It's Lionel-eve!

April has proven to be a bit of a lion, in terms of drama! I apologize to Mr. B in the great hereafter, but I'm sure he understands. On this eve of Lionel, I present some images of the Man Hisself, more recently acquired. Inspired by Bob Fells of SFT on Facebook, I may try my hand at stringing images from some of his lost films, like The Barrier, together. That, and actually buy the few films of his easily available that I haven't seen, like The Bad Man.

Happy Lionel Eve!

Children of the Whirlwind.  He did shy so well given his other, more aggressive parts. 

The Voice of Bugle Ann, a much underrated & underviewed film. 

Enemies of women.... Oh, this one would be fun!

Below is him with long-term MGM coworker Wallace Beery. I've seen Mr. B and Beery in at least 2 films together, and well...Beery was always well typecast as a boor.

From The Barrier, one of his lost ones I really wish could be found! That's HB Walthall far right. 

The First of Lionel, 2019

Today commences the First of the fortnight of Lionel, April 12, the false date he cheerfully gave to his autobiography-helper, Cameron Shipp. Twas a base lie, and Mr. B knew it--his actual birthdate is April 28, 1878.

For this First of Lionel, then, I offer some pics from films in which Mr. B took on some real makeup, as opposed to his usual "as is and barefaced" look in the great majority of his films. Enjoy, be astonished, and sometimes just LOL at these get-ups. There are more, but here's the wide-ranging sampling!**

**You can also see some early makeup at this post here: LB's makeup in some early roles

In Decameron Nights, as Saladin (a lost film)

In "The Claw" on Broadway, here with soon to be second wife Irene Fenwick; 1st wife Doris Rankin was also in it! LB swore the makeup was the same, but his physical expressiveness and mannerisms changed to show age.

In the 2nd act of "The Copperhead" on Broadway, his biggest stage role

A posed shot from his notorious "Macbeth" on Broadway

Program cover from "Peter Ibbetson" on Bway, LB at bottom, if it's not obvious.

The Stranger's Return--old man beard, really young looking left hand!

The Devil Doll, still. Not exactly make up, but...(flash on edge my error in taking the pic!)

The glorious Rasputin and the Empress with brother John. Amusing anecdotes in LB's bio

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Tis the month of Lionel! (and a new find)

April commences the Month of Lionel, given his lie to his biographer that he was born April 12, when it's actually April 28, 1878.  No, I have no idea why he did that, other than an occasionally puckish humor.

I'm trying to think of some novel stuff for the blog, though it's kind of busy in work/life. However, I did finally acquire something I've had my eye on for a while:

This is a 1922 Canadian Tobacco Products Corp Card (#13 of 100 it seems), which I got from eBay for a nice price. The image below is apparently from the same shoot. He had just appeared in Boomerang Bill and was all kinds of handsome. I can generally figure out what the card said. Given the age, it's in quite good shape on the front.

So keep an eye out here for the lovely month of Lionel, and I'll try to provide some entertainment, or at least information.

Happy April!

February notes of note

February just RACED along, and I feel guilty not posting on Jack Barrymore's birthday (birth certificate Feb 14/Feb 15 in family bible). It's been an interestingly freakish year so far with a lot of energy spent unnecessarily. But I digress. I wanted to get something down not only to celebrate Jack's birthday month, but generally update LB-land.

Some great new Jack pics have come along, new to me, online:

From When a Man Loves

In Lionel-land, I'm afraid I've been slacking on my research. I still have hopes to soon go up and answer some more questions in the Ransom Center archives--something that makes me very happy to do! The fun thing is that on the blog, I have reached the 1920s in his filmography and the stuff on him is exponentially vaster than in the 19-teens. Really. It's exciting!

Some stuff:

50 years before my birth!

Women Love Diamonds, with Doug Fairbanks Jr., 1927. Doug Jr. was a huge JB fan, and per his autobio asked Lionel if he thought he looked like his brother. Oops.

The Voice of Bugle Ann--underrated, excellent film

Let's hope March dawns more quietly!

Happy new years...

..of Lionel Barrymore filmography! 1920 marked Mr. B's return to films after huge stage successes. There is a new page to the right here, 1920-1922 films of Lionel Barrymore, which is ongoing because there is SO MUCH INFORMATION about these films! Mr. B was much in demand after his stage successes, especially The Copperhead, which became his first film back after 3 years gone. Please enjoy and keep an eye out for its updates, until I am done with those years. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

Glass slide from The Copperhead release, 1920

A new year wish and poem for you

I think Lionel Barrymore would have liked this poem very much. I hand out copies frequently, with credit of course, so here is a virtual copy for any intrepid readers. May the new year dawn in peace, happiness, joy, and love! (If the image looks fuzzy, just click on it to view!--Sam)

ALL THE CHRISTMAS COLOR EDITS

And indeed, here they are, the colorized and santafied Christmas pictures I've done so far of the Barrymore Boys, and one screengrab. I hope to find time to do more of these, as they're kind of fun to do. I wish everyone a peaceful, sleepy end of the year!

AMERICA

 

ARSENE LUPIN

John in the London HAMLET on stage

Cigarette card based on a pic of Lionel sketching himself as Rasputin

BODY AND SOUL

 

 

Lionel in a MGM Christmas short, 1931, "The Christmas Party"