John Barrymore was an American actor on stage, screen, and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly attempted a career as an artist, but appeared on stage together with his father Maurice in 1900, and then his sister Ethel the following year. He began his career in 1903 and first gained attention as a stage actor in light comedy, then high drama, culminating in productions of Justice (1916), Richard III (1920), and Hamlet (1922); his portrayal of Hamlet led to him being called the "greatest living American tragedian".
Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarded as "The First Lady of the American Theatre". She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for None but the Lonely Heart (1944).
John Handford Ryley was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in the comic baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, particularly in America. His second wife was D'Oyly Carte performer, actress and playwright Madeleine Lucette Ryley.
Irene Fenwick was an American stage and silent film actress. She was married to Lionel Barrymore from 1923 until her death in 1936. Fenwick has several surviving feature films from her productions for the Kleine-Edison Feature Film Service, which also has numerous surviving shorts in the Library of Congress.
Of Mice and Men is a 1937 novella by John Steinbeck.
Christopher, Jr. is a four act American play, by Madeleine Lucette Ryley.
The Incorrigible Dukane is a 1915 silent dramedy and farce produced by Daniel Frohman and released by Famous Players Film Company. Directed by James Durkin, it stars John Barrymore in his fifth feature film. Adapted from the novel of the same name by George C. Shedd, it is the earliest known surviving John Barrymore feature film.
The Test of Honor (1919) was an American silent film drama produced by Famous Players–Lasky, released by Paramount, directed by John S. Robertson, and starring John Barrymore. Considered the actor's first drama movie role after years of doing film comedies and farces. It is based on author E. Phillips Oppenheim 1906 novel The Malefactor.
The Lucky Lady is a 1926 American silent romance film produced by Famous Players–Lasky, distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by Raoul Walsh, and starring Greta Nissen, Lionel Barrymore, William Collier, Jr., and Marc McDermott.
The Dictator is a 1922 American silent comedy-drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. James Cruze was the director and the star Wallace Reid.
Are You a Mason? is a 1915 American silent comedy film produced by Adolph Zukor and Charles Frohman, and distributed through Paramount Pictures. Directed by Thomas N. Heffron, it starred John Barrymore as a young husband who pretends to join the Masons as an excuse to get out of the house. It was based on a 1901 play by Leo Ditrichstein.
The Man from Mexico is a 1914 silent film produced by the Famous Players Film Company and Daniel Frohman. It starred John Barrymore in his second feature film and was remade in 1926 as Let's Get Married starring Richard Dix. The film was rereleased by Paramount in 1919 as part of the company's "Success Series" reissue of early successes. The Man from Mexico is now a lost film.
The Dictator is a 1915 American silent comedy film directed by Oscar Eagle and reputedly Edwin S. Porter. It was based on a play The Dictator by Richard Harding Davis and produced by Adolph Zukor and the Charles Frohman Company. John Barrymore stars in a role played on the stage by William Collier, Sr. whose company Barrymore had performed in this play. The film was rereleased on April 13, 1919 as part of the Paramount "Success Series" of their early screen successes. The story was refilmed in 1922 as The Dictator starring Wallace Reid. Today both films are lost.
Here Comes the Bride is a lost 1919 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. This film is based on the 1917 Broadway play Here Comes the Bride by Max Marcin and Roy Atwell. The film was directed by John S. Robertson and stars John Barrymore.
On the Quiet is a lost 1918 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Chester Withey and starred John Barrymore. The film, based on an original 1901 play, was written by Augustus Thomas and served as a popular hit for William Collier, Sr.
The Red Widow is a lost 1916 American silent romantic comedy film directed by James Durkin, produced by Famous Players–Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was based on a 1911 Broadway musical play The Red Widow by Channing Pollock and Rennold Wolf and starring comedian Raymond Hitchcock. John Barrymore stars in this film in the Hitchcock part of Cicero Butts. Hitchcock's wife, Flora Zabelle, is the leading lady in this film.
Nearly a King is a 1916 silent film romantic comedy directed by Frederick A. Thomson, produced by Famous Players Film Company and distributed by Paramount Pictures. John Barrymore stars in a story written for the screen. Barrymore's first wife Katherine Corri Harris makes her screen debut with him in this picture. Frederick Thomson directed and this is now a lost film.
Mice and Men is a lost 1916 silent romance film directed by J. Searle Dawley, starring Marguerite Clark, and based on a 1901 Broadway play, Mice and Men by Madeleine Lucette Ryley.
John Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio who appeared in more than 40 plays, 60 films and 100 radio shows. He was the youngest child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgie Drew Barrymore, and his two siblings were Lionel and Ethel; together they were known as America's "Royal Family" of actors, and John was "perhaps the most influential and idolized actor of his day", according to his biographer Martin F. Norden.
Madeleine Lucette Ryley was an English actress and playwright known for her plays in London and then America in the late 1800s. She began writing plays under the pseudonym Noel Grant until she gained fame as a dramatist. Ryley wrote 27 plays and directed many of them herself, the best known being Mice and Men, Christopher Jr and An American Citizen, some of which were adapted on film in the early 1900s. She was an advocate for women's rights and was involved in the suffragette movement. Ryley rarely wrote suffragette drama for fear of trivializing complex political arguments.
