Lionel Barrymore Movies

lionel_barrymoreWant to know the best Lionel Barrymore movies?  How about the worst Lionel Barrymore movies?  Curious about Lionel Barrymore box office grosses or which Lionel Barrymore movie picked up the most Oscar nominations? Need to know which Lionel Barrymore movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954) was an Oscar® winning American actor and director of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award® for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul (1931).   He and remains best known to modern audiences for the role of the villainous Mr. Potter character in 1946’s It’s a Wonderful Life and that he is the great uncle to Drew Barrymore.  His IMDb page shows 221 acting credits from 1908-1956. This page will take a statistical look at Lionel Barrymore movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.

Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart in the all-time great movie It's A Wonderful Life (1946)
Lionel Barrymore and James Stewart in the all-time great movie It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

Lionel Barrymore Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews, and awards.

Lionel Barrymore Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Lionel Barrymore movies by his co-star in the move
  • Sort Lionel Barrymore movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
  • Sort Lionel Barrymore movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Lionel Barrymore movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each Lionel Barrymore movie received and
  • Sort by many Oscar® wins each Lionel Barrymore movie won.
  • Sort Lionel Barrymore movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
  • Use the search and sort button to make this page very interactive.
 
Norma Shearer and Lionel Barrymore in 1931's A Free Soul....he won an Oscar for this movie
Norma Shearer and Lionel Barrymore in 1931’s A Free Soul….he won an Oscar for this movie

Possibly Interesting Facts About Lionel Barrymore

1. Lionel Herbert Blythe was born in Philadelphia Pennsyvania in 1878.  He is the second generation of the Barrymore acting family.

2. Lionel Barrymore was the son of actors Georgiana Drew Barrymore and Maurice Barrymore. He was the elder brother of Ethel and John Barrymore, the uncle of John Drew Barrymore and Diana Barrymore and the great-uncle of Drew Barrymore.

3. Lionel Barrymore and his sister Ethel Barrymore were the first Oscar-winning brother and sister in acting categories.

4.  Lionel Barrymore had extreme problems with his income taxes, and during the last 15 years of his life routinely turned over all of his paycheck to the Internal Revenue Service except for a small sum to maintain his living expenses. The IRS also took the proceeds from a sale of his artwork after his death.

5.  By the late 1930s, severe arthritis had led Lionel Barrymore to be confined to a wheelchair.  From 1938, his screen roles were written to accommodate his disability.

6.  Lionel Barrymore received two Oscar® nominations.  He was nominated as Best Director for 1929’s Madame X and he won the Best Actor Oscar for 1931’s A Free Soul.  His climatic court room speech in A Free Soul is one of the longest takes in a commercial film…using more than one camera it lasts 14 minutes.

7.  Lionel Barrymore was married two times in his life. He had 2 children.

8.  Lionel Barrymore spent most of his screen career under contract to MGM (1926-52).  I for one was very happy for that..because MGM is the best studio when searching for old box office numbers.

9.  Lionel Barrymore convinced James Stewart to take the role of George in 1946’s It’s A Wonderful Life, despite Stewart’s feeling that he was not up to it so soon after World War II.

10. Check out Lionel Barrymore’s movie career compared to current and classic stars on our Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time page.

Steve’s Lionel Barrymore YouTube Video

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40 thoughts on “Lionel Barrymore Movies

  1. Lionel Barrymore night on TCM as part of the Barrymore spotlight on TCM every Mon day night. Last week was John. Tonight is Lionel. Next Monday is Ethel and finally movies where the siblings appeared together. There is only one with the three of them. But the brothers made several together. the one with all three of them is Rasputin and the Empress.

    1. Hey Flora thanks for the information. I was actually visiting a new to me library….and found a bunch of hard to find DVDs there….including Rasputin and the Empress. I am planning and going back and checking that one out. John Barrymore is moving up my list of upcoming pages to do…if only because I keep running into his movies as I research other performers.

  2. One of the great character actors, Barrymore’s most famous role was as the nasty Mr. Potter in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, one of the most watched and well-liked fantasy films in Hollywood’s rich history.

    I’ve seen 15 of the 61 films you’ve listed, 9 of them are mentioned in Flora’s post. I will recommend The Devil-Doll for anyone who hasn’t seen it, an unusual horror film by Tod Browning director of Dracula, the visual effects are excellent.

