Playmates

Agents Patsy Kelly (as Lulu Monahan) and Peter Lind Hayes (as Peter Lindsay) decide to get their famous clients - legendary actor John Barrymore (as John Barrymore) and popular band-leader Kay Kyser (as Kay Kyser) together for a profitable publicity stunt. The plan is to have Mr. Barrymore teach Mr. Kyser to perform Shakespeare on stage. At first, both resist. But, Kyser relents and Barrymore needs money. This film features Kyser's very popular band members, sweet singers Harry Babbitt and Ginny Simms along with Beatle-Ish Kabibble, guest star Lupe Velez, Sully Mason, and others...

More importantly, this was Barrymore's last film appearance; he died shortly after its release, and "Playmates" is considered evidence of the once highly-respected actor's sad decline. This is true, for the most part, but you've got to love Barrymore's reciting of Hamlet's "To Be or Not to Be" speech. The Great Profile's reaction after saying "there's the rub" for Kyser in "Playmates" is a must for Barrymore followers. His performance of "Hamlet" on stage was considered one of Barrymore's greatest roles, but there was, sadly, no filmed version; note, a tantalizing "Hamlet" color screen test scene is available on popular video sites.

***** Playmates (12/26/41) David Butler ~ John Barrymore, Kay Kyser, Patsy Kelly, Peter Lind Hayes

Well, I'll stick my neck out & say that I think the great JB enjoyed himself making this movie & was happy to not be the " star ". I'm ignorant of the genre but seems that Mr. Kyser is the big name here based on his musical skills & radio profile. Ish, what can we say about Ish ... " What is the difference between a duck ?" This guy was a long haired pot smoker 25 years before the rest of the world caught up. No folks here we have The Nanny, with minor twists, in 1941. The major characters are there, check it out. Any plot line that could support a TV series with less that great entertainers, in any field, has no problem sustaining 95 minutes with this cast. This movie is a hoot, enjoy it for the farce that Mr. Barrymore played it as.

I would have had a much more positive view of this movie if I didn't know and admire John Barrymore.

On the surface of it, this is as good as any of the rest of Kay Kyser's ouevre. If you like him (he is, admittedly, an acquired taste), you will probably like this movie. Lupe Velez and Patsy Kelly add their talents to the usual mix of corn and Swing supplied by Kay, Harry Babbitt, and Ish Kabibble (the true inventor of the Beatle haircut).

What keeps me from truly enjoying this film is the presence of the great John Barrymore in a role more suited to Edgar Kennedy. In his last screen appearance, Barrymore grimaces and cavorts like a Stooge and is obviously reading his lines from cards because he can't remember them anymore. Whether or not the tears in his eyes and on his cheeks are real as he mumbles through Hamlet's soliloquy one last time, mine were real enough.

If you don't reverence Barrymore, and you are a student of the Kollege of Musical Knowledge, this will be your cup of tea. If either of the above isn't true, give it a miss.

Playmates (1941)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

John Barrymore plays himself in this his final movie, which sees the great actor go out on a rather bad note. In the film Barrymore is pretty much playing his real life problem as he can't get any good press so his agent (Patsy Kelly) comes up with a scheme to say he's going to teach bandleader Kay Kyser how to be a Shakespearean actor. As with Barrymore's THE GREAT PROFILE, this so-called comedy has more frowns than anything else as it's rather sad seeing Barrymore having to spoof himself and make fun of his rather serious alcohol problem, which would claim his life the following year. With that in mind, it's sometimes rather hard to laugh at certain jokes that are clearly aimed to spoof him and his drinking. It's also rather obvious that he's quite bloated here and in many scenes he appears to be drunk so this here too will stick in your mind while watching the film. I will add that he isn't a complete wash out like many reviews would have you believe. Yes, he's incredibly over the top but no one does that quite like Barrymore and in his own charming way the performance is rather charming. His first appearance in the film will certainly put a smile on your face and you can't help but feel, at times, that he's really giving it all and giving a complete work out of a performance. We also get to see him act out Hamlet and give the famous "To be or not to be..." line. That alone is worth sitting through this otherwise forgettable film. The biggest problem is the actual screenplay that has one joke and it's not a very funny one. Barrymore teaching Kyser to do Shakespeare. That whole joke isn't funny and that means the film itself isn't going to be funny. We do have some mildly amusing moments but the pacing is incredibly bad and the 94-minute running time drags by rather painfully. Kyser gets a couple good musical numbers and he has his own bit of charm in terms of his performance. Kelly gets a few good lines with Lupe Velez and May Robson giving some support. In the end however, this is a pretty poor film that would sadly be Barrymore's last. Fans of his might want to check it out but others would be better served to see the actor in some of his better roles.

Painful self humiliation from a fallen star. Barrymore here plays himself as a has been Shakespearean star so desperate for a Radio contract that he agrees to appear opposite Kay Kyser and band in a festival of the bard's plays.

John was on his last legs when he made this, as testified by a bloated and sometimes drunken appearance and he's treated badly by the script and cast (all his tax and drinking problems are trotted out as "humour" and in a dream scene Barrymore is even shown as a bull defeated by toreador Kyser). Yet this film does have a certain weird amusement value if you catch it in the right mood and if you can forget it's his final film..

Barrymore works very hard to make the most of this script, bellowing and posturing his way through the proceedings. It's a million miles from subtle but with his snorts and grunts and bulging eyes he certainly holds the attention and even generates the odd laugh. Occasionally there's a flash of his old talent. At one point he delivers part of Hamlet's To Be Or Not To Be soliquey in an attempt to demonstrate how Shakespeare should be performed. The film and the scene to this point lead us to expect that Barrymore will send the speech up.

Instead in the midst of the frantic mugging Barrymore gives a heart felt and totally straight reading of the scene. It lasts a minute and is intensely moving. There's genuine rawness here and John himself seems quite overcome. (It's extraordinary they kept this in) For a few scenes after this we get to hear his voice giving further beautifully modulated readings from Romeo and Juliet before the movie goes back to it's demeaning purpose.

Patsy Kelly is one of the other talents who help save this farrago from complete disaster.