TCM's April Spotlight

We've already had a night of April's Star of the Month on TCM, Judy Garland, who made enough movies that TCM can easily fill up five nights of prime time with her films. And now it's time for the monthly spotlight. This month, it will look at the Barrymore acting family.

I'm not certain who, if anybody, will be the guest host for the spotlight, since the TCM article I saw on the subject didn't seem to say anything about that. But, on each of the first three Mondays of the month, the spotlight will be looking at a different member of the family. This first Monday sees the films of John Barrymore, starting at 8:00 PM with the silent version of Don Juan, which was also the first movie with a synchronized music score (and some sound effects). I think I've mentioned that when this movie was released back in 1926, it was released in conjunction with a series of Vitaphone shorts, some of which included regular talking.

Next Monday will see the films of Lionel Barrymore, and that will be followed on the 18th by the movies of Ethel Barrymore. That leaves one Monday night left, the 25, and that night will have movies featuring collaborations between two of the Barrymores, which mostly means John and Lionel together. Ethel only made the one movie with her brothers, Rasputin and the Empress, which will be airing. Following the making of that movie, she went back to the stage for another dozen years, only returning to Hollywood for None but the Lonely Heart which won her an Oscar and which will be on the schedule at 8:00 PM on the 18th.

It's too bad, but we don't get any of the movies of John Drew Barrymore, or his sister Diana (although, to be fair, she didn't have much of an acting career, being more famous for her book-turned-into-a-movie Too Much, Too Soon), or heaven forfend, granddaughter Drew.