The disc: "Sherlock Holmes."
The details: John Barrymore could be a glorious capering ham — see "Twentieth Century" — but he could also be a focused under-actor, a key transitional figure in 20th-century drama and a lot more than Drew Barrymore's grandfather.
Barrymore's "Sherlock Holmes" is the centerpiece of Kino's new boxed set of Barrymore films, and if its not the best film in the set — that would be "The Beloved Rogue" — as recently restored by the Eastman House, it's certainly the rarest. It's distinguished by some very nice location footage of 1922 London, a splendid cast — Roland Young as Watson and William Powell as one of Moriarity's early victims, both in their screen debuts — and a strange, schizoid story structure.
We first meet Holmes and Watson fresh out of the university. In order to help out a friend of Watson's, Holmes encounters Professor Moriarity, whose evil impels him to become a master detective. Years later, at 221B Baker Street, Holmes resolves to put an end to the reign of the Napoleon of Crime.
The film starts well and ends well, but in between it wanders. Roland Young doesn't have enough to do, but Barrymore is lean, focused, utterly believable, and committed to the part.
The other films in the set include "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," which Kino has previously released, "Tempest," and the aforementioned "The Beloved Rogue." "Tempest" is a good story about the Russian Revolution, while "The Beloved Rogue" concerns itself with the poet Francois Villon in 15th-century France — a part Barrymore was born to play, and with the added feature of some eye-popping sets by William Cameron Menzies.
Scott Eyman writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: scott(underscore)eyman(at)pbpost.com.