John Barrymore

Acting

John Barrymore

Born — Died

1882-02-15 — 1942-05-29

Place of birth

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

61 titles

John Sidney Blyth Barrymore (February 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III. His success continued with motion pictures in various genres in both the silent and sound eras. Barrymore's personal life has been the subject of much writing before and since his passing in 1942. Today John Barrymore is mostly known for his roles in movies like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1920), Grand Hotel (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), Twentieth Century (1934), and Don Juan (1926), the first ever movie to use a Vitaphone soundtra…

Known for

MGM Parade poster
7.5

The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.

MGM Parade

1955

Dinner at Eight poster
6.8

An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.

Dinner at Eight

1933

Grand Hotel poster
7.0

Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.

Grand Hotel

1932

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde poster
6.7

A doctor's research into the roots of evil turns him into a hideous depraved fiend.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1920

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ poster
7.3

Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

1925

Marie Antoinette poster
6.6

The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.

Marie Antoinette

1938

Film credits

2000s · 2 titles

1990s · 2 titles

1970s · 5 titles

1940s · 5 titles

1930s · 29 titles

Dinner at Eight poster
6.8

An ambitious New York socialite plans an extravagant dinner party as her businessman husband, Oliver, contends with financial woes, causing a lot of tension between the couple. Meanwhile, their high-society friends and associates, including the gruff Dan Packard and his sultry spouse, Kitty, contend with their own entanglements, leading to revelations at the much-anticipated dinner.

Dinner at Eight

1933

Grand Hotel poster
7.0

Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.

Grand Hotel

1932

Marie Antoinette poster
6.6

The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.

Marie Antoinette

1938

Romeo and Juliet poster
6.3

Young love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.

Romeo and Juliet

1936

Midnight poster
7.4

An unemployed American showgirl poses as Hungarian royalty to infiltrate Parisian high society.

Midnight

1939

State's Attorney poster
6.9

Corrupt alcoholic attorney Tom Cardigan is one of the best lawyers around, commanding the courtroom like a stage and often winning his cases. Mobster Valentine Powers, who employs Cardigan and put him through school, asks him to represent a woman, June Perry, accused of prostitution. Cardigan agrees. But he never expected to fall for her, which is problematic since he's angling to become governor and will need the right kind of wife.

State's Attorney

1932

Hold That Co-ed poster
6.7

An egotistical politician believes he can win votes by turning a small college's hapless football squad into a championship team.

Hold That Co-ed

1938

Maytime poster
6.8

An aging former opera singer looks back on long life, specially on her relationships with her vocal teacher and a music student.

Maytime

1937

Rasputin and the Empress poster
5.5

The story of corrupt, power-hungry, manipulative Grigori Rasputin's influence on members of the Russian Imperial family and others, and what resulted.

Rasputin and the Empress

1932

Twentieth Century poster
6.8

A temperamental Broadway producer trains an untutored actress, but when she becomes a star, she proves a match for him.

Twentieth Century

1934

A Bill of Divorcement poster
6.4

A World War I veteran returns home after fifteen years in an asylum and finds that everything has changed — his daughter is grown and about to marry.

A Bill of Divorcement

1932

True Confession poster
6.1

A writer takes a job as a secretary because her scrupulous husband isn't bringing in the dough as an attorney. When her new employer is murdered, she can't seem to make up her mind as to whether she "dunnit" or not.

True Confession

1937

Bulldog Drummond's Peril poster
5.9

Drummond's wedding with Phyllis is interrupted when the inspector guarding their gifts is killed. He tries to trace the killers and uncovers the mystery of diamond counterfeiters.

Bulldog Drummond's Peril

1938

Spawn of the North poster
6.1

Two Alaskan salmon fisherman find their friendship at risk when one aligns with Russian fish pirates and the other aligns with local vigilantes.

