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John Barrymore

John Barrymore biography

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John Barrymore, American stage and screen actor whose rise to super-stardom and subsequent decline is one of the legendary tragedies of Hollywood. A member of the most famous generation of the most famous theatrical family in America, he was also its most acclaimed star. His father was Maurice Blyth (or Blythe; family spellings vary), a stage success under the name ‘Maurice Barrymore’. His mother, Georgie Drew, was the daughter of actor John Drew. Although well known in the theater, Maurice and Georgie were eclipsed by their three children, John, Lionel Barrymore, and Ethel Barrymore, each of whom became legendary stars.

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Gay Purr-ee

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Gay Purr-ee (1962) starring Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, Paul Frees

 Gay Purr-ee is often remembered as the animated cartoon with the voice of Judy Garland …. But it’s quite frankly a lot more than that.  It takes a simple story: The farm girl who runs away to the big city in search of happiness, only to find that she was truly happy back home after all. And tells it in the setting of a musical, with the main characters all being cats.

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Room Service

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Room Service (1938) starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx), Lucille Ball, Ann Miller

I’ve long heard negative things about  Room Service starring the Marx Brothers  – Groucho, Chico, and Harpo.   However, after viewing the movie for myself, I don’t think that they’re deserved.   Granted, it’s not of the same quality as  Duck Soup, but it’s still very funny in its’ own right.   That’s not to say that there aren’t negative things to say.  The pace seems slow compared to typical Marx Brothers fare.  The movie starts slowly.   On the other hand, the ending of the movie is the normal zaniness that we’ve  come to expect, and it plays well.

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Sorrowful Jones

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Sorrowful Jones (1949), starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball

Synopsis

New York bookie Sorrowful Jones takes a bet on Dreamy Joe from rotten gambler Orville Smith who leaves his young daughter, Martha, behind as collateral. When Orville overhears the horserace is fixed, he is killed by one of gangster Big Steve goons …

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Miss Grant Takes Richmond [Lucille Ball]

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Miss Grant Takes Richmond  (1949) starring  Lucille Ball, William Holden, James Gleason

Miss Grant Takes Richmond  begins at a secretarial school. The grave-looking Charles Lane is overseeing his class, including Ellen Grant, played by the lovely  Lucille Ball.   Most of the class is performing well, but not Lucille Ball’s character. She demonstrates this to the audience in a battle with an old-style typewriter — and losing.   It’s a quiet  slapstick routine, and sets her character for the audience. Effectively, she’s playing her Lucy Ricardo character from  I Love Lucy  (before she met Ricky).   Hard working, diligent, intelligent, but accident prone — and cooking up a scheme to “help” other people.  

At home that evening, she’s practicing her typing, in hopes of graduating from secretarial school the next day.   She’s living with her aunt and uncle — the uncle is a Judge, and someone highly respected in the community.   Likewise, her boyfriend is assistant District Attorney.

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Yours, Mine and Ours

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Yours, Mine and Ours (1968), starring Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda, Van Johnson, Tom Bosley

 I can honestly say that  Yours, Mine and Ours  is one of my family’s favorite movies.   It’s a wonderful story, about the merging of two large families. The Beardsley family of ten children, with the widowed father played by  Henry Fonda. And the North family of eight children, with the widowed mother played by  Lucille Ball).   First comes the courtship of the father and mother… Awkwardly, clumsily, with the very understandable resentment of the children who don’t want their deceased parents ‘replaced’. This leads to “An alcoholic Pearl Harbor” that gives Lucille Ball an opportunity to play the drunk. It’s reminiscent of the classic  Vitameatavegamin episode of her classic  I Love Lucy  series. Ending with the dramatic revelation that she’s fallen in love again.

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