By Barbara Burkowsky
 

Douglas Fairbanks was much more than just another famous actor of cinema’s silent era, far more than the one-dimensional “swashbuckler” tag which has preceded his name for so many decades. He also wrote, often directed, and produced his own films independently, even distributing them himself under the banner of United Artists, a company he helped to found in 1919 with Charles Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, and “America’s Sweetheart,” Mary Pickford.

An early visionary of the movie industry, Fairbanks also helped to found the nation’s first university film school (at USC), and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, serving as the organization’s first president from 1927-31. He also hosted the very first Academy Awards in 1929. He and his wife Mary Pickford were the first film stars to immortalize their hand and foot prints in cement outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in 1927, a confirmation of their then-status as Hollywood’s King and Queen.

May, 1927 - Mary Pickford (left), theatre impressario Sid Grauman (center) and Douglas Fairbanks (right) placing their hand and foot prints in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.

(Image from the Douglas Fairbanks Museum Archives)

But besides these many professional accomplishments, Douglas Fairbanks was also a remarkable and exceptional individual with a sincere interest in people and a genuine love for life. This was not only evident in his films, but in everything he did.   His broad-minded and enthusiastic approach to life is expressed both in his vibrant acting style and in his written works, in which he shared his thoughts and ideas freely with the public.

Apart from his timelessly entertaining films, one of the most significant legacies he has left us are his books Laugh and Live (1917) and the follow-up, Making Life Worth While (1918). In Laugh and Live, Douglas Fairbanks reveals the secret of his obvious contentment and zeal for life, describing the self-help techniques of self-awareness, self-reliance and building self-confidence which have only recently become popular among modern-day psychologists and counselors.  Not only was he ahead of his time in this respect, it is also quite remarkable to find such a deep and comprehensive understanding of life and human nature in a young man only in his mid-thirties.

One reason for his early-found wisdom might lie in his deep reverence for the works of Shakespeare to which his father (a Shakespearean scholar) exposed him from an early age.   Learning to recite Shakespeare as a young boy instilled in him a love for the wise sayings of the Bard and the romantic, comedic, and political content of the Shakespearean plays. These early influences would all be found in Fairbanks’ own stories, to be penned many years later.

Although his career aspirations lay in Shakespearean drama, it could well be due to his happy disposition and amiable personality that his career path was quickly diverted to comedy plays on the stages of Broadway.  When he had progressed to attain a starring role after several years of such plays, his sunny smile became a drawcard for audiences. This praise continued well into his film career when theater ads heralded him as “America’s Greatest Exponent of the Smile”.

Today, we are fortunate enough to enjoy that famous smile once again in many of his early silent films in which Fairbanks displays an impressive range of comedy styles including a bungling no-hoper in The Mollycoddle and The Lamb, and a cocaine-addicted detective in The Mystery of the Leaping Fish. While these films enjoyed tremendous popularity in their time, modern audiences of today are generally unfamiliar with them, knowing of Fairbanks only from his historical costume adventures of the 1920s. We’ll discuss the reasons for this later – for now, let’s take a look at the early comedies that made Douglas Fairbanks a star of worldwide renown.
 
 

No doubt more than a decade of comedy acting experience on stage guaranteed his instant success in his film debut in The Lamb in 1915, in which his talent and skillful mastery of comedy are apparent.   As Gerald, ‘The Lamb’, Fairbanks portrays an awkward, stiff and cowardly young man who appears uncomfortable in his own skin: yet when confronted with real danger, his true heroic nature emerges. His distinctive and expressive style gives this and many other roles an electric sparkle which won him wide appeal and continued success.

Although much less known than his legendary ‘swashbuckling’ films of the 1920s, these earlier comedies, of which over two-thirds still survive, reveal a great deal about Douglas Fairbanks and the development of his career.   In his third film, His Picture in the Papers (1916), we are treated to another facet of his extraordinary character and abilities, namely his athleticism, which became the main feature of his later, even more successful films.

It began simply as his own idea to express the energetic and carefree mentality of youth in the roles he played, such as bounding up to a girl’s window by way of ledges on the outside wall instead of taking the stairs in the usual manner.   These athletic feats were such a delightful thrill for his audiences that they became a regular feature in every film, each time different, more daring, more astounding.

