"That's all there is, there isn't any more" was a phrase

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

used to rebuff

curtain call A curtain call (often known as a walkdown or a final Bowing, bow) occurs at the end of a performance when one or more performers return to the stage to be recognized by the audience for the performance. In musical theatre, the performers typi ...

s. The line entered the national consciousness of the United States in the 1920s and 1930s and has often been referenced and parodied.

Origins

According to entertainment columnist Sidney Skolsky in March 1931, the line comes from a play Barrymore starred in, Thomas Raceward's ''Sunday'', which opened at New York's

Hudson Theatre The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the ...

on November 15, 1904. Barrymore portrayed an eastern girl on a western ranch. During one scene, she read a letter from home, and her line upon finishing a reading of the letter was "That's all there is—there isn't any more". Barrymore would use the line after the play to quiet the thunderous applause beckoning her to do a curtain call. The phrase, which typified Ethel's blunt humor and distaste for attention, became a part of the national language. Ethel herself would parody it in a 1949 Christmas broadcast on

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

's radio show, though she couldn't finish the line reading without erupting into laughter. Ethel Barrymore's last words were reportedly "Is everybody happy? I know I'm happy. That's all there is, there isn't any more".

References in popular culture

The phrase has been parodied and referenced frequently.Search Results on the Google News Archive for "That's all there is, there isn't any more"
/ref> In theatre it was most famously quoted in George S. Kaufman and

Edna Ferber Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), '' Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' Cima ...

's '' The Royal Family'', a comedy satirizing the Barrymore family. Examples of film references include the 1933 pre-code ''

Sons of the Desert ''Sons of the Desert'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film starring Laurel and Hardy. Directed by William A. Seiter, it was released in the United States on December 29, 1933. In the United Kingdom, the film was originally released under ...

'', where it is quoted by Oliver Hardy. In literature it was the closing line for every book in the children's series ''

Madeline ''Madeline'' is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series and a live action feature fi ...

'', and it would become the franchise's most famous phrase. References in music include

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, alternatively billed as Nat "King" Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and Traditional pop, pop ...

's "

That's All There Is to That ''That's'' is a brand name used by a set of English-language listings magazines in the People's Republic of China. They were owned by Shanghai-based publishing group, Urbanatomy Media; as of May 2020, the publisher was JY International Cultural C ...

" and

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. Possessing a strong contralto voice, she was celebrated for her emotional depth and versatility across film, stage, and concert performance. ...

's " That's All There Is, There Isn't Any More".

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

was also known to say variations of the lines during his lengthy, concert-ending performances of Gary U.S. Bonds's song " Quarter to Three" on the

Darkness Tour Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's Darkness Tour was a concert tour of North America that ran from May 1978 through the rest of the year, in conjunction with the release of Springsteen's album ''Darkness on the Edge of Town''. Like most Sp ...

in 1978. In 2005's ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'', Naomi Watts's character Ann Darrow uses the phrase when she becomes exhausted from Kong's insistence that she continue performing vaudeville tricks to entertain him. Most recently, in the 2017 video game ''

Cuphead ''Cuphead'' is a 2017 run and gun video game developed and published by Canadian developer Studio MDHR. The game follows its titular teacup-headed character and his brother Mugman, as they make a deal with the Devil to pay casino losses by r ...

''—which stylistically emulates the 1930s cartoons and generally maintains the 30s aesthetics—the final song playing over the credits ends with the famous phrase, seconds later followed by "...or is there?" and a sinister laugh.

References

{{Reflist English phrases Quotations from literature 1904 quotations Barrymore family

Origins

References in popular culture

See also

References