    Other favorites – Mark of the Vampire, Duel in the Sun, Key Largo, Test Pilot and You Can’t Take it With You.

    Looking at the top of the UMR chart, Wonderful Life is at no.3 while the less well known Capra is at no.1, oh well it did win Best Picture at the Oscars. I don’t think I’ve seen Since You Went Away or Valley of Decision.

    Good work Bruce, plenty of facts here on Barrymore I didn’t know. Voted Up!

    1. Hey Steve.
      1. Yep…every year Lionel Barrymore gets introduced to a new generation….one of the great classic movies that still has some life left in it.
      2. Tally count. Flora 31 Steve 15 me 10…..so we combined still fall 6 behind Flora
      3. I will have to check-out Devil-Doll…that was Browning’s last successful movie….then again he only directed one more movie after Devil-Doll.
      4. I want to also see Test Pilot (long time on must see list) & Mark of the Vampire (new addition to the must see list).
      5. Wonderful Life was actually a disappointment when it came out….like Shawshank & Wizard of Oz…..it was only when it reached home entertainment (television & VHS) did the movie take off. He was the star of You Can’t Take It With You….versus a supporting character in Captains and Wonderful….so I do not have a problem with it being number one….plus it did win the Best Picture Oscar.
      6. Vally of Decision was ok ….not one of Peck or Barrymore’s better movies (don’t tell Flora I said that)…so I do not think you are missing much there.
      Thanks for the visit and the comment.

      1. Valley of Decision is a movie I’ve seen only a few times. It is rather depressing. I don’t mind you saying that.

  3. Hi

    A truly great character actor, who appeared in so many classics that I think he’ll remain a familiar face for audiences to come. To me his top 2 films were It’s A Wonderful Life and Key Largo. I’m sure he’s an inspiration to all tax collectors.

    1. Hey Chris…..I agree he was a great character actor…the 1930s and 1940s had Lionel and we have Christopher Walken. Your top two are great movies….and finished 3rd and 5th in my ranking system. At least the IRS let him have enough movie to live on….that was nice of them. Thanks for stopping by.

  4. Hi, Bruce.

    Thanks for this page on my favourite Barrymore and the heads up it was coming.

    Lionel is my favourite of the Barrymore family. Very cool to hear about he and Ethel being the first brother and sister team.

    I usually talk about how many films I’ve seen compared to rankings before I talk about favourites, but instead I will switch this around for Mr. Barrymore. Keep in mind, that for me even in a so-do movie he was excellent.

    Here are my favourites, in order, and not limited to 5:

    Key Largo
    A Free Soul
    Grand Hotel
    Arsine Lupin
    Dinner at Eight
    You Can’t Take it With You
    It’s A Wonderful Life
    Night Flight
    Down to the Sea with Ships
    A Guy Named Joe
    David Copperfield
    Mark of the Vampire
    Test Pilot

    I think you are getting the idea here.

    I have seen 31 of these movies so far. The highest ranking movie I haven`t seen is Since You Went Away which has not been available to me.

    Guilty Hands is the movie of Lionel that I have seen most recently for the first time. Wonderful film.

    Thanks and cheers,

    Flora

    1. Hey Flora.
      1. Tally count. Flora 31 Steve 15 me 10.
      2. Glad you liked “your” requested page. Actually I have stumbled across many of John’s movies…..he has moved up the list of actors to do….so I think in the near future there will be 3 Barrymore UMR pages.
      3. I have seen 6 of the favorites that you listed.
      4. Of those favorites….Test Pilot, Arsine Lupin and A Guy Named Joe being the ones I want to see the most.
      5. Since You Went Away was a monster hit…but it is a hard movie to find.
      6. Thanks for the information….with regards to missing Barrymore movies….I found Mark of the Vampire and a few more after my original request for information….I think 61 is enough to qualify this as an “Ultimate Movie Ranking’ page.
      As always…thanks for your comment and the visit.

  5. Goodness gracious. Stuck in a wheelchair and had to give the IRS all his money. No wonder he was so good at being so bad in It is a wonderful life. Very educational this page is

    1. Hey Grumpy for a reason….yep it sounds like Mr. Barrymore has some issues in his personal life from the late 1930s to the end of his life. Glad you liked the page.

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