I must confess that watching this film made me feel rather uneasy. John Barrymore had parodied himself brilliantly in 'Twentieth Century' as Howard Hawks had required him to do but there he had a strong director, fabulous Carole Lombard and a splendid script by Messrs. Hecht and MacArthur. This film however is a different proposition altogether. Great actors like Barrymore are thoroughbreds and if not kept on a tight rein they are liable to run amok. Here he is reduced from thoroughbred to little more than performing seal and it is a very unedifying spectacle. It is of course beyond the realms of credibility that anyone would actually pay to see such a dreadful actor as Evans Garrick. As for the rest of the cast Gregory Ratoff has his moments but much of his dialogue is indecipherable. Mary Beth Hughes is perfectly cast as a second-rate actress. The juveniles are played by personable hunk John Payne and the talented Anne Baxter. Her part is pretty thankless but her performance gives notice of what was to come.She is not as yet the finished article but it would not take long.The highlights of the film are the catastrophic first night of the play in Chicago which is genuinely funny and imaginative and the joyous 'acrobatic' finale. One cannot escape the conclusion however that in this Barrymore's particular brand of 'ham' is not of the highest quality.
Review of The Great Profile