(“His Picture in the Papers” is distributed by Unknown Video [www.unknownvideo.com] on VHS and now also on DVD with a bonus slide show of original stills & memorabilia.)

Unlike the popular slapstick style of mainly physical gags, these early comedies had very good stories to tell, thanks in large part to Fairbanks’ collaboration with a young writer on the Triangle Pictures lot named Anita Loos and her future husband, director John Emerson. Their success as a team fueled a flurry of hit movies for Fairbanks from 1915-17, when Fairbanks had at last gained the confidence he needed to strike out on his own. The trio parted ways shortly after Fairbanks formed his own production company, The Douglas Fairbanks Pictures Corporation, at Artcraft in 1917. Within only two years of commencing his film career, Fairbanks was now in total control of every aspect of his productions.

He took up the pen to write the story for one of his films, Down to Earth (1917).   His intention was more than to just write an entertaining story, however.  Down to Earth is virtually a sermon on attaining health and happiness cleverly disguised in a comedy, and demonstrates that bad habits, city life and laziness cause many of today’s ills.  Fairbanks plays a character very close to himself in this film: an active, adventurous young man with an ever-positive outlook and desire to help others regain their lost health and vigor. His challenge is to tackle a group of sanitarium patients with vague ailments related to unhealthy city lifestyles.   He plots to take them to a seemingly deserted island where they are forced to return to nature to survive, thereby curing them after only a brief-but-intensive sabbatical a’la Robinson Crusoe, a theme he would revisit again in later films.

It was around this time that Douglas also penned his first book on this subject close to his heart, Laugh and Live, which was written in response to the many letters he received from the public asking and commenting on the happy nature so apparent in his films.   Naturally, people wanted to know where on earth he got all that energy! What was his secret?

The answers were revealed in his written testimonies. Together with the simple effort of making time to take stock of ourselves in order to address our weaknesses and build on our strengths, Fairbanks emphasized the importance of a healthy mind and body, the two going hand in hand. His philosophy was simple: a lifestyle of good physical exercise and diet, free from unhealthy habits, promotes a more balanced and positive mental outlook. This is common knowledge today to nutritionists, wellness practitioners and physical trainers, but such was not the case in the early 20th century.

It was his sincere wish to share this helpful knowledge and advice with the general public, and the book was so well received that within a year, he wrote a follow-up entitled Making Life Worth While. In the second volume, he spoke even more candidly on many varied topics ranging from making a habit of reading, deep thinking and personal progress to his opinions about patriotism and World War I, which was then still raging on the battlefields of Europe.   He continued sharing his positive ideas on many subjects in other books and many various articles for other publications.

(“Laugh and Live” and “Making Life Worth While” are still in print and readily available from major booksellers such as amazon.com. They are also available in audio book formats.)

One of his greatest interests was travel, and since his late teens Fairbanks took frequent trips to Europe and closer destinations such as the Yucatan and parts of the US, often touring the area on foot, thus enabling him to enjoy nature, scenery and people of different cultures along the way.   He was able to incorporate his love for the outdoors in many of his early films, some of which involved horse-riding tricks or stunning scenes of the Grand Canyon.

The Americano (1916) was even partially filmed in Mexico, giving it a very authentic Hispanic flavor and excitement.   He personally penned the screenplay for The Man from Painted Post (1917). Set in Wyoming, this western is a rather serious story about a notorious cattle rustler. Fairbanks plays the part of a detective hired to bring the thief to justice.  A more humorous approach to the western genre, on the other hand, is Wild and Woolly (1917). Here, Fairbanks plays an exuberant New Yorker with a feverish passion for the old Wild West and its adventures, including rescuing a girl from Indians and showing off his roping, riding, and shooting skills.

(“Wild and Woolly” has recently been re-released on DVD by Reel Classics Entertainment. Visit them online at http://www.reelclassicdvd.com.)

Although only the first 35 minutes of A Modern Musketeer (1918) have survived, it is a fast thrill ride from D’Artangan of old France to tornado-stricken Kansas to the Grand Canyon, and contains one of his most astonishing athletic sequences ever. Fairbanks runs up the walls of a church to the top of its spire with the speed, ease and agility of a monkey.   And don’t blink or you’ll miss the running somersault and single bound over a horse right before the church!

