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".
George Bryan "Beau" Brummell was an important figure in Regency England, and for many years he was the arbiter of British men's fashion. At one time, he was a close friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV, but after the two quarrelled and Brummell got into debt, he had to take refuge in France. Eventually, he died from complications of neurosyphilis in Caen.
Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke, better known professionally as Mary Astor, was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon (1941).
Just a Gigolo is a 1931 American Pre-Code romantic comedy film released by MGM. It was directed by Jack Conway, produced by Irving Thalberg and starred William Haines, Irene Purcell, C. Aubrey Smith, and Ray Milland. It was adapted from the 1930 play of the same name, which also starred Irene Purcell in the role of Roxana 'Roxy' Hartley. The film features the song "Just a Gigolo".
Beau Brummell is a 1954 British historical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Curtis Bernhardt and produced by Sam Zimbalist from a screenplay by Karl Tunberg, based on the 1890 play Beau Brummell by Clyde Fitch. The play was previously adapted as a silent film made in 1924 and starring John Barrymore as Beau Brummell, Mary Astor, and Willard Louis as the Prince of Wales.
Harry Beaumont was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He worked for a variety of production companies including Fox, Goldwyn, Metro, Warner Brothers, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Svengali is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Archie Mayo. The film stars John Barrymore and Marian Marsh. It is based on the 1894 George du Maurier novel Trilby and was among the many film adaptations of the book. The film was shot from January 12 to February 21, 1931. On its release in the United States, Svengali received some positive reviews but did not perform well at the box office.
False Colours is a Regency romance by Georgette Heyer, published in 1963 in the UK by The Bodley Head and in 1964 by E. P. Dutton in the US. The novel is set in 1817, and concerns a young man who must temporarily impersonate his missing twin brother and the complications brought in the wake of this deceit. In British English, the term 'under false colours' refers to the use of a flag to which one is not entitled as a tactic for purposes of deception, and so by extension to any dishonest manoeuver.
The Sea Beast is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Millard Webb, starring John Barrymore, Dolores Costello and George O'Hara. The film was a major commercial success and one of the biggest pictures of 1926 becoming Warner Brothers' highest grossing film. The Sea Beast is the first adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick, a story about a monomaniacal hunt for a great white whale. However, the film alters the novel's plotline by establishing prequel and sequel elements that are not in the original story—such as the romancing of Esther and Ahab's safe return, respectively—and substitutes a happy ending for Melville's original tragic one. Some of the characters in the film do not appear in Melville's original novel. The film was so successful that in 1930 Warner Bros redid it in English and German, under the title Moby Dick, with Joan Bennett taking the role of Ahab's love because Dolores Costello was pregnant at the time.
William Arden, 2nd Baron Alvanley was a British Army officer, peer and socialite, who was a friend of Beau Brummell and one of a close circle of young men surrounding the Prince Regent.
The Man from Blankley's is a lost 1930 American pre-Code comedy film, directed by Alfred E. Green. It starred John Barrymore and Loretta Young. The film was based on the 1903 play by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, writing under the pseudonym "F. Anstey". The film was Barrymore's second feature length all-talking film. A previous silent film version of Anstey's play by Paramount Pictures appeared in 1920 as The Fourteenth Man starring Robert Warwick. That version is also lost.
Beau Brummell: This Charming Man is a 2006 BBC Television drama based on the biography of Beau Brummell by Ian Kelly. The title references a 1983 song by The Smiths.
George IV of the United Kingdom has been depicted many times in popular culture.
Mrs. Fitzherbert, also known as Princess Fitz and A Court Secret, is a 1947 black and white British historical drama film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Peter Graves, Joyce Howard and Leslie Banks. It depicts the relationship between George IV and Maria Fitzherbert. It is an adaptation of the 1945 novel Princess Fitz by Winifred Carter
Lady Windermere's Fan is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Ernst Lubitsch. It is based on Oscar Wilde's 1892 play Lady Windermere's Fan which was first played in America by Julia Arthur as Lady Windermere and Maurice Barrymore as Lord Darlington. The film is being preserved by several archives. It was transferred onto 16mm film by Associated Artists Productions in the 1950s and shown on television. In 2002, Lady Windermere's Fan was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Beau Brummel is a 1913 silent short film directed by and starring James Young in the title role. Presumed now to be lost, it was produced in Brooklyn, New York, by Vitagraph Studios and also featured in its cast Clara Kimball Young, Rex Ingram, Julia Swayne Gordon, and Etienne Girardot. The photoplay's scenario was adapted from the Clyde Fitch novel and play, and upon the film's release Vitagraph listed it as a 1000-foot "one-reeler", which at the time would have had a maximum running time of 15 minutes.
Hon. Sir William Stanhope (1702–1772), of Eythrope, Buckinghamshire, was an English landowner and opposition Whig politician, who sat in the House of Commons for 35 years between 1727 and 1768. Afflicted with deafness and ill-health, he travelled frequently and was often absent from Parliament.
Josiah Cottin (1771–1843) was an English army officer. He is now remembered for his association with a notorious courtesan, who assumed the name Julia Johnstone.
Brummell is a 1931 operetta in three acts and five scenes by Reynaldo Hahn to a libretto by Rip and Robert Dieudonné. Its protagonist is the English dandy Beau Brummell (1778-1840), although the storyline is entirely fictional.
Scrope Berdmore Davies (1782–1852), often given incorrectly as Scrope Beardmore Davies, was an English dandy of the Regency period. He is known as a friend of Lord Byron, the dedicatee of Byron's poem Parisina. He is the subject of a 1981 biography.