Spawn of the North

1938

Arsène Lupin poster
7.0

A charming and very daring thief known as Arsene Lupin is terrorizing the wealthy of Paris. He even goes so far as to threaten the Mona Lisa. But the police, led by the great Guerchard, think they know Arsene Lupin's identity, and they have a secret weapon to catch him.

Arsène Lupin

1932

Night Flight poster
5.6

Story of South American mail pilots, and the dangers they face flying at night.

Night Flight

1933

Long Lost Father poster
5.9

A long-absent father is reunited with his daughter, who still holds a grudge that he had deserted his family years earlier.

Long Lost Father

1934

Moby Dick poster
5.6

Herman Melville's mad Capt. Ahab (John Barrymore) spends years hunting the white whale that got his leg.

Moby Dick

1930

The Great Man Votes poster
6.4

In 1923, Gregory Vance, a widower with two children, is a former scholar who has turned from book to bottle. He works, slightly, as a night-watchman, and his children, who know him for what he is and what he isn't, are his only admirers. Then, it is discovered that he is the only registered voter in a key precinct and the politicians, from both parties, arrive in droves bearing inducements. What he does about this situation, and the relatives who want to take his children away from him make up the story.

The Great Man Votes

1939

Svengali poster
6.3

A music maestro uses hypnotism on a young model he meets in Paris to make her both his muse and wife.

Svengali

1931

The Man from Blankley's poster
7.0

When a nobleman loses his way in the fog and enters a house where there's a party going on, he's mistaken for a hired butler.

The Man from Blankley's

1930

Reunion in Vienna poster
7.2

An exiled archduke (John Barrymore) tries to renew romance with a former lover (Diana Wynyard) now wed to a psychiatrist (Frank Morgan).

Reunion in Vienna

1933

Hollywood Goes to Town poster
7.0

This short shows how Hollywood gets ready for the world premiere of an "important" movie. The film celebrated here is Marie Antoinette (1938), which had its premiere at the Carthay Circle Theatre. We see the street leading to the theatre transformed to suggest a garden that might be seen in a French palace. This includes the placement of trees and other foliage, as well as large statues along the route. Grandstands are set up so fans can see their favorite stars as they arrive for the premiere. Finally, the proverbial "galaxy of stars" arrives in their limousines. Fanny Brice and Pete Smith make remarks at the microphone set up on the carpet outside the theatre.

Hollywood Goes to Town

1938

Movie Maniacs poster
6.0

The boys are stowaways on a train box-car filled with furniture bound for Hollywood where they hope to break into movies and become stars. Arriving at the Carnation Pictures Studios. Fuller Rath, the studio general manager, receives a telegram from the home office telling him that a certain "Mr. Smith and his two assistants" will arrive to take over the supervision of the studios. He mistakes the Stooges as the executives and gives them free reign over the studios, where they proceed to disrupt and destroy the production of a romantic drama.

Movie Maniacs

1936

Hamlet, Act I: Scenes IV and V poster
9.0

A 1933 screen test for a proposed, but never filmed, movie version of "Hamlet" in Technicolor, starring John Barrymore - this is the Ghost Scene.

Hamlet, Act I: Scenes IV and V

1933

Bulldog Drummond Comes Back poster
6.2

Drummond's girlfriend is kidnapped by his enemies and he along with his friend Nielsen, an inspector from Scotland Yard, follow the trail and try to rescue her from the kidnappers.

Bulldog Drummond Comes Back

1937

Bulldog Drummond's Revenge poster
6.0

Captain Drummond is travelling to Switzerland to marry his girlfriend. However, when a cargo containing dangerous explosives goes missing from its place, Drummond is forced to delay his plans.

Bulldog Drummond's Revenge

1937

Romance in the Dark poster
5.2

A baritone aids a young servant in making her dream of singing professionally come true.

Romance in the Dark

1938

Land of Liberty poster
9.0

This film tells the history of the United States from pre-Revolution through 1939.

