Beau Brummel

"George Byron Brummel" (John Barrymore) is a soldier and not an especially significant one at that. He falls in love with the "Lady Margery" (Mary Astor) and though she reciprocates to an extent, she's not prepared to sacrifice her status to marry him so instead marries the "Lord Alvanley" (William Humphrey) and leaves her erstwhile paramour to the life of a bit of a libertine. The best way to achieve success at doing very little is to attach oneself to one even better at it, and so he engineers a meeting with the Prince of Wales (Willard Louis) and soon the pair are firm friends and "George" - now widely called "Beau" is holding court in a regal splendour all of his own. Gradually he acquires enemies at court and begins to over-play his hand. He racks up debts and philanders to the point where his royal patron starts to tire of his toy and, after a rather rash retaliatory comment to the Prince one day, "Beau" is abandoned to his multiple creditors, That causes him to flee to the relative safety of France, but clearly clearly his goose is starting to look cooked and he is increasingly reliant on the loyalty of his manservant "Mortimer" (Alec B. Francis) and on the charity of his few remaining friends in Britain. A potential reconciliation between the two seems possible when the now King George III visits France, but pride and rancour put paid to that and condemn poor old "Beau" to a decline that is anything but beautiful. Harry Beaumont takes his time with this drama and that helps develop the quite complex character of "Brummell". We see ambition and shallowness from Barrymore's performance, but we also see a shrewdness and a sort of perverse type of loyalty and humanity as he grows older and more considered. Astor delivers well too - she imbues her character with a combination of stoicism and emotion well. On the downside, though the Prince was reputedly quite a dandy character, I felt Louis rather overplayed that here at times. The two men still give us a decent dynamic when both are in full pomp, though. There's also a strong ensemble supporting cast that demonstrate well the foppishness of the court and the contrasting poverty endured by those who (not so) cheerily waved their flags and cheered. The last twenty minutes is poignant with some well executed special effects conveying the conclusion to us and those on screen to another place. As ever with lengthy silent films, you have to admire the musicians who read the contours of the film and accompany it so skilfully and here, we have some considerable artistry from the set designer and costumier too in the ultimate story of reaping what you sow!

In presenting the story of Beau Brummel, Warner Brothers did an infinitely better job than MGM in the Fifties in that film that starred Stewart Granger, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Ustinov. Though this is a silent film and sadly silent because we don't get the benefit of John Barrymore's magnificent speaking voice, still the essence of Brummel as a Regency social climber comes through.

That was the problem with the Granger/Taylor version. It presented a Brummel who tried to interfere in the political issues of the day. The real Beau could have cared less for what was going on in Parliament with Pitt and Fox going at each other. That's the Beau that Barrymore gives us in this version.

Barrymore also succeeds in making Beau a more real person. This is a very hard character to bring to life because Brummel didn't really accomplish anything. He was a soldier who resigned his commission in the army to pal around with the Prince Regent. He didn't stand for anything, create anything, espouse a popular cause. He got involved in a couple of Regency Scandals and eventually the Prince of Wales got bored with him.

We don't like the Brummel that Barrymore creates, but we do get some insights into a man who did let some real chances in life slip by.

Mary Astor and Irene Rich and Carmel Myers play a trio of the women in his life. Willard Louis perfectly recreates my own conception of what the weight challenged Prince of Wales who later become George IV was like. Not easy to do because even in the Granger/Taylor version of the story, Peter Ustinov easily walked off with acting honors. There's also a nice performance by Alec Francis as Barrymore's devoted valet.

The end of the film with the dying Brummel going through dementia is silent screen acting at its finest and some of the best work I've seen John Barrymore do. Try to catch this film when broadcast next.

