Good story, Not enough for a whole film

best movie i've ever seen.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Some BIG hollywood names in this silent from 1924... John Barrymore and Mary Astor (oscar for The Great Lie, but probably better known for Maltese Falcon.) Couldn't get bigger names than that! they both made the successful transition to talkies in the 1930s. Astor was pretty new to silents, but did a find job. Here, Lady Margery (Astor) ends up marrying royalty for traditional, practical reasons, even though she was in love with poor Brummel (Barrymore). Age-old story of bad timing, missed connections, regret. Willard Louis is Prince of Wales here... he died young at 44 of typhoid fever. Something about the silents... they seemed to have dumbed everything down for the audience, and really spelled everything out. Current opinion is that it was such a new medium that the directors weren't sure just how much needed to be said in title cards, so they erred on the side of over-explanation. It's good, as silents go. LONG. but good. kind of goes on and on, but there was a story to tell. Picture quality and title cards are excellent. Must have been a professional restoration. Directed by Harry Beaumont, who will be nominated for "Broadway Melody" 1929.

This silent version of "Beau Brummel" (there was one in 1913) stars the great John Barrymore in the title role, and he manages without speaking to give us a clear, layered view of this vain social climber. Also starring are Mary Astor, Carmel Myers, and Irene Rich as three of the women in his life. Mary Astor was nearly unrecognizable - low, long eyebrows (they all seemed to have them) and different teeth, and 18 years old! Though in black and white, the sumptuousness of the costumes and the beauty of the sets, as well as the prevailing atmosphere, are all evident. Brummel resigns his commission so that he can literally hang out with the Prince of Wales, who becomes George IV. When he falls out of favor, he also falls on hard times. The woman he loses to her marriage into a wealthy family, Lady Alvanley, remains a loyal friend as does his butler Mortimer.Barrymore's acting, particularly in his last scenes, is brilliant. Thankfully he went into talkies so we would have a chance to hear his beautiful speaking voice.Superior to the MGM color version starring Stewart Granger.

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.

This film is a great showcase for John Barrymore's talents. He gets to play the spurned romantic, the comic rogue who is always laughing at everyone else, the beaten man in decline still hanging on to his dignity, and finally an insane aged man completely unaware of reality.Brummel starts out as a young man in love with Lady Margery (Mary Astor). The feeling is mutual, but Margery's mother is ambitious and insists that Margery marry the wealthy Lord Alvanley. She considers Brummel not good enough for her daughter. To soothe his grief, Brummel plunges down the path of a self-destructive and hedonistic lifestyle, indulging in the finest food, drink, clothing, and women, but nothing can kill the sting of his losing Lady Margery. Alec B. Francis, as Brummel's gentleman's gentleman Mortimer, actually has a role equal in importance to Mary Astor's role, and he shines in it. Early in the film Mortimer corrects a visitor when he refers to Brummel as his master. Instead, Brummel is his life. He stays with Brummel when he can no longer pay him, and even after he is wrongfully discharged and he returns to England, he continues to send money for Brummel's upkeep. This is a long film for a silent at over two hours in length, but it doesn't drag at all.Let me just say whether or not you enjoy this film may depend on what version you watch. There are a lot of low-priced public domain knock-offs of this film that are in really bad shape. The Warner Archive version has the score written by one of the winner's of Turner Classic Movies' Young Composer contests and, although not restored, is in pretty good shape. That is the version I would recommend.