User Reviews

This fascinating bit of film history sometimes turns up on documentaries about Barrymore and/or about productions of "Hamlet". So far, it has been virtually impossible for both Shakespeare buffs or the average viewer to see this short film complete--I myself have not been able to. Some day, if we're lucky, an imaginative distributor of rare film footage will have the foresight to release this complete on videocassette.

This is more than just a screen test. This is the actual Ghost Scene from "Hamlet", performed in full make-up and costume, by the legendary John Barrymore, re-creating an excerpt from his most acclaimed 1920's stage performance, the title role in "Hamlet". As an added bonus, it is filmed in Technicolor. (There are other actors in this scene--it is done presumably the way it would have been done if Barrymore had made a real film version of the play---but the identity of the other actors, as far as I know, is a mystery.)

An invaluable document like this should not be permitted to gather dust in the vaults. Barrymore, as expected, gives a towering performance,loaded with charisma and stage presence. His rich voice reciting the familiar lines is enough to send chills down any viewer's spine, but with this film, we can see his facial expressions as well, and, no, they don't come across as unintentionally funny. If his Hamlet seems rather overdone in comparison to Olivier, Branagh, or any of the other Hamlets we have become accustomed to, that still does not diminish the excitement we get from actually being able to see AND hear some of it. We are left with a sense of both loss and frustration that Barrymore finally decided he was too old for the role (he was 51 at the time this test was made,and looks at least 40). But, at least, this excerpt does give us the only permanent visual and aural record of the greatest American stage performance of the 1920's,and as such, deserves to be made more available to the viewing public.

I will forever defend Derek Jacobi as the best Hamlet ever filmed. His version was well over three hours and I know Barrymore and Shakespeare would have loved it. If John Barrymore did a full version of Hamlet on screen and not just screen tests, this would be a different story. But the minutes captured are amazing to see. I only wish there was more and that the quality was better, that is why I'm not giving a perfect rating.

John Barrymore was a natural when it came to acting. He became an actor just for money and eventually raised the bar when playing two of Shakespeare's greatest roles: Richard III and Hamlet. He blew everyone away as both performances, but really got immortality as Hamlet. Many scholars called him the best Hamlet they'd ever seen. The ones that did not call him THE best called him ONE OF the best. They say Barrymore's Hamlet has never been touched. While Olivier and Jacobi's performances blew me away, I would do anything to see Barrymore's Hamlet in his prime. Hamlet is a 500-year-old story with hundreds of actors that have played him. So is Barrymore the best Hamlet ever? Most likely not. But he has yet to be surpassed.

Barrymore rocked the stages in America and England as Hamlet in the early 1920s. With the popularity of cinema growing, there were plans to make a movie of Barrymore as the Prince of Denmark. This bit is what came out. They captured Hamlet's near-kill of Claudius and when he sees his father's ghost. Despite poor quality, Barrymore still gives a daring and haunting performance. This was years after his glory days and couldn't remember most of his lines. His health was deteriorating and he was unable to retain all of his lines, so the project was scrapped.

I know that Barrymore gave the best performance that has not yet been touched. I have his biography that goes into great detail how he did some scenes. I am an actor that aspires to be the best and pull off Hamlet. Hence my profile picture of Barrymore.