea I had carpal tunnel--surely, I thought, the problem would be more complicated!

Nope.

So, prior to leaping into my plan for the anniversary of Mr. B's death, I thought I'd share a few images I culled when trying to determine when the inflammatory arthritis and bursitis started to manifest visibly on Lionel Barrymore. Yes, I'm obsessive, but I needed to establish a timeline for my research! So here are a few pics, some of which made me wince because I couldn't believe he  was acting while in such pain.

The Face in the Fog, 1922

Sadie Thompson, 1928

The Mysterious Island, 1929 shoot

The Girl From Missouri, 1934

Public Hero #1, 1935

You may notice these are only 1922-1935, but in that brief period you can get a sense of Mr. B's hugely variable physical signs of inflammatory illness. It's usually most noticeable in his right hand; it's also a bit noticeable in his left, in terms of discolorations that are a hallmark of one arthritic illness. You can see that in the 1929 filming of TMI, his hand looks quite smooth though as couple of spots are evident.

Most painfully, it's clear that in Mark of the Vampire (1935), he was in the throes of a severe attack of inflammatory disease:

As linked in another part of this blog, the film clearly shows huge struggles with walking on Mr. B's part:
Clip from Mark of the Vampire (TCM)

But, there will be yet more for another day! Of course, 3 years after this Mr. B was in both You Can't Take it With You on crutches and in his first go at Dr. Leonard Gillespie in his wheelchair, Young Dr. Kildare. 

I will try to be much more active on the way to another anniversary of Mr. B's death. In the meantime, Feliz Dia de los Muertos!