Movie Reviewed: The Great Man Votes, starring John Barrymore

Movie Reviewed: The Great Man Votes, starring John Barrymore

John Barrymore is outstanding despite his long absence from movies (five stars)

John Barrymore returned to RKO after a long absence to make this wonderful family drama in 1939. At this time, Barrymore’s health had deteriorated because of his addiction to alcohol. But his condition was ironically perfect to play the role of Gregory Vance, a former Harvard professor whose ambition in academics dissolved after his wife’s death. And since then, he has become lush. He works as a night watchman and takes care of his two children assisted by their teacher played by Katherine Alexander. The central part of the movie is the brilliant acting of his two children played b Peter Holden and Virginia Weidler, who inspire their father to regain his self-respect by casting the decisive ballot in the local election for a mayor. The movie made a loss of $10,000, but Garson Kanin demonstrated that he is a promising young director at RKO Studios. The heart-warming screenplay for the story was written by John Twist. This is a forgotten classic and a definite five star movie.