John Barrymore

So he uses charm and razor wit, a razor-sharp wit as Nick Charles.

His first film was actually Sherlock Holmes in 1922, John Barrymore, and he was married to Carole Lombard, um, divorced a year prior to th- uh, prior to this film, and they later filmed in a movie that I like very much-

Yeah

... is My, My Man Godfrey together, which Carole, 'cause mainly 'cause Carole Lombard was very much a comedian, and-

Ah.

So the, the stout, the staff of the bar becomes the Algonquin Round Table, Sam Goldwyn, John Barrymore.

Oh my gosh.

They, and I thought this way, 'cause I was thinking as a producer, "I want a small cast, I want one set.

Um, but she...

It's funny, because even though she's known for these incredible screwballs like My Man Godfrey, like Twentieth Century opposite John Barrymore, like Nothing Sacred, like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, she did a lot of dramas as well.

In fact, she really wanted to work with Lubitsch, and when Miriam Hopkins, who was the original choice for this role, for the role of Maria in this film, turned it down because it wasn't large enough-

[laughs]

Billy Wilder found her mesmerizing.

And John Barrymore said what she had was pure magic.

So here's my own testament to the most enigmatic actress the movie world has ever seen.

Welcome to a very special episode of The Bombshell Effect, where I try to make sense of the life of Greta Garbo, and later I'm joined by her grandnephew, the biographer Scott Reisfield, to ask him questions about the real Garbo that few people ever got to know.

Yeah.

In 1926, we see a silent film adaptation titled The Sea Beast, starring John Barrymore, and you have to remember, Barrymore was the absolute pinnacle of Hollywood royalty at the time.

So they were already throwing A-list talent at it.

Oh, entirely.

That is a massive pivot for an actor like Peck.

It is a massive pivot, and that is precisely the point.

If you look at the progression, John Barrymore, Gregory Peck, and then later in 1998, a television miniseries that cast Patrick Stewart as Ahab, you start to see a very specific pattern.

And what's the pattern?

He was like...

He saw, for instance, John Barrymore do, uh, Hamlet twice.

Mm-hmm.

And then the young Lionel Barrymore worked with him, and, and my dad was, um, very impressed with him when he was young, uh, when Lionel was young.