Editing John Barrymore (section)

===Films with the major studios: 1924–1932===
News of Barrymore's success in ''Hamlet'' piqued the interest of [[Warner Bros.]], which signed him as [[Beau Brummell|the lead]] in the 1924 film ''[[Beau Brummel (1924 film)|Beau Brummel]]''.{{sfn|Norden|1995|p=14}} Unhappy in his marriage, Barrymore&nbsp;– aged 40 at the time&nbsp;– sought solace elsewhere and had an affair with his 17-year-old co-star [[Mary Astor]] during filming.{{sfn|Peters|1990|p=250}} Although the film was not an unqualified success,{{sfn|Peters|1990|p=251}} the cast, including Barrymore, was generally praised.<ref name="Sheb Press: Brumel" /><ref name="CDS: Brummel" /> Around this time, Barrymore acquired the nickname "the Great Profile", as posters and photographs of him tended to favor the left-hand side. He later said: "The right side of my face looks like a fried egg. The left side has features that are to be found in almost any normal anthropological specimen, and those are the apples I try to keep on top of the barrel."{{sfn|Kobler|1977|p=259}}

[[File:Sea Beast film still 6.jpg|alt=Barrymore, cleanshaven, standing in costume as Captain Ahab, including a false right peg-leg, holding onto ship's rigging|thumb|upright|Barrymore, as [[Captain Ahab (Moby-Dick)|Captain Ahab Ceeley]] in ''[[The Sea Beast (1926 film)|The Sea Beast]]'' (1926)]]
In February 1925, Barrymore staged ''Hamlet'' in London at the Haymarket Theatre, which the ''[[The Guardian|Manchester Guardian]]'' later said had "the most memorable first night for years".<ref name="Guard: Obit" /> The reviews were positive, and "although none of the London critics found Barrymore superior to [[Henry Irving|[Henry] Irving]] and [[Johnston Forbes-Robertson|[Johnston] Forbes-Robertson]], many were favorable in their comparisons".{{sfn|Peters|1990|p=247}} Among the audience members was the 20-year-old actor [[John Gielgud]], who wrote in his program "Barrymore is romantic in appearance and naturally gifted with grace, looks and a capacity to wear period clothes, which makes his brilliantly intellectual performance classical without being unduly severe, and he has tenderness, remoteness, and neurosis all placed with great delicacy and used with immense effectiveness and admirable judgment".{{sfn|Croall|2000|p=125}} Looking back in the 1970s, he said: "The handsome middle-aged stars of the Edwardian theatre romanticised the part. Even John Barrymore, whose Hamlet I admired very much, cut the play outrageously so that he could, for instance, play the closet scene all out for sentiment with the emphasis on the '[[Oedipus complex]]'&nbsp;– sobbing on Gertrude's bosom. Yet Barrymore&nbsp;... had a wonderful edge and a demonic sense of humour."{{sfn|Gielgud|1979|p=81}}

At the end of this run of ''Hamlet'', Barrymore traveled to Paris, where Oelrichs had stayed during his residence in London, but the reunion was not a happy one and the couple argued frequently. When he returned to America, she remained in Paris,{{sfn|Peters|1990|pp=248–49}} and the couple drew up a separation agreement that provided Oelrichs with $18,000 a year and stated that neither could sue for divorce on the grounds of adultery.{{sfn|Peters|1990|p=265}} While he had been in London, Warner Bros and Barrymore entered into a contact for three further films at a salary of $76,250 per picture.{{sfn|Kobler|1977|p=208}}{{efn|$76,250 in 1925 equates to a little over $1&nbsp;million in 2014.{{inflation-fn|US}} He was also given a suite at the [[Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles)|Ambassador Hotel]], Los Angeles, including all meals, and a chauffeured limousine.{{sfn|Kobler|1977|p=208}}}} He later claimed that his motivation for moving from stage to films was the "lack of repetition—the continual playing of a part, which is so ruinous to an actor, is entirely eliminated".{{sfn|Power-Waters|1942|p=99}}

[[File:Delorescostello.jpg|alt=Portrait bust of a young Dolores Costello, facing the camera, looking stylish and slightly unhappy or bored|thumb|left|[[Dolores Costello]] in 1926; she was Barrymore's co-star in ''[[The Sea Beast (1926 film)|The Sea Beast]]'' and, later, his third wife.]]
Barrymore's first film under the contract was ''[[The Sea Beast (1926 film)|The Sea Beast]]'' (1926), loosely based on the 1851 novel ''[[Moby-Dick]]'', in which he played [[Captain Ahab (Moby-Dick)|Captain Ahab Ceeley]]. This was one of the biggest money-makers of the year for Warner Bros.{{sfn|Norden|1995|p=97}} Although Barrymore wanted Astor to play the female lead, she was unavailable, and [[Dolores Costello]] was cast in her place. He later said that "I fell in love with her instantly. This time I knew I was right", and the couple began an affair. Costello's father was angered by the relationship, but his complaints were ignored by both Costello and her mother: Costello's parents separated and were divorced as a result.{{sfn|Kobler|1977|pp=219–22}} The film was well received by critics, and [[Mordaunt Hall]], the film critic of ''The New York Times'', praised the "energy, earnestness and virility" Barrymore displayed in the role of Ceeley.<ref name="NYT: Sea Beast" />

