LHS Pairs Past & Present Stars with “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”

Free Halloween Thrills on the Silent Screen: Sunday, Oct 30 at 3 pm

by Dee Van Eyck

(October 26, 2005) In the first of a series, the Larchmont Historical Society is pairing two “Larchmont Luminaries,” one from the past, one from the present, in a Halloween showing of the classic thriller “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Starring in this silent screen blockbuster was John Barrymore, the renown actor and a Larchmont resident in the summer of 1897. Introducing the show is Andrew Mondshein, current Larchmont resident and Academy Award-nominated film editor.

Show time is Sunday, October 30 at 3:00 pm in the Larchmont Community Center behind the Larchmont Public Library ( 121 Larchmont Avenue.) Refreshments will be served, so RSVP by email ( Dee van Eyck) or phone (834-0449). Note: The film may be too scary for younger viewers.

Few may be aware that John Barrymore’s career took a fateful turn after his summer in Larchmont. Young Barrymore was only 15 in 1897 when he accompanied his ailing grandmother, Louisa Drew, for what was meant to be a recuperative stay at the Bevan House across from Manor Park. It was there that she died on August 31 in their third floor rooms, “And it changed his life forever,” according to Mr. Barrymore’s personal memoirs. Because his grandmother had wanted him to enter the “family business” and become an actor, the young man abandoned his dreams of a career in art and followed her wishes.

John Barrymore was born on February 14, 1882, into a clan of entertainers that began with his grandparents, John and Louisa Drew, and continues to this day with his granddaughter, Drew Barrymore. He was considered the finest of the three acting siblings – Ethel, Lionel and John – making his first known appearance in 1914 with “An American Citizen.”

However, it was his portrayal in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1920) that brought him motion picture fame for his uncanny metamorphosis from the kindly Dr. Jekyll to the evil Mr. Hyde using only a little makeup and no “special effects.” With his trained stage voice, John Barrymore had no problem with the transition into the sound era and was part of some of the greatest films of the 1930’s, including “Grand Hotel,” “A Bill of Divorcement,” “Dinner at Eight,” and “Romeo and Juliet.” Until a year before his death, on May 29, 1942, he was still appearing in movies.

Larchmont Luminaries Past & Present: Actor John Barrymore summered in Larchmont during 1897. Academy Award nominated film editor Andrew Mondshein resides in Larchmont full-time.

The Larchmont Luminaries program pairs John Barrymore with Andrew Mondshein, 48, a current Larchmont resident who has spent over two decades editing feature films and who, in 2000, was nominated for an Academy Award for his editorial work on director M. Night Shyamalan’s hit film, “The Sixth Sense.”

Why Barrymore and Mondshein? The link is “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” which was the first movie to employ an editing technique – however primitive – that has become the sophisticated process used today by editors like Andrew Mondshein.

Mr. Mondshein has collaborated with acclaimed Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom on eight occasions, including on the award-winning films “Chocolat,” “The Cider House Rules,” “The Hoax” and the upcoming “Casanova.” In 1979, he began his career under the tutelage of legendary director Sidney Lumet. The two collaborated on five films including “Garbo Talks,” “Family Business,” and the award-winning “Running on Empty.” Mondshein’s other editing credits include three films for Susan Seidelman including cult favorite “Desperately Seeking Susan,” Beeban Kidron’s “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar,” and the heralded “Return to Paradise,” directed by Joseph Ruben. In addition to his Academy nomination, he has also been nominated for a British Academy Award, two A.C.E. awards, and he won the 1999 Golden Satellite award for best feature editing. This luminary lives in the Village with his wife, another well-known Larchmonter, the film producer Leslie Holleran, and their two sons.

Dee van Eyck is the program chair for the Larchmont Historical Society. LHS, founded in 1980, maintains archives in the Mamaroneck Town Center at 740 W. Boston Post Road and also on the web at larchmonthistory.org/ For further information, contact Dee van Eyck at 914-834-0449 or DeeSummitDesign@aol.com.

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