Amazing scenes like these help us understand the impact of his uncanny physical prowess on audiences back then, and nearly a century later they are just as impressive today, if not even more so.  Action was usually real in films of the 1910s - no tricks, no stunt doubles, special effects, or special safety precautions that govern stunt and film making today.

Fairbanks wanted to execute the action himself, such as waving down a speeding steam train and jumping out of its way merely a few feet before, (The Matrimaniac) leaping from a high cliff into the top of a tall tree (The Mollycoddle), climbing the outside of a four-story building (His Majesty the American) and countless other breathtaking feats which he executed with seemingly carefree ease.

Another film that has survived only partially is The Half-Breed (1916). Based upon a Bret Harte novel, and adapted into a scenario by Fairbanks himself, the film depicts him in the interesting role of a half-breed Indian, forced to face the fact that his old culture is dying and his native land has been overrun by “civilized” white society. It might be surprising to watch this film today – it is by no means a comedy – this is straight drama, unlike anything else we’ve ever seen in Fairbanks’ body of work. That is what makes it all the more unfortunate that all circulating prints are incomplete. Unlike A Modern Musketeer, this film is currently not readily available on VHS/DVD at the present time.

While it is known that complete prints for some of the above named films do exist in archives or private collections, they have not as yet been fully restored or released to the public on home video. One example is In Again, Out Again, a 1917 comedy lampooning a pacifist who doesn’t want to be a soldier during the Great War. While a complete print exists at the Library of Congress, and can be viewed by traveling to Washington DC in person, the film has never been made available to the general public on home video.

Other Fairbanks films, sadly, are lost forever. Nearly his entire output of work from 1918 has simply vanished. This could be due to a number of likely factors; improper preservation, the ravages of time, or disaster, such as a studio vault fire – no one seems to know for certain. These “lost films” include Headin’ South, Mr. Fix-It, Say, Young Fellow!, Bound In Morocco, He Comes Up Smiling, Arizona, and The Knickerbocker Buckaroo. In addition, all of the short pro-Allied propaganda films he made for the U.S. and Canadian governments during WWI have also gone missing – they date from the same period of time, app. 1917-18.

Fairbanks saw the possibilities of the emerging film industry and its influence on society in general, and wanted films to convey positive, meaningful messages along with good entertainment value.   As a result, his pre-1920 films are quite varied and many have serious and intelligent storylines; the comedy aspect being only a few witty remarks or an overall light-hearted approach to an otherwise serious subject.

For instance, Reggie Mixes In (1916) is a touching love story set in the slums and involving gangsters.  Reggie, from a wealthy home, falls for a girl living in the poor part of town who is forced to work in a nightclub frequented by gangsters.  Reggie moves into the neighborhood and gets a job as a bouncer in the nightclub, keeping his wealthy background secret from the girl until the very end to test her love.

Political intrigues make the plots in The Americano (1916), about a small South American country where the good Presidente’ is imprisoned in an old castle by his militaristic usurper. The hilarious and action-packed His Majesty the American (1919) was the first release by the newly-formed United Artists Corporation, and features an even more sinister plot to bring down the king of a small European nation.  Only a ‘Thrill Hound’ like Douglas, who also happens to be the heir apparent, can save the day.  Similarly, in Reaching for the Moon (1917) the small European nation of Vulgaria has an evil rivalry for the throne going on behind the scenes. Fairbanks, a button factory worker in New York, discovers in the most amusing and adventurous ways what life as king of Vulgaria would be like.

Contrasts in society and lifestyles feature prominently in Manhattan Madness (1916), in which Fairbanks tries to convince his old New Yorker friends that his new home in Nevada is better and more exciting than Manhattan, but intrigues and a big surprise are in store for him.  In American Aristocracy (1916), he is rejected by High Society because he is not an inventor or producer of anything important, but proves himself a hero – and thereby wins the girl – by exposing an illegal gunpowder smuggling operation led by one of the aristocrats.

