Classic movie site with rare images, original ads, and behind-the-scenes photos, with informative and insightful commentary. We like to have fun with movies!
Archive and Links
grbrpix@aol.com
Search Index Here




Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Passing The Baton On Broadway


Barrymore Blows Kisses and Arliss Hugs Back


Two lions grazing off the Main Stem … that was George Arliss and John Barrymore as each triumphed off a newly vocal screen and tossed brocades to one another. Both were Warner artists now, or should I say artistes? --- for WB sold A/B as indistinguishable from what they had been on a live stage. In fact, Vitaphone rendered them better, and if you didn’t believe that, look at turn-away crowds and receipts it took elephants to haul off. Movies wielded a big bat now that they could talk, and so-called “legit” could like it or go fish. For Arliss and Barrymore, who after all liked to eat like the rest of us, there was gold flowing as from Midas purse. Never had mere board-trod yielded such wealth. And to live and work in California where a sun shone all the time and juice fairly dripped off fruit trees! To blazes with centuries-old tradition, for here was wealth Thespis dare not dream of, plus exposure to millions more than had seen them strut and fret upon a stage. Actors never had it so good, as long as they could deliver on a celluloid basis.






The date was December 1, 1929, ads for Disraeli and General Crack looming large on The New York Times’ amusement page. One was making room for the other at the Warner Bros. Theatre, where 1,360 seats cushioned Roadshow rears to see a best of what WB had to offer in newly-fangled, and ever-improving sound. Their Vitaphone was talk of the industry, patronage obliged to reserve seats if they had hope of seeing George Arliss do his Disraeli better even than over five seasons wherein he’d been the character, an on/off occurrence since 1911 and already adapted to film, albeit silent, in 1921. Those not near enough to have watched Arliss in person had heard of the actor/role melding, and what a mesmerizer it was. Harry Warner told GA frankly that WB “did not expect it to pay," that Disraeli was “expensive bait to hook people into the cinema who had never been there” (this from Arliss memoir, My Ten Years In The Studio). Was Harry thinking first of Broadway-ites disdainful of movies who might be lured now that there was sight plus sound of noted plays? Snobbery for the stage had to take a hike upon arrival, and seeming perfection, of the Vitaphone miracle. Talk about Old Man Depression --- he really landed hard at legit addresses.






Disraeli played for two months at the Warners’ Theatre, October through November 1929, then moved to the Central Theatre to finish the year. It had left the Warners’ to make way for General Crack. Ads shown here appeared on that same NYT page dated 12/1/29. George Arliss was surrendering his Warner berth to “America’s Greatest Actor,” John Barrymore. “My engagement,” as Arliss put it, would continue at the Central. Further linkage of the two saw John Barrymore quoted re Disraeli: “Extraordinary --- delightful --- beautifully directed --- acted with exceptional skill.” All this smacked of live performing, distinction having blurred, if not erased, between that and Vitaphone. Part of Arliss success came of patrons going over and over to see him play Disraeli. He recalled in his first memoir, Up The Years From Bloomsbury, that “Nearly every member of the audience had been to the play five or six times --- some ten --- some twenty …,” this no hyperbole, for Arliss kept good account of who attended his performances, and how often they were there. Considering the 1929 film’s success and longevity, we could wonder how many repeat views it inspired, and how much that had to do with considerable profit Warners earned.






Price scale for the Warners’ Theatre was one to two dollars, by no means cheap seats. Disraeli and General Crack demanded $2 per admission, being regarded as top attractions. A significant percentage of any film’s total gross was got from New York first-runs alone. Consider $25,700 that Disraeli saw for a first full October week, then $24,637 realized by General Crack for a similar frame in December. Wall Street crashed in the middle of Disraeli’s stay, but its take was not affected, a $23.5K average through the Arliss run. Audience satisfaction witGeneral Crack must be taken on faith, the show having scattered to wind after 1929-30. Stills are plenty appetizing, as in Barrymore at constant clinching, a powder monkey and dwarf for humor assist, plus tilting with Lowell Sherman, all boosted by Technicolor spurts. What survives of General Crack are sound discs (a complete set at UCLA), and a silent version of the feature. Unfortunately, the two don’t match.

4 Comments:

Blogger Dave said...

I am a huge fan of Arliss's (and Barrymore's, but that's not why I called). I find his approach simultaneously period and refreshingly modern, almost always with an acknowledgement of the absurd circumstances his characters are in. (Would that that applied to "Alexander Hamilton," though, where he's thirty or forty years older than A. Ham.)

I especially like him in the silent version of "The Green Goddess," even if I was disappointed at the talkie remake.

4:16 AM  
Blogger Kevin K. said...

Always happy to discover an Arliss movie I haven't seen, although "Disraeli" isn't in my top 5 favorites. In fact, I'd probably put it at the bottom of those I've seen. Even "Alexander Hamilton" is more entertaining, for the reason Dave described: the crazy age difference!

I find as time progressed, and Arliss appeared in more modern dress roles, he got better, more subtle, and, at times, astonishingly witty. Remarkable how an actor who started on stage in the 1880s can be seen walking across TV screens in the 21st century -- and is still entertaining.

