It’s often said that Christopher Plummer is the greatest actor Canada has ever produced and one of the finest classical actors of his generation. Having mastered the stage, as well as the big and small screens, he took on a role in 1996 that would come to define him: John Barrymore, another actor of towering stature, who had an array of colourful vices to match his talent.
Playwright William Luce’s Barrymore opened at the Stratford Festival in 1996 before moving to Broadway, where Plummer won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor. The production has since been revived to even more widespread acclaim, with Plummer maturing into the role and imbuing it with ever-deeper pathos and wit. The play has now been transformed into a film, directed by Erik Canuel. With its elegant close-ups contrasted against a deliberately theatrical setting, Barrymore is a ribald and affecting exploration of the pleasures and perils of show business, as well as a tribute to the tremendous artistry of its star.
Barrymore depicts John Barrymore as he rehearses for a (fictitious) revival of his 1920 Broadway triumph in Richard III. But the year is 1942, and Barrymore is far past his peak, mere months away from death; the film finds him mostly doing anything but rehearsing. In fact, he has booked the theatre simply to perform, alone. He drinks and cracks jokes, reminisces about his father, his siblings and wives, and above all shares memories from his “scavenger profession.” A stage manager stands patiently in the wings, repeatedly prompting Barrymore with Shakespeare’s text, but the actor has other things on his mind. It is our great privilege to hear him follow his melancholy muse wherever he pleases.
Our Mavericks session will feature the world premiere of Barrymore, followed by an onstage conversation with Plummer, addressing the full span of his remarkable career. –TIFF