One of the more unusual and brilliant comedies from 1919, When the Clouds Roll By, has yet other striking features involving the masterful camera work of a young Victor Fleming, creating wild dream sequences and a very convincing flood scene caused by a bursting dam.   These surprising cinematic aspects combine with plenty of humor and action in a clever story about a mad doctor’s mind control experiments with his unsuspecting neighbor, played by Fairbanks.

(These titles are available on VHS from Nostalgia Family Video [www.nostalgiafamilyvideo.com], Movies Unlimited [moviesunlimited.com] and similar outlets, but the quality of the available prints is fair at best. We hope they will be digitally remastered and improved for DVD release before too long.)

Finally, the traditional romance with all its complications are foremost in The Matrimaniac (1916), which takes the audience along on a wild ride as a couple elope and are chased across the country by the girl’s father and his preferred son-in-law. A similar story unfolds in The Nut (1921), Fairbanks’ last comedy (and many believe, his best) before embarking on larger-scale dramatic productions. In this film, he plays an inventor of useless gadgets, made to impress the girl he loves, but which only get him into more trouble with his girl instead.

(“The Nut” and “The Matrimaniac” have been digitally remastered, and are available together on VHS by Kino Video [www.kino.com])

With such captivating stories and exceptional athleticism to attract and thrill audiences, one might at first overlook his equally impressive acting skills which are particularly apparent in The Mystery of the Leaping Fish, The Mollycoddle and Flirting with Fate. The latter showcases both dramatic and comical pantomime – the old-fashioned art of acting with expressive gestures – in which Fairbanks excelled with a distinctive vivacious and elegant style, in this delightful black comedy about a struggling artist who has such a run of bad luck that even a suicide attempt fails.  When he hires a hit man to end it for him, his fortune suddenly changes but the assassin is still on the case, making for a merry chase from imagined threats and personal paranoia.

As The Mollycoddle (1920), Fairbanks gives a most amusing and brilliant portrayal of an awkward, rich Monte Carlo dandy with a monocle, cane and stiff-legged walk who is mistaken for a Secret Service agent by a diamond smuggler.  His adventures take him to the deserts of Arizona where he dances with genuine Hopi Indians, saves everyone from an avalanche, and after a thrilling and breathtaking chase, finally captures the smuggler.

(“The Mollycoddle” and “Flirting with Fate” have been digitally remastered, and are available together on VHS by Kino Video.)

His most bizarre and surprising comedy however, is The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916), in which Douglas plays Coke Ennyday, a bungling detective dependent on a cocaine fix every few minutes to stay awake.  When his assignment leads him to a drug-smuggling operation and he samples a whole jar of their opium, he solves the case while doing a bouncy dance on rubbery legs – a most effective and amusing way to express his highly drugged state. This film has since become a cult classic of drug exploitation movies, although unlike later films like Reefer Madness, this Sherlock Holmes send-up takes a decidedly pro-drug stance – all the more surprising since Fairbanks himself was a lifelong teetotaler who didn’t even drink alcohol.

The “Leaping Fish” story Fairbanks co-wrote with Tod Browning, who would later make his name as a master of the macabre and bizarre in a succession of hit films starring Lon Chaney, Sr. While this may have seemed an unlikely pairing, Browning and Fairbanks worked surprisingly well together, leaving us to wonder what may have become of this “odd couple” collaboration had it been allowed more time and opportunity to flourish.

(A digitally remastered version of “The Mystery of the Leaping Fish” can be found as a bonus feature on “The Gaucho” DVD by Kino Video.)

Thanks to a renewed interest in silent film today, Fairbanks’ groundbreaking action/adventure films of the 1920s are once more gaining popularity in our time. His large-scale productions such as The Mark of Zorro, Robin Hood, The Black Pirate, and The Thief of Bagdad are frequently screened at film festivals, and are all available in newly-restored, crystal-clear prints on DVD/VHS from many easily accessible sources.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for most of his early silent comedies. While the majority of the films he made for Triangle and Artcraft between 1915-19 do survive, they are rarely screened in public, nor are they easy to find on home video. In most cases, the only prints available are in poor condition and are badly in need of restoration.

