I've always been a regular-level appreciator of Lionel Barrymore (while a big John Barrymore fan) and have enjoyed his performances.

For some reason, On Borrowed Time (1939) is the movie I tend to think of first and foremost in association with Lionel. That's a really sweet and endearing film.

If you want to see Lionel in a fun young and nasty type role, check out 1927's The Show https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/108632-the-show?language=en-US. In that, he plays a character who's definite trouble, with an evil gleam in his eye, and who you'd not want to cross! Lionel was 48 when he made that, therefore younger than we typically see him.

He's also really good in 1932's Rasputin and the Empress https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/43132-rasputin-and-the-empress?language=en-US. You'll want to check that out, if you've not already seen it. That's the only film in which Lionel appears with both of his siblings, Ethel and John. (Incidentally, I've created threads about both this movie and The Show.)

I don't have any least favourite Lionel Barrymore roles/performances. He was always fully reliable, therefore I trust I've liked him in everything I've seen.

Very cool! Yeah, On Borrowed Time is one of my favorites. The one scene near the end, when his grandson runs out of the house screaming that his grandfather doesn't love him anymore is one of the few movie scenes that almost made me cry.

I will definitely check out The Show. I've never heard of it, but it certainly sounds worth seeing.

I saw Rasputin and the Empress a few months ago, and really enjoyed it. I wish the three of them had done other films together.

And you're quite right; he was always fully reliable. The one time when I didn't like him as much though, was 1935's Public Hero Number 1 where he plays a hopelessly alcoholic doctor involved with a notorious gang. I don't know, maybe I'm just used to seeing him play nicer, less extreme drunks, like Otto Kringelein in Grand Hotel (1932). Which, incidentally, was the first thing I saw him in where his performance really grabbed my attention.

I'm not sure whether The Show is available anywhere online, other than probably via the TCM app. I have the Warner Archive DVD of that movie (as well as dozens of other terrific W.A.-released Classic films). Those releases always feature the identical print to what TCM airs of a title. (Warner and TCM are sister companies.)

Btw, another specific Lionel film that I remember him giving an excellent performance in is 1931's A Free Soul. He won the Best Actor Academy Award for that performance. I have the DVD of that, that's part of one of the TCM "Forbidden Hollywood" Pre-Code collections, though unfortunately, and for no known reason, that particular movie no longer will play right (I tried my disc of it just the other month). Grrr.

Yep: On Borrowed Time certainly does pack a powerful wallop when it comes to the heartbreaking scene you mentioned with little Pud. Child actor Bobs Watson devastatingly gave his absolute all in that performance!

Okay, thanks very much for the information. I'll look into it sometime.

And yes, Lionel's performance was excellent in A Free Soul. I read in his autobiography that when it came to filming the courtroom scene at the end where he delivered his whopping speech, he ran through the scene, and when he finished, it had taken so much out of him and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to do another take. Then the director came up and told him it wouldn't be necessary; they had eight cameras running during the whole thing and had gotten it from every angle needed!
That's too bad about the disc, though. It's very unfortunate when they seem to go bad for no apparent reason.

Bobs Watson was certainly quite the little actor! He was remarkably convincing when it came to all the crying! I was surprised when I found out that it was also Bobs Watson who played Tommy, the crippled boy who appeared in a few of the Dr. Kildaremovies, who was being treated by Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore).

I've been meaning to tell you, barry, that I like your new TMDb avatar (the Grand Hotel artwork)! That's really neat! Did you draw it?

I deduced the other week that your username, "barrymost", more than likely is a "take" on the name Barrymore - and now am especially confident I was correct, since learning Lionel is your fave actor.

For being able to cry buckets of tears on command, little Bobs Watson was known - definitely deservedly - as "The Cry Baby of Hollywood". He certainly earned that title fair and square!

barry, I know you've seen pictures of Lionel Barrymore when he was young. Since others checking out this thread no doubt have only ever seen him looking either solidly middle-aged or elderly, here's a nice earlier life photo of him:

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/73/5a/e1/735ae1f9305349dce59389fa28b63a96.jpg

Thank you! Yes, I did draw the avatar; I have a book of vintage Hollywood film posters called Starstruck so I often copy posters from there into a special book of mine. Grand Hotel was the first poster I drew, and I have also done My Man Godfrey and Rasputin and the Empress. The whole thing was unfortunately cropped when I uploaded it as my avatar, though.

And you're right, of course, about my username. Actually, I must confess that I was struggling to come up with the perfect username when I joined, so it was my dad who came up with "barrymost".

Whoa! I just checked out your link. I've never seen a photo of him quite that young! I wouldn't have recognized him if I didn't know who it was beforehand. I have seen early photos of him, but that must be exceptionally early!