As John Barrymore reckons with the ravages of his life of excess, he rents an old theatre to rehearse for a backer's audition to raise money for a revival of his 1920 Broadway triumph in Richard III.
Acting
Plummer's 82-year-old physicality as a 60-year-old wreck—astonishing.
Writing
Lunt-Fontanne script weaves Richard III into confessional autobiography.
Director
Érik Canuel
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Plummer won his second Tony for this same role on Broadway in 1997—15 years before filming it at 82, making this cinema's most delayed encore.
The real Barrymore's 1920 Richard III ran 101 performances—then Hollywood devoured him; this film resurrects the ghost of what legitimate theater lost.
CA
US
