THE BARRYMORES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20922, 11 July 1931, Page 10 (Supplement)

THE BARRYMORES.

NOTED STAGE FAMILY.

SUBJECT- OF SCREEN PLAY. 1

John Barrymore, regarded by many as 'America's- greatest actor, is-understood to be a warm admirer of Fredric Marsh s wonderful performance in " The Royal Family of Broadway," which is set for early release' in 'New Zealand. The point about Mr. Barrymore's approval of the affair is that the play obviously concerns the Barrymore family, though the only definitely indentifiable character is John, of whom Mr. Marsh gives a portrayal so witheringly likelife that it is difficult to believe that it does not actually come from the Barrymore himself. On this assumption it is to be supposed that the lady so brilliantly portrayed by. Ina Claire is Ethel Barrymore; and that the old lady impersonated so vigorously by Henrietta Crosman is Georgia Drew, the mother, who married Maurice Barrymore, thus uniting two famous American stage families. Lionel Barrymore. is not impersonated in the drama.. The Barrymores are of British origin, and their real name is Blythe, but in the film the name is Cavendish. The point of all'this, except, possibly, in the case of John, will be lost on the majority of picture-goers, but it is profoundly interesting to those acquainted, with the romantic Barrymores and their influence on the American stage. "This film vocalisation of the Edna. Ferber'and G. S. Kaufman play comes near to clothing the screen's spectral figures with the warm* stuff, of humanity than any talkie I have yet seen," wrote a London writer of the film on its production there,. . ' ' ,*

" That effect may be inherent in . the play, or it maybe due to the skill of the directors, George Cukor and Cyril Gardner, but it is more probably due to the fact that the players,' having to portray other players, were so. much on their histrionic mettle that a surplus of sincerity managed to ooze through the intricacies of talkie artifice and mechan-

ism. - .> - . . " I was' impressed by the difference between the. two types of family, but still more by the fact that the personalities of the 'royal family' managed to escape from their talkie shadows. They have little or no story ,to tell. The drama is a study of character and family nuances, in relation to the ' smell of thefootlights ' and the call of fame. , " The Cavendishes are always acting. Every occasion, from the cradle to the grave, is an occasion for histrionics and the appropriate pose. The final scene touches greatness. It shows the determined old lady collapsing just as the curtain is about to go up on the last act but her daughter, like a true Cavendish, is on hand to take her'dead mother's place." „