John Barrymore

[6] Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, and John Howard star in this second, decidedly more comic installment of what would become Universal’s Invisible Man franchise. Howard plays a rich playboy looking to settle down with the right woman, while Barrymore plays the inventor who lives next door, benefiting from Howard’s financial generosity. When he’s ready for a test subject in his invisibility experiment, Barrymore puts an …

[4] Katharine Hepburn’s affection for director George Cukor began with this, her feature film debut. A Bill of Divorcement stars John Barrymore as a man returning home after five years in a mental asylum. During that time, his wife (Billie Burke) and daughter (Hepburn) have moved on with their lives and are planning their respective weddings. Imagine their surprise when Barrymore returns home and promises …

[6] Director George Cukor (Gaslight, Adam’s Rib) adapts this stage play about a wealthy couple who invite a handful of high society friends for, you guessed it — Dinner at Eight. Everyone’s got a problem or a secret they’re grappling with, and everyone seems to be connected to each other in some way. Lionel Barrymore’s on the verge of losing his shipping company while John …

[6] A floundering Broadway director ingratiates himself to an old flame in order to rekindle his career in Twentieth Century. This film is often regarded as the grandfather of screwball comedy, one of my favorite genres. John Barrymore and Carole Lombard give remarkably madcap performances as the theatre director and his ingenue, but these aren’t charming or likeable characters. I don’t always have to like …

[6] Dorothy Malone and Errol Flynn play father and daughter John and Diana Barrymore, real-life members of Hollywood’s famous Barrymore family, both of whom suffered famously from alcoholism. Flynn is very good here in the final noteworthy role of his career. Malone, two years after her Oscar win for Written on the Wind, is hit and miss — less convincing as the younger Diana but …

[6] The lives of tenants at a Berlin hotel interconnect over the course of one day in Grand Hotel, based on the novel by Vicki Baum and produced by the famed Irving Thalberg. With Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Jean Hersholt, Wallace Beery, and the Barrymores (John and Lionel), this Best Picture Oscar-winner is regarded the grandfather of star-studded showcases. Despite the star power, the performances …