Page 2
“I’m not completely immunized to love’s “Paris reminds me of my youth. Horrible
young dream.” thought.”
Oberon: “He’s an absolute 24-karat idiot.”
Barrymore: “About 18-karat I think.”
Andrews: “What do we do about tickets?” Carmichael: “So you’re Miss Willie.”
Oberon: “Oh Aunt Willie can always get Barrymore: “You sound as if you’re looking
some.” at the Washington monument for the first
Barrymore: “The first violinist proposed to time.”
me in 1917.”
A woman’s place? Naaaah, Ethel knows how to give a young couple some alone time:
Barrymore: “No man ever made coffee for me and no man
ever will. Where’s the kitchen?
Andrews: “There.”
Barrymore: “That’s where I belong. You show Kathy around.”
“Thing about coffee is it keeps me awake. Nothing more ridiculous than being unconscious on a bed. Besides, I have insomnia; like to blame it on the coffee instead of my conscience. My heart’s an old waste paper basket filled with unpaid bills and paperback novels.”
“I never knew a fish could dance doing a first-rate hula.”
She’s not above rubbing her aching feet at a concert or mugging at a Society dame who’s trying to sssshush her during a Salon recital. She’s fun. She keeps it real:
…And even though it is all a ruse on Merle Oberon’s part ( pretending to be blind, holding a composer contest in the hopes Andrews can win ) Ethel is empathetic to her niece’s feelings. And since she’s supposed to pretend to be an artist…why not go all the way:
Oberon: “What on earth are you trying to do?”
Barrymore: “Painting. I thought I might have a small whirl at it. I thought I was supposed to
be an artist.”
Oberon: “What’s that supposed to represent?”
Barrymore: “You wouldn’t dare say that in front of a Picasso. As a matter of fact I started to
paint Dan sitting at the piano, and it turned out to be the piano sitting on Dan.”
There are all sorts of twists and turns in “Night Song” that make things so touch ‘n go. Merle Oberon gets a bit beat up there by bitter Dana Andrews. He has to soften. She has to toughen. And standing by watching all this is Ethel Barrymore. In this movie, she is a tad flirtatious and coquettish. Not in that silly girl saccharine way. But as a Woman, mature, one who’s seen all manner of things including rejection. She judges people, figures them out. She has quips and cracks. She’s caring. She oversees things and jumps in when necessary. And boy, is it necessary. I imagine she’d be a very formidable enemy. This character may be nothing like Ethel Barrymore, and Ethel Barrymore may be nothing like this character. But I suspect there’s a lot of each other in each other. And regardless…
I would sit at her feet.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
If you’re interested in reading more about Ethel and
her brothers Barrymore, you’re just a click away:
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Barrymore Photos on page 3…
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Hey, another film you’ve introduced me to! (You’re like a personal life/movie coach!) Ethel Barrymore sounds terrific in this film – she’s certainly a scene-stealer in the clip you posted.
You mentioned her beauty, and it seems to me she was beautiful her whole life, no? In fact, she seemed to have gotten more beautiful the older she became.
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Hey S.S.,
I’m inclined to agree with you about Ethel’s beauty. ( I’ve had to mature a bit to be able to recognize that ). I enjoy “Night Song” a lot. I hope you get to see it. Not just for Ethel but Dana Andrews does a fantastic acting job as a bitter blind man. If you ever do watch it, please…let me know.
Yours truly,
Your Life/Movie Coach CineMaven. ( 😉 )
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Just in case we wondered where Drew got that chin….
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It goes back centuries…
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Lionel and Ethel were being interviewed together. Lionel left the room when the interviewer asked Ethel about family history. The question was, what was the last thing their father was in. Ethel couldn’t remember, and so called out the question to her brother. His answer came back, “Mary Boland, I think.”
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L0L! I’ve heard this story before Debbie. All I can think of is “L’amour, l’amour. Toujours l’amour.” Soooo Lionel’s got jokes ey? Ha!!!!
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Thanks so much for participating in the blogathon Theresa. I’ve only just got around to reading the entries now, and your post on Ethel was highly worth the wait. Excellent article.
Seeing as my Barrymore blogathon has closed, I’ve decided to host another blogathon, and I would like to invite you to participate. The link is below with more details
https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/in-the-good-old-days-of-classic-hollywood-presents-the-lauren-bacall-blogathon/
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Ahhh The Good Ol’ Days, the good ol’ days. That Barrymore Blogathon was a smorgasbord of Barrymores and I’m happy to have been included. I saw your announcement of your upcoming LAUREN BACALL blogathon. I’d like to participate. Let me get back to you with the movie I hope won’t be covered by others. Thanks for THIS invitation as well.
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I’m surprised how well the Barrymore blogathon went. I’m going to make it an annual event. When you decide on your topic, let me know?
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I surely will. I love Lauren Bacall and was saddened by her passing.
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Lauren is one of my favorites. I was deeply saddened about her passing. It came as a shock to me, because she was going so well. I never heard about her being sick, and then this massive stroke got her.
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Yeh man. It was a shock, and disbelief. She had quite a presence. Imagine being a 19 year old kid, and your first movie is with Humphrey Bogart. When I was 19…well, HA! I was no Lauren Bacall.
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It would of been exciting to be Lauren Bacall at age 19 and appear in your first movie opposite Humphrey Bogart. We found it a huge shock over here. My Mum and Grandma saw Lauren being interviewed live on “The Mike Walsh Show” in 1979. Mum pushed in front of the assembled crowd and attained front row seats, so they were so close to Lauren. Jealous. So they were very shocked and saddened about her passing.
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I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again (if it’s worth saying once, it’s worth saying twice, right?!) – I love the way you put your own twist on classic movies and actors, it’s so refreshing. I actually haven’t seen this one, so thanks for highlighting it – there’s a big gap in my Ethel Barrymore knowledge. I too think she was always a beauty, perhaps just not to popular tastes.
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“Night Song” is a very enjoyable movie and I ( again ) wholeheartedly recommend it. I learned about Ethel on the run as I wrote for this blogathon. And if you have to say a third time that you like the way I spin and twist and turn a phrase, well…I guess I’ll just have to bear up under the compliment. ( Thank you sooo much. Hope I stay easy breezy and informative. )
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