Beau Brummel (1924)

*** (out of 4)

Warner wanted to make a name for themselves so they went all out with this lavish production that features a terrific performance from John Barrymore. He plays the title character, a poor man who has the woman (Mary Astor) he loves taken away from him because of his low standing in society. Heart-broken, Beau sets out to use his charm and wit to get back at the society who ruined his life. Have you ever watched a big-budget movie and wonder where all the money went to as it's obviously not showing on screen? Well, that's certainly not the case here as one can't help but be impressed with the magnitude of this film. The sets, costumes and production values are all extremely high and this helps keep the film moving even when the story isn't doing much. I think the biggest flaw with the movie is its 128-minute running time, which leads to some dead space here and there. The story itself isn't all that ground-breaking even for this era so I'm guessing the main reason for the longer running time was just to give the film a more "epic" feel. With that said, this is still a very impressive movie. As I said earlier, the massive sets are extremely impressive and one can't help but get caught up in their sheer beauty. The images of the costumes alone makes one really focus in. Just take a look at a sequence towards the end when a large number of soldiers are marching. One does wonder what all these extras in these lavish costumes cost the studio. Those familiar with Astor are probably more aware of her sound films so seeing her here, at 18-years-old, was a pretty big eye-opener just because I wasn't use to see her look so young. She is pretty good in the role and handles working next to Barrymore and never gets tramped by him. Willard Louis is extremely good as the Prince of Wales who is the one Beau really goes after in the film. Carmel Myers, Richard Tucker and William Humphrey turn in fine work as well. Alec B. Francis plays the long-time servant and is wonderful. As for Barrymore, he's pure magic here. A lot of people are going to call the performance hammy or stage-bound, which might be fair but from all the movies I've seen of his this one here gave the closest feel of what it might have been like watching him on the stage. He really nails every inch of this character whether it's the poor boy at the start, the rich jerk or the eventual fallen and broken man. Barrymore is clearly having a great time playing all of these different styles and he's especially effective in the final scenes, which I won't spoil. The scene can be called melodrama but it's melodrama at its highest peak thanks to Barrymore. He alone makes this film worth checking out.

It's interesting how much 'wit' can be found even in a film without spoken words. "Beau Brummel" is playful, a little naughty, and at times quite sad. The acting here is notably restrained and natural for a silent film. with John Barrymore leading the way in an excellent performance as Gordon Byron 'Beau' Brummel.

Brummel was a real person, even though the film acknowledges up front that his escapades have been largely fictionalized by legend. In this reality, Brummel was an 18th century army officer and dandy, who, despite his lack of wealth or noble blood, partied with the elite, romancing the women, befriending the men, and being a style and trend setter. What gives this a sense of drama to go with the playful social satire is the fact that Beau is denied the one woman he really loves, so his other successes are all a bit hollow. Also, in the end Brummel has little other than his smarts and charm to stand on, which keeps him always one insolent move from falling into poverty and disrepute.

There are weak spots. The photography and direction aren't particularly imaginative, with a very stagy feel to the blocking and camera angles. Most of the film is shot in head on, eye level medium 2-shots. The sets also often look a bit more like something designed for the stage than for the 360 degree vision of film. But if this isn't a great film, it's a good, clever, enjoyable one, and a chance to see Barrymore, said by many to be the finest actor of his time, as a comparatively young leading man.

What can anyone say about this? Beautiful print, some fine acting by Barrymore -- wonderfully subtle for the period in the early sequences and quite appropriately over-the-top at the end. Given the uniformly over-the-top performances he was called on to make towards the end of his career, the well-preserved Barrymore silents -- this one, his fine, generous performance in THE BELOVED ROGUE, and the sheer electricity between him and Dolores Costello in WHEN A MAN LOVES show what a fine actor he is -- those turns and his wonderful comic work in MIDNIGHT.

I have been less than impressed in the past by some of the scores offered by the Young Composers but, although a bit shaky in the earlier sequences, this one settled right down and was quite good.

I had quite forgotten this was directed by Harry Beaumont, who became my favorite MGM B director -- even though, of course, MGM didn't make B movies.