4:25 PM  
Blogger Kevin K. said...

Forgot to add in my previous comment: a $2 ticket in 1929 would be worth about $29 now -- and the price of admission is getting ever closer to that.

4:26 PM  
Blogger John McElwee said...

Dan Mercer considers John Barrymore:


John Barrymore fascinates me, a titanic talent with flaws ultimately fatal. It is the stuff of tragedy, with each moment in its progression intriguing for what was and might have been.

I’ve seen only a few smeary minutes of “General Crack” on the web and would love to see the whole of it, albeit in a better copy. I’d want to hear the sound discs of the talkie version, too, even without the images, though I could imagine a more artistic presentation, with stills and photographs and occasional snippets of the silent version to accompany them.

“General Crack,” however, is not the only film record of Barrymore in something approaching his prime. A few days before it opened, Warner Bros. released its all-star extravaganza, “Show of Shows,” which features him performing a soliloquy as Richard, Duke of Gloucester, from Shakespeare's "Henry VI":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOcFMW4zdmA

He had made his reputation as a great Shakespearean in a Broadway production of “Richard III,” thus evincing an apparent affinity for the demonic duke. This performance is only two years removed from his triumphal London appearance in “Hamlet.” Shrewdly, given his macabre makeup as Richard, the Warner Bros. have him appear to introduce the piece, debonair in evening dress. Apparently speaking extemporaneously, with occasional thoughtful pauses, he puckishly notes that Richard will eliminate all his rivals with "the graceful impartiality of an Al Capone." One appreciates the Italianate pronunciation of "Capone."

As for his Richard, though, he is simply electrifying: an intelligent, ambitious, bitter man too aware of the bad joke nature has played on him and too willing to return it in spades to men who consider themselves his superiors. The language is brutal but delivered not without humor or passion. The last cry he gives, as he swears to pluck down his fortune, demonstrates the marvelous instrument that he’d made of his voice.

What a presence he must have had on stage, no less so for the Vitaphone audience, which would have seemingly justified the process for them. It also provides us with something to remember him by, a souvenir of what was and might have been.

5:26 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

grbrpix@aol.com
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • October 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • January 2010
  • February 2010
  • March 2010
  • April 2010
  • May 2010
  • June 2010
  • July 2010
  • August 2010
  • September 2010
  • October 2010
  • November 2010
  • December 2010
  • January 2011
  • February 2011
  • March 2011
  • April 2011
  • May 2011
  • June 2011
  • July 2011
  • August 2011
  • September 2011
  • October 2011
  • November 2011
  • December 2011
  • January 2012
  • February 2012
  • March 2012
  • April 2012
  • May 2012
  • June 2012
  • July 2012
  • August 2012
  • September 2012
  • October 2012
  • November 2012
  • December 2012
  • January 2013
  • February 2013
  • March 2013
  • April 2013
  • May 2013
  • June 2013
  • July 2013
  • August 2013
  • September 2013
  • October 2013
  • November 2013
  • December 2013
  • January 2014
  • February 2014
  • March 2014
  • April 2014
  • May 2014
  • June 2014
  • July 2014
  • August 2014
  • September 2014
  • October 2014
  • November 2014
  • December 2014
  • January 2015
  • February 2015
  • March 2015
  • April 2015
  • May 2015
  • June 2015
  • July 2015
  • August 2015
  • September 2015
  • October 2015
  • November 2015
  • December 2015
  • January 2016
  • February 2016
  • March 2016
  • April 2016
  • May 2016
  • June 2016
  • July 2016
  • August 2016
  • September 2016
  • October 2016
  • November 2016
  • December 2016
  • January 2017
  • February 2017
  • March 2017
  • April 2017
  • May 2017
  • June 2017
  • July 2017
  • August 2017
  • September 2017
  • October 2017
  • November 2017
  • December 2017
  • January 2018
  • February 2018
  • March 2018
  • April 2018
  • May 2018
  • June 2018
  • July 2018
  • August 2018
  • September 2018
  • October 2018
  • November 2018
  • December 2018
  • January 2019
  • February 2019
  • March 2019
  • April 2019
  • May 2019
  • June 2019
  • July 2019
  • August 2019
  • September 2019
  • October 2019
  • November 2019
  • December 2019
  • January 2020
  • February 2020
  • March 2020
  • April 2020
  • May 2020
  • June 2020
  • July 2020
  • August 2020
  • September 2020
  • October 2020
  • November 2020
  • December 2020
  • January 2021
  • February 2021
  • March 2021
  • April 2021
  • May 2021
  • June 2021
  • July 2021
  • August 2021
  • September 2021
  • October 2021
  • November 2021
  • December 2021
  • January 2022
  • February 2022
  • March 2022
  • April 2022
  • May 2022
  • June 2022
  • July 2022
  • August 2022
  • September 2022
  • October 2022
  • November 2022
  • December 2022
  • January 2023
  • February 2023
  • March 2023
  • April 2023
  • May 2023
  • June 2023
  • July 2023
  • August 2023
  • September 2023
  • October 2023
  • November 2023
  • December 2023
  • January 2024
  • February 2024
  • March 2024