Hamlet Lives in Hollywood: John Barrymore and the Acting Tradition Onscreen

Murray Pomerance; Steven Rybin

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2017

Hamlet Lives in Hollywood

John Barrymore and the Acting Tradition Onscreen

Murray Pomerance and Steven Rybin

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474411400

Overview
Contents

About this book

Analyses the complexity of John Barrymore's performances and career trajectory

John Barrymore’s influence on screen and stage in the early twentieth century is incalculable. His performances in the theatre defined Shakespeare for a generation, and his transition to cinema brought his theatrical performativity to both silent and sound screens. This book, a collection of fifteen original essays on the film performances and stardom of John Barrymore, redresses this lack of scholarship on Barrymore by offering a range of varied perspectives on the actor’s work. Looking at his performances and influence from the perspectives of gender studies, psychoanalysis, queer studies and performance analysis, Hamlet Lives in Hollywood represents a major attempt by contemporary scholars to come to terms with the ongoing vitality of John Barrymore’s work in our present day.

Key Features

Explores Barrymore’s work from a number of angles including: performance, theatricality, stardom, gender, masculinity, sexuality, psychoanalysis, voice, and queer studies
Focuses on the actor's film work as well as his roles in theatre
Situates the actor's roles and career within the context of early American film history

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	iii
Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	v
The Contributors Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Steven Rybin and Murray Pomerance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 The Pre-Bard Stage Career of John Barrymore Philip Carli Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	10
2 Dangerously Modern: Shakespeare, Voice, and the “New Psychology” in John Barrymore’s “Unstable” Characters Michael Hammond Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	22
3 The Curious Case of Sherlock Holmes Colin Williamson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
4 John Barrymore’s Introspective Performance in Beau Brummel Martin Shingler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
5 “Keep Back your Pity”: The Wounded Barrymore of The Sea Beast (1926) and Moby Dick (1930) Dominic Lennard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
6 From Rome to Berlin: Barrymore as Romantic Lover Douglas McFarland Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
7 The Power of Stillness: John Barrymore’s Performance in Svengali Diane Carson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
8 Prospero Unbound: John Barrymore’s Theatrical Transformations of Cinema Reality George Toles Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	98
9 A Star is Dead: Barrymore’s Anti-Christian Metaperformance Kyle Stevens Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	109
10 Handling Time: The Passing of Tradition in A Bill of Divorcement Daniel Varndell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
11 John Barrymore’s Sparkling Topaze Steven Rybin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
12 “Planes, Motors, Schedules”: Night Flight and the Modernity of John Barrymore Will Scheibel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
13 Barrymore and the Scene of Acting: Gesture, Speech, and the Repression of Cinematic Performance Barry Langford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
14 “I Never Thought I Should Sink So Low as to Become an Actor”: John Barrymore in Twentieth Century William Rothman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
15 Barrymore Does Barrymore: The Performing Self Triumphant in The Great Profile R. Barton Palmer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	200

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 224
Illustrations
- Other: 40 B/W illustrations
Keywords: Film, Media & Cultural Studies

eBook

Published: September 1, 2017
ISBN: 9781474411400