Customer Reviews

John Barrymore, Shakespearean Actor (Cambridge Studies in American Theatre and Drama)

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Michael Morrison's book fills a much needed gap in the large Barrymore biographical canon: it tells the story of Barrymore the artist. Many of the other great biographies of the man and family (Margot Peter's THE HOUSE OF BARRYMORE, anything by James Kotsilibas-Davis, to name only two of many excellent others) understandably short-shrift the details found here, in favor of the fabulous "bon mots" and the large tragic arc of his life. Morrison, if it's possible to believe, makes that tragedy all the more heartbreaking by detailing the hard work that Barrymore put himself through to transform himself from a light comedian into the greatest tragic actor of his generation - and arguably the last great tragic actor of the American theatre.

The detailed recreations of Barrymore's acting in RICHARD III and HAMLET are facinating. They provide all of us who have come after some small picture of what it must have been like to actually see him on stage. It helps, I suppose, to be familiar with his film work, to have heard at least some of his Shakespearean recordings, in order to fully visualize Barrymore's "flashing, rapier" genius at work - but it's probably not necessary. A must for all Barrymore fans, actors, and theatre lovers, this book is a treasure. But beware, its story could break your heart.

Michael Morrison has provided us with a stirring portrait of one of America's greatest actors, John Barrymore. His book is a vivid account of Barrymore's innovative approach to Shakespearean acting and subsequent rise to fame. This book is required reading for Shakespearean scholars and Barrymore enthusiasts alike.

This is one of the best books ever written on the performing arts. By focusing in on Barrymore's Shakespearean acting only, Morrison manages to show how a second-rate light comedian turned himself into a great artist by sheer hard work -- and then, horrifyingly, how an artist transformed himself into a clown through laziness and dissipation. Through the use of the actor's playbooks and impressive research, Morrison does the impossible and brings Barrymore's stage performances as Richard III and Hamlet so vividly alive you'll swear you're in the theater watching them (I was holding my breath at the end of "Hamlet"). Along the way there are vivid portraits of the idealistic, progressive theater in the 1920's and, a decade later, the ancestry of today's poisonous and envious celebrity culture. Once you read this book you'll never look at Barrymore the same way again.

The bard is the genius of the theatre: William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The Barrymore is John (1862-1942). In the 1920s productions in New York and London of Richard III and Hamlet the player from Philadelphia lightened the Great White Way with his superb impersonations of the hunchbacked Machiavellian and the brooding Dane.
Michael Morrison's excellent theatrical history of those productions
casts the limelight on both the history of Shakespearean production and the emergence of Barrymore.
Barrymore had been known as a light comedian. Yet in Richard III and Hamlet he reached the heights of Shakespearean acting brilliance joining such luminaries as Edwin Booth, Sir Henry Irving and David Garrick in the pantheon of great tragedians.
John Barrymore was a rake who died an early death due to his alcoholism and related problems. He was married four times. Following the Shakespearean plays of the 1920s he went to Hollywood to star in such hits as "Twentieth Century"; "Grand Hotel"; "Romeo and Juliet (in the role of Mercutio): "Counselor At Law" and others. While many films were hits he failed to reach his potential as a Shakespearean actor.
Barrymore is important in the Shakespearean stage history of America because:
a. He served as a transition figure from the gentle Prince Hamlet tradition of the Victorian theatre to a more Freudian psychological approach.
b. He provided audience goers with a more physical and sexual Richard III and Hamlet. John Barrymore seemed to speak the lines as if he had just thought of them for the first time. He added realism to a theatregoers perception of the action on stage.
c. He spoke Shakespeare in a less bombastic style than earlier tragedians. He did, however, at times revert to being a ham on stage.
d. Morrison shows how director Arthur Hopkins and his stage designer Robert Jones effectively used lighting and European concepts of staging to give Shakespeare a more contemporary impact to Shakesperean productions.
e. Barrymore influenced a generation of Shakespeareans who would follow him such as Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Maurice Evans.
Barrymore studied hard to make his transition from light comedy to Shakespeare. He trained his voice; studied the texts of the plays in g depth and worked hard to sober up and keep physically fit during the run of the plays. He would never again be so great as he was in these 1920s productions of Shakespeare. Once he had created his concept of a role Barrymore disdained the hard work of performing the same play night after night. His was quickly bored and eager to move on to a new challenge.
Michael Morrison examines in depth each of the scenes in the Barrymore plays. To some this will be tedious but as a lover of Shakespeare I found it to be fascinating.
This book cleared up many misconceptions I had about John Barrymore. While clearly a flawed human being he was also a brilliant actor who held his own with the heavyweight actors of his profession. This excellent book deals with the craft of acting and would be a wonderful resource to use in a college classroom devoted to Shakespearean acting.