Review: SOMETHING TRULY MONSTROUS Takes You on a Wickedly Wild Ride!

Legends about Hollywood stars are often difficult to prove or disprove. Such is the case about what happened to famous Shakespearean actor John Barrymore after his death. What can be substantiated is that on May 19, 1942, while recording a line from Romeo and Juliet for the show, Barrymore collapsed. He was taken to the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital and died there on May 29 from cirrhosis of the liver and kidney failure, complicated by pneumonia. It is at this point the legend begins.

Although dashing leading man Errol Flynn's memoirs claim that film director Raoul Walsh "borrowed" Barrymore's body before burial to leave his corpse propped in a chair for a drunken Flynn to discover when he returned home, Gene Fowler, a close friend of Barrymore, stayed with the body all night and denies the story. But perhaps that was only partially true and the legendary actor's studio found a way to cover up the dastardly doings.

The Blank Theatre's world premiere production of "Something Truly Monstrous" by Jeff Tabnick and directed by Daniel Henning takes the legend one step farther. The play is based on another Hollywood rumor that on the night John Barrymore died, Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart stole his body and went joy riding, picking up actor Paul Henreid along the way then winding up at Errol Flynn's home where they propped up Barrymore's body and drunkenly waited for Flynn to show up, hoping to proceed to Jack Warner's estate with the body holding a copy of Lorre's unsigned contract in his hand.

Why would the two famous actors go on such a grotesque spree? Unhappy with the way their film Casablanca was going, the two friends often took to drinking together as often as possible. Then on the same day Barrymore died, Jack Warner offered a 7-year studio contract to Peter Lorre. Saddled with expensive tastes and a nasty drug habit, Lorre is tempted to sign. However, Humphrey Bogart explains the contract will force Lorre to play monsters in the B-unit forever. To ensure that he will never give into this temptation, Lorre decides to do something truly monstrous to teach Jack Warner a lesson about offering such a worthless contract to a "real" actor. The joy ride begins, although the drunken friends never manage to get to their goal, being waylaid drinking at Errol Flynn's home until Henreid calls the police and all hell breaks loose on Mulholland Drive.

The three actors who take on the challenge of portraying these Hollywood legends do their idols proud, especially Amir Levi who embodies the mannerisms, speech patterns, and physical presence as well as the neuroses of Peter Lorre. For a man like Lorre who was so sure of his own acting ability, especially after working with Berthold Brecht in Berlin, Levi displays how working in Hollywood movies reduced the famous character actor into playing off-beat secondary characters, causing him to basically lose his mind to drink and drugs. It's a scary portrayal and absolutely wondrous, the central force that moves the action along at a fast clip.

Jason Paul Field certainly resembles Bogart's mean guy appearance with a lip curl evilness that would make anyone give into whatever he wants them to do. As played by Field and Levi, it's no wonder Lorre looks up to Bogie to make all the decisions to carry out his ridiculous plan, especially when Levi resorts to begging Field with Lorre's sad puppy dog eyes. Of course, the whole ordeal is fueled by Bogie's constant drinking which blurs his reasoning, not to mention his bleeding wound for which he refuses to seek medical attention. Field always allows us to see Bogie's pain, both emotional as well as physical, as he attempts to get Lorre what he wants.

Handsome Jilon Vanover portrays fellow Casablanca actor Paul Henreid who while waiting to meet Bogart for a drink, unsuspectingly accepts a ride from the duo and then discovers their dastardly plans. Vanover is perfectly cast as the uptight, non-drinking "foreigner" who tries to maintain his cool as things get out of hand, always referring to himself as the star he is about to become in the soon-to-be-released movie "Now Voyager" with Bette Davis. But when his final jumping up and down breakdown occurs, Vanover lets loose and you can literally see smoke billowing from his ears in angry frustration.

The ongoing intensity often results in a tremendous amount of screaming, at times so much so the actors must resort to a one-upmanship pattern to be heard. While this was probably exactly what was going on between them on the night in question, it did seem a bit distracting in such a small theater. Then again, there is no doubt their truly monstrous actions would have certainly led to such out-of-control ranting and raving.

Daniel Henning is to be commended for his direction of the driving scenes, with the three men stuffed into the front seat with Barrymore's body bag in the rear seat, all the while Levi keeping his driving turns in perfect sync with the video projection by Rick Baumgartner & Erik Carabasi on the screen behind them. Levi turns exactly when the video shows he should be turning, making the scene so realistic that I found myself often swaying right with them as they whipped around corners in Hollywood and along Mulholland Drive! It was a wild and exciting ride indeed, enhanced by Ginnie Ann Held's set design, Jeremy Pivnick spooky lighting design, and Warren Davis' evocative sound design.

"Something Truly Monstrous" performances continue through November 8 on Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm at The Blank's 2nd Stage Theatre, 6500 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Wilcox), in Hollywood, 90038. Tickets are $30 and available online at www.TheBlank.com, or by calling (323) 661-9827.

Photo Credit: Anne McGrath

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