This was a special treat tonight on the Turner Classic Films Channel as they were honoring John Barrymore. Barrymore appeared in this 1924 silent film, which has only just gotten a complete score for the first time since it was released (the score was quite good - ironically a British version of the Fitch play had a complete score that only one piece, a very sturdy little minuet, survives - but it would have been good too, as it was by Sir Edward Elgar).
The play by Fitch is rarely shown today (as I have mentioned elsewhere on this board, Fitch is a little old fashioned by some standards but his plays do pick up life when performed). This play was commissioned by the reigning stage star of the 1890s in America, Richard Mansfield. Best remembered for his transformation part of DR. JECKYL AND MR. HYDE in 1887, Mansfield would eventually help speed the modernization of drama by championing the early plays of George Bernard Shaw (who rewrote THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE for him). Mansfield died in 1909, and the film producers needed the permission of his wife to produce this filmed version. The effect of Mansfield on this production must be immense. Stills of his costumes for Brummel still exist, and match the costumes worn by Barrymore (who may have seen the older actor in the role in the 1890s).
The plot follows how Brummel, a young army Captain, loved Margery (Mary Astor), who was forced to marry Col. Lord Alvanley (William Humphrey). Made cynical by the way he was forced to drop his competition for the woman who loved him, Brummel decides to pay back society by purposely poking fun at it's leaders as a social butterfly. By chance and nerve he becomes a favorite of George, Prince of Wales, getting him out of a ticklish situation with the wife of a tavern owner. He leaves the army and becomes the Prince's closest friend and confidante. This leads to Brummel actually being useful - with the fashion conscious (if grossly overweight) Prince, they modify the costumes and dress of the society, encouraging top hats, cravats, frock coats, and pants and doing away with wigs. But Brummel becomes more and more cynical in his treatment of the Prince, and eventually they reach a parting of the ways when Brummel seems to be romancing George's sister-in-law Frederica, Duchess of York (Irene Rich), and then when Margery returns and the Prince falls for her. Further divisions are heightened by enemies that Brummel made including discarded lover Lady Hester Stanhope (Carmel Myers). In the end, deserted by George and other friends, Brummel flees his creditors and ends in Calais, where he goes broke slowly, and eventually loses his mind.
The 1954 Granger film followed a similar trajectory, with one or two major errors that weaken it in comparison. Fitch concentrated his play as a character study of a fascinating flawed man, in a losing game with the social order of his day. The 1954 film suggested that Brummel was politically a liberal, who could have influenced George to be a Whig in his politics (which was not possible actually - George toyed with Whigs like Charles Fox to annoy his father George III, but was a total reactionary who made George III look wimpy in comparison). In this film the Duchess of York suggests that Brummel should not be a court jester as he is, but should be a leader. Barrymore shakes his head - he has no such desires. That is more in line with the real Brummel.
The other major error (in line with a politicized Brummel) was that the 1954 film showed the odd situation in England in the period from 1807 to 1820 when George III went mad for the last (and permanent) time, and the Prince of Wales was made Prince Regent (in 1811) - which was de facto King of England while George III was alive and crazy. Robert Morley played George III in the 1954 film, at one point nearly killing the Prince of Wales (Peter Ustinov). This is not in the 1924 film. Instead the story concentrates on the rise and fall of Brummel.
Barrymore does well in silent acting. Perhaps the director, Henry Beaumont, made too many shots of Barrymore's great profile, but that was to be expected. He manages to show the actor in him, especially in scenes with his three leading ladies (especially the 18 year old Astor and Ms Rich). His aging and insanity sequences are also good - look at the scene where he has just fired his last loyal servant (who had the temerity to beg forgiveness for him from the new King George IV) and now has to serve himself dinner. He's never done it, and the look of dismay on his face is priceless. His aged madman, at the conclusion of the film, is also remarkable - getting so much out of the use of his eyes.
Definitely a superior version of the film to the Granger version, even if the latter was in color and with sound.
The play by Fitch is rarely shown today (as I have mentioned elsewhere on this board, Fitch is a little old fashioned by some standards but his plays do pick up life when performed). This play was commissioned by the reigning stage star of the 1890s in America, Richard Mansfield. Best remembered for his transformation part of DR. JECKYL AND MR. HYDE in 1887, Mansfield would eventually help speed the modernization of drama by championing the early plays of George Bernard Shaw (who rewrote THE DEVIL'S DISCIPLE for him). Mansfield died in 1909, and the film producers needed the permission of his wife to produce this filmed version. The effect of Mansfield on this production must be immense. Stills of his costumes for Brummel still exist, and match the costumes worn by Barrymore (who may have seen the older actor in the role in the 1890s).
The plot follows how Brummel, a young army Captain, loved Margery (Mary Astor), who was forced to marry Col. Lord Alvanley (William Humphrey). Made cynical by the way he was forced to drop his competition for the woman who loved him, Brummel decides to pay back society by purposely poking fun at it's leaders as a social butterfly. By chance and nerve he becomes a favorite of George, Prince of Wales, getting him out of a ticklish situation with the wife of a tavern owner. He leaves the army and becomes the Prince's closest friend and confidante. This leads to Brummel actually being useful - with the fashion conscious (if grossly overweight) Prince, they modify the costumes and dress of the society, encouraging top hats, cravats, frock coats, and pants and doing away with wigs. But Brummel becomes more and more cynical in his treatment of the Prince, and eventually they reach a parting of the ways when Brummel seems to be romancing George's sister-in-law Frederica, Duchess of York (Irene Rich), and then when Margery returns and the Prince falls for her. Further divisions are heightened by enemies that Brummel made including discarded lover Lady Hester Stanhope (Carmel Myers). In the end, deserted by George and other friends, Brummel flees his creditors and ends in Calais, where he goes broke slowly, and eventually loses his mind.
The 1954 Granger film followed a similar trajectory, with one or two major errors that weaken it in comparison. Fitch concentrated his play as a character study of a fascinating flawed man, in a losing game with the social order of his day. The 1954 film suggested that Brummel was politically a liberal, who could have influenced George to be a Whig in his politics (which was not possible actually - George toyed with Whigs like Charles Fox to annoy his father George III, but was a total reactionary who made George III look wimpy in comparison). In this film the Duchess of York suggests that Brummel should not be a court jester as he is, but should be a leader. Barrymore shakes his head - he has no such desires. That is more in line with the real Brummel.
The other major error (in line with a politicized Brummel) was that the 1954 film showed the odd situation in England in the period from 1807 to 1820 when George III went mad for the last (and permanent) time, and the Prince of Wales was made Prince Regent (in 1811) - which was de facto King of England while George III was alive and crazy. Robert Morley played George III in the 1954 film, at one point nearly killing the Prince of Wales (Peter Ustinov). This is not in the 1924 film. Instead the story concentrates on the rise and fall of Brummel.
Barrymore does well in silent acting. Perhaps the director, Henry Beaumont, made too many shots of Barrymore's great profile, but that was to be expected. He manages to show the actor in him, especially in scenes with his three leading ladies (especially the 18 year old Astor and Ms Rich). His aging and insanity sequences are also good - look at the scene where he has just fired his last loyal servant (who had the temerity to beg forgiveness for him from the new King George IV) and now has to serve himself dinner. He's never done it, and the look of dismay on his face is priceless. His aged madman, at the conclusion of the film, is also remarkable - getting so much out of the use of his eyes.
Definitely a superior version of the film to the Granger version, even if the latter was in color and with sound.