As filming finished on ''The Sea Beast'', work began on ''[[Don Juan (1926 film)|Don Juan]]'', the first feature-length film with synchronized [[Vitaphone]] sound effects and a musical [[soundtrack]].{{sfnm|1a1=Norden|1y=1995|1p=16|2a1=Stephens|2a2=Wanamaker|2y=2010|2p=8}} Although Barrymore wanted to play opposite Costello again, [[Jack L. Warner]], the film's producer, signed Astor.{{sfn|Norden|1995|p=16}} After completing his Warner Bros. contract with ''[[When a Man Loves]]'', with Costello, Barrymore joined [[United Artists]] (UA) under a three-film deal. For the next three years, according to Morrison, he "enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and spent lavishly".{{sfn|Morrison|1997|p=265}}{{efn|The three films made with UA are ''[[The Beloved Rogue]]'' (1927), ''[[Tempest (1928 film)|Tempest]]'' (1928) and ''[[Eternal Love (1929 film)|Eternal Love]]'' (1929).{{sfn|Morrison|1997|pp=265–67}}}} Nevertheless, he received some harsh reviews. Critic and essayist [[Stark Young]] wrote in ''[[The New Republic]]'' that Barrymore's films were "rotten, vulgar, empty, in bad taste, dishonest, noisome with a silly and unwholesome exhibitionism, and odious with a kind of stale and degenerate studio adolescence. Their appeal is cheap, cynical and specious".<ref name="New Rep: Stark" />

In 1927, Barrymore planned to revive ''Hamlet'' at the [[Hollywood Bowl]], but in August he canceled the production, without explanation, and began filming the third of the UA pictures, ''[[Eternal Love (1929 film)|Eternal Love]]'', for which he was paid $150,000.{{sfn|Morrison|1997|pp=265–67}}{{efn|$150,000 in 1927 was worth a little over $2&nbsp;million in 2014.{{inflation-fn|US}}}} In February 1928, Barrymore obtained a quiet divorce from Oelrichs; she eagerly agreed to the separation, as she was in a relationship with a lawyer, [[Harrison Tweed]], whom she later married. Barrymore and Costello married in November that year; their daughter, Dolores, was born in April 1930 and a son, [[John Drew Barrymore]], followed in June 1932.{{sfnm|1a1=Kobler|1y=1977|1pp=208 & 264|2a1=Morrison|2y=1997|2p=272}} Barrymore purchased and converted an estate in the Hollywood Hills into 16 different buildings with 55 rooms, gardens, [[Skeet shooting|skeet ranges]], swimming pools, fountains and a totem pole.<ref name="Paris News" />

[[File:Svengali (1931) 2.jpg|alt=Barrymore, made up as Svengali, with a beard, staring intently at Marian Marsh, seated with her eyes closed peacefully, whose shoulders are being held defensively by Bramwell Fletcher, who looks concerned|thumb|''(l to r)'', [[Marian Marsh]], [[Bramwell Fletcher]] and Barrymore in ''[[Svengali (1931 film)|Svengali]]'' (1931)]]
By the late 1920s, [[sound film]]s had become common, following the 1927 sensation, ''[[The Jazz Singer]]''. Actors with trained voices were in demand by the studios, and Barrymore was offered a five-film deal with Warner Bros. at $150,000 per picture, and a share of the profits. Before he began this contract, he played his first speaking role on film: a one-off section in ''[[The Show of Shows]]'' (1929), playing Richard, Duke of Gloucester in ''[[Henry VI, Part 3]]''.{{sfnm|1a1=Norden|1y=1995|1p=16|2a1=Morrison|2y=1997|2pp=267–68}} His first two films under contract were ''[[General Crack]]'' and ''[[The Man from Blankley's]]'', each of which were modestly successful.{{sfn|Morrison|1997|p=270}}{{efn|''The Man from Blankley's'' is a lost film.{{sfn|Tibbetts|Welsh|2010|p=29}}}} As he had been frustrated at the inability of making ''The Sea Beast'' as a sound film, Barrymore returned to ''Moby Dick'' as the source for a 1930 film [[Moby Dick (1930 film)|of the same name]]. Peters thinks little of the film, describing it as "a seesaw between the cosmic and the comic, a travesty of Melville as well as a silly film all on its own".{{sfn|Peters|1990|p=325}}

The following year, Barrymore played the title role of a manipulative voice coach in ''[[Svengali (1931 film)|Svengali]]'', opposite [[Marian Marsh]]. Martin Dickstein, the critic for the ''[[Brooklyn Eagle|Brooklyn Daily Eagle]]'', wrote that Barrymore "registers a personal triumph in the role", calling his performance "brilliant&nbsp;... one of the best of his movie career".<ref name="BDE: Sveng" /> Later in 1931, he played a crippled puppeteer, who tries to fulfill his frustrated ambitions by manipulating the life of a young male ballet dancer and the dancer's lover (also Marsh) in ''[[The Mad Genius]]''; the film was a commercial failure.{{sfn|Mank|2014|p=60}} With disappointing box office returns from their five-film deal, Warner Bros. decided not to offer Barrymore a contract renewal. Instead, Barrymore signed a non-exclusive contract with [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) and took a $25,000 salary cut per film.{{sfnm|1a1=Peters|1y=1990|1p=336|2a1=Morrison|2y=1997|2p=272}}