Records show that three other films from 1916-1917 exist, yet are currently not available on video. They are Double Trouble, his second film, based on the novel by the same name, The Habit of Happiness (which used to be available only from the now-extinct Grapevine Video), and another Anita Loos scenario: In Again – Out Again. This film also had the distinction of being the very first film Fairbanks produced entirely by himself under the banner of his newly-formed unit at Artcraft-Paramount. We can be quite these sure are as funny and entertaining as the rest, and Fairbanks fans can only hope that some video production company will agree and embark upon the task of restoring and releasing these films to the public in the near future.
 
 

Always forging ahead, in line with his motto of personal advancement and attaining one’s goals, Fairbanks began producing more of his own films and became a founding partner of United Artists, formed in 1919. His pioneering spirit soon brought to audiences even greater thrills in the form of ever-popular heroes such as D’Artagnan in The Three Musketeers, Zorro and Robin Hood (1922) in elaborate, costly and sophisticated productions.

Always meticulous and a perfectionist, Fairbanks engaged the top specialists in the industry to create the highest standards of film production at that time. For any story depicting a particular time period, he hired an entire staff of historians and researchers to ensure the sets, costumes, props, and script were correct in every detail. Fairbanks seemed to be on a never-ending quest for historical accuracy in his pictures, and was always striving to find the perfect balance of adventure, action, humor and drama.

His interest in faraway exotic places and other cultures inspired him to write the stories for two of his more unusual films of the 1920s, namely The Thief of Bagdad and The Gaucho.   For The Thief of Bagdad (1924), Douglas chose the theme ‘happiness must be earned,’ and a fantasy theme from the Arabian Nights tales, while The Gaucho (1927) was inspired by a visit to the shrine at Lourdes, France, on one of his frequent trips to Europe.   In both pictures Fairbanks displayed an impressive and even broader range of pantomime acting skills, particularly in the rough and colorful role of The Gaucho.

(Currently, the best editions of his 1920s costume dramas are available from Kino Video, including “The Mark of Zorro” and “Don Q – Son of Zorro”,” The Three Musketeers”,  “Robin Hood”, “The Thief of Bagdad”, “The Black Pirate”, “The Gaucho” and “The Iron Mask.” These titles will also be re-released on DVD by Delta Entertainment in 2005.)

If Fairbanks wasn’t the inventor of the Hollywood blockbuster sequel, he certainly was the first to refine the idea. Due to the overwhelming popularity of the first Zorro film, 1920’s The Mark of Zorro, he revisited the idea five years later with a sequel, Don Q. – Son of Zorro. In it, Fairbanks plays a dual role; that of the original Zorro, Don Diego, and his young son, who is destined to inherit his father’s legacy.

It should come as no surprise that Fairbanks often named D’Artagnan as his favorite character to play. In fact, he would play this role on screen three times; first, in A Modern Musketeer (1918), again in The Three Musketeers (1921), and one final time in The Iron Mask (1928). The last musketeer treatment was based upon Dumas’ sequel to the original Three Musketeers novel, finding our hero 20 years later – a bit aged, a few gray hairs, but every bit as vital and ferocious as before. In the case of The Iron Mask, as in Don Q. – Son of Zorro, the sequel actually tops the original, a rare phenomenon in modern Hollywood sequels.

Fairbanks always aimed to make a second film even better than the first one, and his sequels serve as a model for filmmakers to this day. In fact, two of his sequels have even been remade in recent years; The Man in the Iron Mask with Leonardo DiCaprio in 1998, and a sequel to The Mask of Zorro is in production as of this writing. The sequel, starring Antonio Banderas, is set to be released in Fall, 2005.
 
 

With the advent of sound in 1929, Fairbanks revisited the aspirations of his youth and passion for Shakespeare in his first all-talking picture, The Taming of the Shrew – a comedy about using reverse psychology to trap a wealthy-but-unwieldy woman into marriage and domestic bliss.  This film was also the long-awaited onscreen collaboration with his wife, Mary Pickford, yet it puzzled both audiences and critics alike for its surprisingly frank depiction of the creators’ real-life offscreen marital troubles. Backstage tension between Doug and Mary apparently reached its peak while making Shrew, and the pair barely survived its filming with their marriage still intact.

