John Drew Barrymore Double Feature | Cinema Sojourns

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The Italian film poster for I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL (1960) starring John Barrymore Junior, who changed his name to John Drew Barrymore.

What film or theater buff is not familiar with the House of Barrymore, the acting dynasty known as the “Royal Family of the American Stage”? Led by Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954), the oldest of three acting siblings, including sister Ethel (1979-1959) and younger brother John (1882-1942), the trio dominated the Broadway stage during the early 1900s as well as the film industry of the silent and early sound era. Today, Drew Barrymore, the granddaughter of John Barrymore, is arguably as famous as he was during his era but the actress’s father, John Barrymore Jr., and his stepsister Diana Barrymore, are practically forgotten. Both were promising actors at the start of their career but personal problems and drug and alcohol addictions ended up derailing any opportunities in the profession.

Diana was better known as a stage actress and only ended up making a handful of minor films before her early death at age 38 in 1960 but John Barrymore Jr. had a much longer film career and had the looks and potential talent to be a major star. He made his film debut in the 1950 western The Sundowners and attracted considerable attention in the starring role of his fourth movie, The Big Night (1951), directed by Joseph Losey. As an angry teenager seeking to avenge an assault on his father, John Jr. gives a moody, Method acting-style performance which prefigures the rise of rebellious screen icons like Marlon Brando and James Dean. His acting garnered some good reviews but it wasn’t a breakout success or help to advance his career. And he soon became unemployable in Hollywood due to unprofessional behavior on film sets and high profile press coverage of his abusive behavior toward his first wife, Cara Williams (an Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress in The Defiant Ones, 1958). Looking for new acting opportunities, he moved to Italy in the early sixties where he made thirteen movies over a five-year period, mostly low-budget genre films that included historical dramas (The Night They Killed Rasputin (1960), peplums (The Trojan Horse, 1961) and melodramas (A Game of Crime, 1964). I am highlighting two of his better efforts, Ti Aspettero all’inferno aka I’ll See You in Hell (1960) and Delitto allo Specchio aka Death on the Fourposter (1964) in this post.

An Italian lobbycard for the 1960 crime thriller I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL.

I’ll See You in Hell begins as a heist thriller in which a trio of thieves execute a jewel robbery and successfully get away with a bag of diamonds although a night watchman is killed in the process. When they are forced to split up due to a countrywide police manhunt, they agree to reconvene in a desolate area near a coastal swamp where they can hole up in a shack until the coast is clear. The mastermind behind the robbery is Al (Massimo Serato), a smooth, even-tempered professional thief, and Sam (Antonio Pierfederici) is a superstitious and financially strapped accomplice who plans to escape to Israel and start a new life. The wild card in the group is Walter (John Drew Barrymore, who changed his name from John Barrymore Jr. in the late 1950s), whose potential for violence resulted in the death of a guard and now his growing greed and impulsive behavior adversely affects the group dynamic.

Walter (John Drew Barrymore, left), Sam (Antonio Pierfederici, center) and Al (Massimo Serato) play jewel thieves who will soon have a falling out over the loot in I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL (1960), an Italian crime drama.

What starts out as a crime drama slowly evolves into a revenge thriller with supernatural overtones as Walter begins to mentally unravel after the death of Sam in a quicksand pit. An already tense relationship between Walter and Al is further agitated by the arrival of Daniella (Eva Bartok), an out of work singer/dancer who develops a romantic relationship with Al. When she is invited to stay with the two jewel thieves, Walter is hostile and antagonistic at first but then becomes obsessed with the mysterious beauty. It is only a matter of time before Al and Walter clash violently over Daniella but before the inevitable occurs Walter becomes convinced that Sam is haunting him from beyond the grave. He finds threatening notes (“I haven’t forgotten what you’ve done to me. You’ll get what you deserve.”) and hears someone whistling the same tune Sam used to perform. Is he imaging it or is someone trying to drive him crazy?

Al (Massimo Serato) offers Danielle (Eva Bartok) a place to stay until she can find work as a singer/dancer in I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL (1960).

Directed by screenwriter/director Piero Regnoli, who is best known for the erotic horror flick The Playgirls and the Vampire (1960), I’ll See You in Hell is actually much closer to a film noir in design and it manages to generate a...