Land of Liberty

1939

1920s · 7 titles

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde poster
6.7

A doctor's research into the roots of evil turns him into a hideous depraved fiend.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1920

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ poster
7.3

Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

1925

Don Juan poster
6.6

If there was one thing that Don Juan de Marana learned from his father Don Jose, it was that women gave you three things - life, disillusionment and death. In his father's case it was his wife, Donna Isobel, and Donna Elvira who supplied the latter. Don Juan settled in Rome after attending the University of Pisa. Rome was run by the tyrannical Borgia family consisting of Caesar, Lucrezia and the Count Donati. Juan has his way with and was pursued by many women, but it is the one that he could not have that haunts him. It will be for her that he suffers the wrath of Borgia for ignoring Lucrezia and then killing Count Donati in a duel. For Adriana, they will both be condemned to death in the prison on the river Tigre.

Don Juan

1926

When a Man Loves poster
6.3

A nobleman studying for the priesthood abandons his vocation in 18th Century France when he falls in love with a beautiful, but reluctant, courtesan.

When a Man Loves

1927

The Show of Shows poster
6.6

Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see and hear multiple silent-screen favorites for the first time in a gaudy, grandiose music-comedy-novelty revue that also included Talkie stars, Broadway luminaries and of course, Rin-Tin-Tin. Frank Fay hosts a jamboree that, among its 70+ stars, features bicyclers, boxing champ Georges Carpentier, chorines in terpsichore kickery, sister acts, Myrna Loy in two-strip Technicolor as an exotic Far East beauty, John Barrymore in a Shakespearean soliloquy (adding an on-screen voice to his legendary profile for the first time) and Winnie Lightner famously warbling the joys of Singing in the Bathtub. Watch, rinse, repeat!

The Show of Shows

1929

Sherlock Holmes poster
6.2

Sherlock Holmes is a master at solving the most impenetrable mysteries, but he has his work cut out for him on his latest case. As the famed detective investigates an alleged theft, he’s brought face to face with his most devious adversary yet — Professor Moriarty.

Sherlock Holmes

1922

Life in Hollywood No. 4 poster
10.0

Part of a 7-part series exploring all aspects of Hollywood.

Life in Hollywood No. 4

1927

1910s · 4 titles

No artwork available
9.0

Little Albert Mills, eight years old, reads in the paper the accounts of the abduction of children and holding them for ransom. He conceives the idea of playing the game on his little sister, Henrietta. He writes a note reading, "I have your children. Put four thousand dollars under the stone on front porch and I will bring them back. They are now hanging by the hair. Blue Beard." He then tells Henrietta to look the other way, and he takes her dolls out of the doll buggy and hides them in the garden. Then he places the note in the rural delivery mailbox at the front gate. A little later a young fellow brings an auto up to the gate and the children plead for a ride. After a little hesitancy he consents and the children are carried away to the park. Mrs. Mills misses the children and finds the note in the mail box. She takes the matter seriously, and gathering a lot of neighbors and a policeman, gives chase to the auto.

Just Pretending

1912

Are You a Mason? poster
3.0

Frank Perry's wife Helen is away visiting her mother, and he uses this "free time" for a night of drinking at a nightclub. Unfortunately, when he tries to return home, he enters the wrong house and is nearly arrested When Helen comes back he tells her that the "incident" was actually an initiation rite of the Masons, knowing that his wife has always wanted him to join the group. She excitedly tells her father about Frank's becoming a Mason, since her father is also a Mason. What neither she nor Frank know is that her father has actually been doing the same thing Frank is--pretending to be a Mason when he actually isn't. Complications ensue.

Are You a Mason?

1915

Here Comes the Bride poster
8.0

A young man with little means wants to marry a rich girl, and thinks up a scheme to get rich.

Here Comes the Bride

1919

National Red Cross Pageant poster
8.0

The National Red Cross Pageant (1917) was an American war pageant that was performed in order to sell war bonds, support the National Red Cross, and promote a positive opinion about American involvement in World War I.

National Red Cross Pageant

1917

Series credits