John Barrymore Movies

barrymore-j-11111Want to know the best John Barrymore movies?  How about the worst John Barrymore movies?  Curious about John Barrymore box office grosses or which John Barrymore movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which John Barrymore movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

John Barrymore (1882-1942) was an American actor. He appeared in movies from 1912 to 1941.  He became famous around the world for his stage work…..most notably for his performances as Hamlet and Richard III.  His portrayal of Hamlet led to him being called the “greatest living American tragedian”. This page will look at his movie career.. His IMDb page shows 65 acting credits from 1912-1941. This page ranks 42 John Barrymore movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.  His shorts and many of his early silent films were not included in the rankings.

Drivel part:  Recently, Hurricane Matthew left us without power for an extended period of time.  During this down time, I spent some quality time with my box office sources and noticed I had lots of box office grosses on many of Barrymore’s movies.  Since this was a requested (Flora) UMR subject, we decided to go ahead and publish a page on Drew’s grandfather.

Greta Garbo & John Barrymore in 1932's Grand Hotel
Greta Garbo & John Barrymore in 1932’s Grand Hotel

John Barrymore Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

John Barrymore Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort John Barrymore movies by co-stars of his movies
  • Sort John Barrymore movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort John Barrymore movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort John Barrymore movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each John Barrymore movie received.
  • Sort John Barrymore movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

Possibly Interesting Facts About John Barrymore

1. John Sidney Blyth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1882.  Barrymore was taken from his father’s stage name

2. John Barrymore’s Hamlet (1922) was the longest-running Broadway production of the play with 101 performances until John Gielgud played the part for 132 performances in 1936.

3. One third of the Barrymore siblings that were making movies back then.  John was the only one of the three Barrymore siblings (John, Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore) to never win or even be nominated for an Academy Award; he is now considered the finest actor of the three.

4. 1932’s Rasputin and the Empress was the only film in which all three Barrymore siblings – John Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore – appeared together.

5. John Barrymore is the grandfather of Drew Barrymore.

6. John Barrymore was a good friend of Errol Flynn, who subsequently played Barrymore in 1958’s Too Much,Too Soon, a film about Barrymore’s daughter Diana Barrymore.  I imagine there are some stories in that friendship.

7. Speaking of which (#6) After Barrymore’s death, his friends – including Errol Flynn and Raoul Walsh – gathered at a bar to commiserate on John’s passing. Walsh, claiming he was too upset, pretended to go home. Instead, he and two friends went to the funeral home and bribed the caretaker to lend them Barrymore’s body. Transporting it to Flynn’s house, it was propped up in Errol’s favorite living room chair. Flynn arrived and described his reaction in his autobiography: “As I opened the door I pressed the button. The lights went on and – I stared into the face of Barrymore… They hadn’t embalmed him yet. I let out a delirious scream… I went back in, still shaking. I retired to my room upstairs shaken and sober. My heart pounded. I couldn’t sleep the rest of the night.”

8. Check out John Barrymore‘s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

Not Enough Stats For You? How About Adjusted Worldwide Box Office Grosses on 23 John Barrymore Movies?

Steve’s John Barrymore YouTube Video

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28 thoughts on “John Barrymore Movies”

  1. Added Steve’s John Barrymore YouTube Video to this page. My thoughts found on his channel found below.

    One of the great ones…and one part of the Barrymore acting royalty. I have only seen 5 of his movies. Most are ranked pretty high: #1 Midnight….an underrated gem. #2 Grand Hotel….great cast….ok story. #4 20th Century…..movie did not impress me much. #3 Dinner At Eight…another very dated movie. #29 Night Flight….good cast….ok story. Voted up and shared

    Reply

    1. Hi Bruce, I thought it was time I turned my eye towards the Barrymore dynasty.

      John was a favorite of film buffs but I suspect his brother Lionel was more popular with moviegoing fans of the time. I’ve seen 5 too, Flora way ahead with 24 of the 40 on the video.

      Thanks as ever for the share, vote and comment, much appreciated.

      Reply

  2. OVERALL: Steve’s Barrymore video -two viewings by me already! – is worth a 99% satisfaction rating to me as it is jampacked with a lot of wonderful vintage old-world pictorials that should be treated as collectors’ items.

    Also as I was by-and- large unfamiliar with Barrymore’s stand-alone filmography the video was a great visual learning-curve for me. BEST STILLS/LOBBY CARDS:

    1/Bulldog Johnson’s Peril
    2/Reunion in Vienna
    3/Sherlock!
    4/Moby Dick
    5/Invisible Woman
    6/Eternal Love
    7/Tempest
    8/General Crack
    9/two for 20th Century
    10/two for Rasputin
    11/two for Svengali
    12/Beloved Rogue
    13/State’s Attorney
    14/True Confession
    15/Dr Jekyll
    16/Romeo and Juliet
    17/two for Grand Hotel-one of few 1930-1959 period films in which Crawford was not top-billed

    Reply

  3. “Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando and John Barrymore are the 3 best American actors I’ve seen in my own lifetime.”– George Campbell Scott, movie star.

    BEST POSTERS in STEVE’s BARRYMORE VIDEO:

    1/first one for Playmates
    2/two for Reunion in Vienna
    3/Sherlock Holmes
    4/Moby Dick-in the later 1956 version to me the whale looked a bit like Royal Dano
    5/two for Sea Beast
    6/When a Man Loves
    7/Tempest
    8/Mad Genius – very suggestive!
    9/first for Spawn of North
    10/two for 20th Century
    11/Midnight
    12/first for Bill of Divorcement
    13/Topaze – I love the poster billing arrangement!
    14/Arsene Lupin
    15/Rasputin
    16/True Confession
    17/Romeo & Juliet-John’s billing slips dramatically
    18/Two for Dr Jekyll and Mr Hirschhorn
    19/first one for Don Juan – truly staggering in my view!
    20/Night Flight – again perceptive order of billing!
    21/Beau Brummell – “Adventurer Lover Scoundrel – here was a man!” – poster tagline for 1954 version starring Stewart Granger

    Reply

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