The Washington Masquerade

If you are watching the great Lionel Barrymore, then it is not possible for you to be wasting your time. "Washington Masquerade" can be considered a showcase for Barrymore, and he delivers a wide ranging performance for our entertainment.

However, I think the most fascinating way to take in this film is to focus on Barrymore's famously arthritic hands. Like a tic that cannot be controlled, these hands never stop moving, restlessly in continuous motion throughout this film. I do not know if this was a conscious decision on the director's part, but those enormous hands, with their lengthy fingers, keep moving, moving, and moving; now sweeping his hair back, now smoothing out his clothes, now grabbing on to his lapels, now wiping or covering his face and brow, the hands are the true stars of this film.

Brother John Barrymore may have been known as The Profile, but Lionel should be known as The Voice, the distinctive pitch and tone Lionel's alone. The final scene, in which he delivers a scorching speech to a committee of Congressmen, may be hokey and dated, but it's still an electric performance by the great one.

I happened to catch this film just today on Turner Classics, and expected to see Lionel Barrymore perform his usual job of overacting in this 1932 release. Surprisingly, I thought he was perfectly in character as a reformer elected to the U.S. Senate, finding himself entrapped in what still seems common today of becoming a captive of either ego or the compromising pressures of constantly needing funds for reelection. In this case, being a lonely widower, he was trapped by an ambitious and unfaithful woman who married him and then led him to resign his seat for monetary gain in order to keep her. In the end, he redeems himself before an investigative hearing by being brutally honest about his own failings and that of the system.

The most interesting part of this film for me was watching the early work of cinematographer Greg Toland. Years later Toland would photograph Citizen Kane. It is hardly a tour de force of his talents but it does have some of his touches on display. His use of composition in the foreground and background is here. So is his use of semi-deep focus and stark black and white contrasts. Toland was clearly ahead of his time when this was made in 1932. A film as a whole has the look of classic cinema. Very unusual for 1932.

The script is very wordy and tends to advance at a snails pace but Toland's interesting compositions kept it moving along for me.

Also interesting to me is the way this film foreshadows Mr Smith Goes To Washington. In Mr Smith, a young, naive senator goes to Washington and absolutely refuses to be drawn into a world of corruption. In Washington Masquerade just the opposite happens. The hero succumbs to first sexual and then monetary corruption. In that respect, I found it a more interesting idea than Mr Smith.

On the DC sex scandal scale the affair in this film falls somewhere between Fanne Fox and Rielle Hunter. In other words a crashing bore, as a DC hostess might say. And what do you think caused Lionel B's sudden death at film's end? My guess is a stroke, coronary or aneurism brought on by excessive scenery chewing.

The great lionel barrymore is keane, a small town guy, and the unexpected winner in a the race for senate. He has made some enemies in the process, replacing a guy who had been in office a long time. He is wooed by consuela fairbanks (karen morley), who has her own secreat motives for getting married. Keane's daughter tries to warn him, but he resents the interference. Will keane catch on in time? A funny moment when we are shown an invitation to a white house event, where someone's thumb is conveniently placed over the last name, since they didn't want it to be too specific about which president it was. Keep an eye out for consuela's assistant mona (rafaela ottiano)... she was also greta garbo's assistant in grand hotel; she almost stole the show in that one. Never miss a chance to see a barrymore in a film! This one is no shakespeare, but it's pretty good. A reflection of the times. And just before the film code kicked in. Barrymore, one of the many barrymores, had just won his oscar in 1931 for free soul. Film directed by charles brabin... had started in the early early days of silent films. Story based on the claw by henry bernstein.