Today (April 28, 2018, though this went up APR 29 due to tech issues) is the 140th anniversary of Lionel Barrymore's birth in Philadelphia, PA. For almost 2 years now, I've been blogging, researching, writing, and so forth on this fascinating man. I've sat in archives, gone half blind looking online, talked to people, watched films, read an inordinate number of books. I try to put my finger on the cause of my fascination, but it's elusive in some ways. So this year, after blogging almost every day from April 12 to today, I think I may just pick my five (or so) favorite roles of my favorite actor. Some are well-known indeed; others are brilliant secrets. But all showcase the outlandishly talented "other Barrymore", Lionel.
So let's call these awards the Leos, given Mr B's name, studio, and roaring talent. I give you: THE LEOS OF 2018!
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| With Norma Shearer, who was walloped in the acting stakes here |
A FREE SOUL: playing alcoholic, self destructive Stephen Ashe, Mr B owned that awards season, but rather than rehashing the idea his still Hollywood-record-length single take courtroom scene at the end won him the Oscar, I recommend watching it carefully all the way through for the many moments that build Ashe into the complex character caught in his own success and theory of life, which is also bringing his daughter down. The fight Ashe has to balance his drinking, success, headstrong daughter, and disapproving family is epic, and could have swamped a lesser actor. Mr B allows Ashe's frailties, emotions, and brilliance their turns by vocal skills, tiny trademark Barrymore movements, and his understanding of excess' impact on a man.
A truly great performance in a good film with lots of pre-code action, this is fine, vintage Lionel Barrymore. And when he won the Oscar, he was wearing a borrowed tuxedo.
SWEEPINGS: as Daniel Pardway in this 1933 film, Lionel Barrymore ages from about 28 or so to 78 or 80. It's an epic tale of post-Chicago fire success in retail, and has Pardway as a Marshall Field kind of character. He rises to the top by bargaining, luck, hard work, a brilliant sales manager, and by force of enormous will. He loses his wife after the birth of their third child, and mourns that he could never give her all she deserved - - for years they lived in a stable or barn above the mercantile shop to save and be on premises of the "Bazaar", the huge store about which most of the story revolves. Pardway is alternately hard, loving, gregarious, stubborn, and dictatorial. Watching Mr B pull those off was wonderful, and he is simply shattering at times, most especially the final scene, where his masterful vocal control and expressions hold one spellbound.
This is not the most well known of his 1933 films, but deserves to be much better known. I challenge you not to feel a lump in your throat at the end.
THE DEVIL - DOLL: as Paul Lavond, former banker turned framed escaped convict, Lionel Barrymore pulls off the impressive feat of holding his own with some impressive special effects as well as the much-mentioned old lady costume he wears for much of the film. The guise of Mme Mandelip helps him wreak intense havoc on the former partners who framed him as well as see his estranged daughter. There are wonderful scenes between Mandelip/Lavond and his family, where Mr B's ability to listen carefully and express emotion without saying a word are astounding.
He runs the gamut from fierce vengeance to paternal, deep love, often while not being able to say what the character really would like to, as he seems to be hiding from almost everyone. The tender and emotionally fraught scene at the end in the Eiffel Tower between Lavond and his daughter, who does not recognize him and hears him say her "father" wanted her to forget him is a 4 minute master class of careful acting, listening, and vocal skills. He even manages to seem younger after his "confession" there, and that is yet another classic Mr B moment. This is a film I return to often and it never bores me.
SADIE THOMPSON : oh lord, what a film and what a background story on the making of it! My next longish blog/article will be on the making of the film. Gloria Swanson became a heroine to me after I read of all she had to do to get the film made. She was an extraordinary person all around, and shines as the blithe but troubled Sadie. Mr B as Alfred Davidson is at the top of his game, and that's astonishing as he confessed to her to be in a great deal of pain and on narcotics to manage it. She wanted him, though, and got him and all that he could bring to the dynamic, ferocious, righteous, hypocritical, and complicated Davidson. There's not a scene of action (and there are many) where his physical debility is obvious. However, Raoul Walsh's brilliant direction focused more on the eyes, faces, and hands of the characters, using close ups very well and the atmospheric rain itself becomes a character.
Much is known of the film, but I recommend revisiting it and perhaps not running the music with it. It is incredibly effective muted, and the story is clear through the cards and the two main performers at the top of their games. The loss of about 4 minutes near the end is not too troubling, either. But to watch Mr B tear his way through Sadie's defenses, to see him morph into something he did not expect, is electrifying. Easily, he could have won an Oscar for the performance. Of course, the film also caused a lot of controversy, which bothered Mr B not in the least. He'd be part of more controversy later. A wonderful, brilliant film with captivating performances
ONE MAN'S JOURNEY : in this lesser known film, Lionel Barrymore plays overworked and underappreciated doctor Eli Watt, who returns to his hometown after his wife dies, leaving him a young son and a need to start over. Few have much interest or encouraging words for him, since he was supposed to set the world afire when he left after high school for college. Indeed, he ends up working for peanuts--and potatoes, corn, whatever the patients he sees on the poor side of town can give him. Mr B also ages over 30 years in the film, which has the character being involved in epidemiology, psychology, public health, raising his son and creating all the chances for the young man Watt never had, and fighting with intransigent town fathers. Watt keeps up with medical advances, but his diary constantly shows how he becomes trapped in the town. In one case, he's invited to do neurological research and just about manages to leave the town... Only to stop.
In the end, when Watt is an old and tired man, he rises yet again to prove his skills at medicine are top notch, as are his skills with human nature. Mr B pours himself into this role, one requiring so much of an actor, and not just in adding. Watt has to be everything to everyone, and almost no one appreciates his work. Hence, the final scenes, where he is recognized by peers, are wonderful to behold. Indeed, Watt is so overwhelmed, he breaks into tears, but there's no pathos. It's just a purely honest and real reaction, and Mr B knew it needed less, not more.
This is worth a view, or five. It's got a good cast, script, and solid direction. Another of the difficult roles Lionel Barrymore made seem easy.
ON BORROWED TIME : a powerful role, Julian Northrup is an old, wheelchair-using grandpa trying to raise his grandson Pud in a quaint but lowering town after the death of the boy's parents in a car wreck. Turns out that affable but intense Mr. Brink, or death, took them and he comes for Northrup, who has very different ideas from dying anytime soon. It's an amusing and a bit disturbing all at once, really.
Northrup is a part that could have been pure cliché. In Lionel Barrymore's capable hands, though, as he edged toward 61 during filming, the cantankerous old man became a sparking, edgy, sly fox with total commitment to Pud and complete lack of fear. This was his first major, non-supporting role post-wheelchair and it's not only fun, it's brilliant. While there is an oddly ADA-compliant town and not much that is overtly a barrier to Northrup, the film holds a delicate balance between pathos, humor, and thoughtful dealing with mortality.
This is so much fun to watch, but indeed, there are some tense, maybe even frightening moments. My significant other was in bravely held back tears in at least some parts, and death, while brilliantly played by Cedric Hardwicke, is indeed there for a reason and he has a strict schedule. But the energy, humor, love, and tender care Mr B imbues Northrup with is one of his great characterizations. He had done at least one Kildare film as cranky Dr Gillespie already, but Julian Northrup is in a class alone. Give it a watch. Bobs Watson is pretty good too, a young actor who would work in 2 Kildare films.
There you have them, 2018's Leos! Several more contended, especially Washington Masquerade, and more silents, but these are beloved, fine performances. I curse my technical difficulties, but oh well...
Happy birthday, Mr B. Thank you for so much to ponder in admiration and bemusement. Here's to the next 140 years!