Despite those problems, this film was the opportunity for Fairbanks to realize his original career ambitions, and his dynamic portrayal of Petruchio reveals his love and deep understanding of Shakespeare and the art of the Elizabethan school of acting.   While Douglas indulged in his life-long dream with this picture and gave it his very best, the critics and the viewing public, however, were not so impressed by the sudden change of tack.  Quickly retired from theaters, the film was not seen again until 1952, when Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., re-released a heavily altered version. Today, this is the only print of Taming of the Shrew known to exist. The original 1929 version, with its original soundtrack, is now thought to be lost.

Eager to regain the public’s approval, Fairbanks reverted to the safer ground of regular comedy in Reaching for the Moon (1930) in which he treats the audience to a funny, fake French accent, a quick sample of a fine singing voice and a few requisite acrobatics.  With music by Irving Berlin, Bebe Daniels as the love interest, and a young Bing Crosby singing his heart out, this film should have been a sure-fire hit. Unfortunately, just the opposite happened – audiences took a pass, and it was the first time Fairbanks had ever experienced a colossal flop at the box office in his long career.

Still desiring to pursue his own interests and ideas however, Fairbanks ventured further ahead with a travel documentary, Around the World in 80 Minutes with Douglas Fairbanks (1931), featuring exotic places such as China, Japan, the Philippines, and India. Today, most of its value lies in providing us historical film footage of places long gone, important world leaders long dead, a world before WWII changed the global landscape forever.

This was followed in 1932 by his own merry story of Mr. Robinson Crusoe, which was filmed on location in Tahiti.  Reminiscent of Down to Earth, Fairbanks once again shows us the pleasures of getting back to nature with a good dose of inventiveness and self-sufficiency as a modern-day Robinson Crusoe.

Alas, movie stardom is fickle at best, and in1934 Fairbanks went before the camera for the last time in the British production of The Private Life of Don Juan, directed by Alexander Korda.  As always, his portrayal of the hapless and confused aging Romeo was impeccable and thoroughly entertaining in this comedy about romantic illusions and age-old problems over love and marriage.

(All sound films, with the sad exception of “Around the World…” are available on VHS from various sources including Movies Unlimited [moviesunlimited.com] and amazon.com, and a DVD edition of “Mr. Robinson Crusoe” has been released by Digiview Productions)

Ever the wise businessman, Fairbanks could clearly see that he was on a losing streak. His last four films had been major disappointments, both artistically and financially. He saw the writing on the wall, understood that audiences, and the movies had both moved on. Rather than continuing to make one half-hearted attempt after another, he chose instead to simply call it quits.

1936 marked the end of an era for Hollywood, for not only was it the year Fairbanks announced he would never act again, but at the same time, his ideal marriage to Mary Pickford came to an unpleasant end with a public scandal involving another woman. The woman in question was English beauty Lady Sylvia Ashley, whom Fairbanks married shortly after his divorce from Pickford was finalized.

Retired from acting, Fairbanks could indulge in his love for golf, travel and writing, among other pleasant pursuits. Taking life a little easier was now mandatory, as he had begun to develop heart trouble, and was under doctor’s orders not to overstress his body. Still, he continued quietly working with his beloved UA behind the scenes, and was working on a screenplay (tentatively titled The Californian) for his son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., before his untimely death of a sudden heart attack at age 56.

It is some consolation, perhaps, that Douglas Fairbanks doubtlessly packed more quality and joy into his life than many of us could in ten lifetimes. Even more, he left behind his lively spirit and a proven formula for genuine happiness in his numerous written works.

His smile still sparkles at us in so many films that still exist today. Nearly 90 years later, the films of Douglas Fairbanks are still here for all of us to learn from, appreciate and enjoy.

Even now, He comes up smiling – and leaves us smiling, too.
 

Barbara Burkowsky is a Douglas Fairbanks Museum volunteer who lives in Sydney, Australia. She has had two short stories published and is currently working on a series of three fantasy novels based on ancient history and mythology. Foremost among her many interests is the silent cinema and promoting public awareness of silent films. To this end, she regularly writes reviews for silent films at Amazon.com, and is planning a promotional article for Australian silent films in Australia. Look for more of her writings about Douglas Fairbanks Sr. to appear on the museum’s web site in the future.

All text and images copyright 1998-2005, The Douglas Fairbanks Museum and may not be reproduced without permission.