John Barrymore film star pennant: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

John Barrymore pennant. Blue felt pennant, triangular shape with point at bottom. White printing with black and white paper photograph of John Barrymore. Decorative border around photograph. "PAT. APP'D FOR / FAMOUS PLAYERS FILM CO. / JOHN / BARRYMORE".

The pennant originally owned by the donor’s grandfather, Wallard Hulce. Film pennants like this were offered as promotional premiums for subscriptions to motion picture fan magazines from the 1910s through the 1920s, highlighting some of the most popular and best-loved actors and actresses of the silent and early sound eras of American film production. The pennants gave fans a tangible connection to and representation of their favorite film stars and were among a wide variety of merchandise and publications available to film fans in the silent period.

John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was a member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families who was celebrated as one of the greatest actors of his generation in a career that included roles on stage, screen, and radio. He began his career as a comedic stage actor in 1903, appearing with members of his family including father Maurice and sister Ethel, but became better known for drama, earning critical acclaim for his leading roles in the prison drama Justice (1916), Richard III (1920), and Hamlet (1922). In the meantime, he began appearing in films, and quickly became a fan favorite for both comedic and dramatic roles, including the leads in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), Sherlock Holmes (1922), Beau Brummel (1924), and The Sea Beast (1926).

By the mid-1920s, Barrymore was widely recognized as one of the nation’s most popular stars and most accomplished actors of both stage and screen. He earned the nickname “The Great Profile” for his chiseled facial features (always photographed from his favored left side), and critics lauded his technical brilliance as an actor. Off-screen, Barrymore led a troubled life, struggling with chronic alcoholism and tumultuous romantic relationships, including four unhappy marriages. Barrymore was at the height of his fame and success when he was cast in Warner Bros 1926 adventure film Don Juan, the first feature-length sound film (utilizing the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, the film had a synchronized musical score and sound effects, though it has no spoken dialogue – 1927’s score-and-dialogue soundie The Jazz Singer is therefore better remembered as “the first sound film”).

He is perhaps best known today for his role as jewel thief Baron Felix von Geigern opposite Greta Garbo in MGM’s 1932 Grand Hotel, a high point that marked a career transition to more minor roles and films. Despite well-received roles in Topaze (1933), Dinner at Eight (1933), and Twentieth Century (1934), Barrymore’s drinking and erratic behavior began affecting his health and career. He began to be typecast as an aging, alcoholic, washed-up actor, which increasingly mirrored his real life, despite repeated attempts to get and return to form in radio and film work. On May 29, 1942, Barrymore died from cirrhosis of the liver and kidney failure, complicated by pneumonia.

Barrymore is remembered today as an influential actor who introduced a psychological aspect to his interpretation of character and a modern, colloquial vocal style that defied convention. Contemporary critics and fellow actors praised him as one of the greatest actors of all time, especially for his Shakespearean work and dramatic roles on the stage.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: around 1921
• depicted (sitter): Barrymore, John
• Object Name: pennant
• Physical Description: felt (overall material)
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 8 9/16 in x 2 3/4 in; 21.74875 cm x 6.985 cm
• associated subject: Motion Pictures
• associated subject: Celebrities
• Subject: Entertainment, Film
• ID Number: 2024.0111.01
• accession number: 2024.0111
• catalog number: 2024.0111.01
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.