“In 1927, when Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman's comedy opened on Broadway, it was called, simply, The Royal Family. The authors knew that to theatergoers of the time there was only one royal family that counted--the flamboyant, quarrelsome, hugely talented Barrymore dynasty, and particularly the siblings Lionel, Ethel and John. Some executive at Paramount probably worried that audiences in the hinterland would think the film was a historical pageant if the title was not explained for them; however, his cumbersome elongation is the only unsubtle touch in this early talking production. George Cukor, co-directing his third motion picture, found the vein of urbane good humor that he explored delightfully in such later films as Holiday, The Philadelphia Story, and the Tracy-Hepburn comedies. He was helped, in The Royal Family of Broadway, by two superb star performers: Ina Claire, who managed to be intelligent, exasperating, and utterly charming all at the same time in the role based on Ethel Barrymore; and Fredric March, who turned his considerable physical resemblance to John Barrymore to good account in the role of Claire's movie star brother.” Charles Hopkins