Top 10 Lionel Barrymore Performances

What a wonderful way to celebrate Lionel’s life! ❤ This man who didn’t want to act was one of the best who ever lived! My favorite as well. He’s a National Treasure! There will never be another! Loved his autobiography as well. I’d have a hard time narrowing it down to the top ten films! I just wish more know about him besides playing Potter or his old man roles. There are some who say they rarely saw him perform out of his wheelchair. They’ve missed a heck of a lot! 😮

Thanks for putting this together and sharing it. I’ve watched 43 of his movies, including these 10. I think his courtroom scene in A Free Soul (1931) is so good that it lifts his overall performance to deserving the No. 1 rank. However, I do think his best acting in a movie is Grand Hotel (1932). I think It’s a Wonderful Life (46) is his most underrated performance because, unfortunately, a lot of people think this is his normal type of character and don’t realize that it’s an outlier.

This is a nice tribute to Lionel and helps showcase what an amazing talent, he was. Thank you for the hard work, you put in this. Lionel's range was staggering. I don't know if there was any other actor of that time, that could have played in less than one year, a character like Kringelein and then play such a nasty bad guy, as Rasputin. I liked that you gave some love, to Down to the Sea in Ships. I always feel that was his, last bow in a way movie. He had a few other movies, but his characters weren't in the movies long, or they weren't needed to keep the story going. I'm not sure what I would put, in my top 10 for Lionel. There are so many great movies, that haven't been seen by an audience, in a long time, like The Voice of Bugle Ann. Would have to be in my top 10, but there is nobody but a few people, that has seen it.

One of Lionel Barrymore’s great performances was during the silent era with Lon Chaney Sr. In West of Zanzibar (1928). While he had a magnificent voice, L. Barrymore had great control of his facial expressions, and the scene where Chaney tells Barrymore the alleged truth about Barrymore’s daughter was one of the best in both actors’ careers. [spoiler] First we see Chaney’s hatred toward Barrymore as he describes the horrible things he has done to Barrymore’s daughter over years toward a final revenge. Then we see Barrymore holding his face in his hands and trembling as if he is crying with pain and regret, only then we discover that he is crying with laughter with the realization that Chaney unknowingly was torturing his own daughter. The switch in expressions between Chaney and Barrymore and Chaney again shows the dramatic force of both actors. West of Zanzibar is my second favorite Lionel Barrymore performance. My first favorite Lionel Barrymore role is The Little Colonel (1935) with Shirley Temple and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. although his role in the film was that of a proud, stubborn confederate Colonel with a volatile temper post civil war, off screen Barrymore was especially kind and compassionate to Temple. Many believe that their closeness may have had something to do with The pain Barrymore suffered from the loss of his own daughters.

9:03 My mom when I act stupid 😂

1:26 I knew you were a big fan, but then you pull out the whole AUTOBIOGRAPHY?!?