Silent Reels, by Rodney Schroeter Column #2: Douglas Fairbanks--the Pre-Swashbucklers There was a time when I heard the name Douglas Fairbanks, and thought vaguely of some swashbuckler, swinging from a rope or a chandelier, leaping into the midst of his enemies with a sword. No more! While Fairbanks is generally remembered for his swashbucklers--"The Mark of Zorro" (1920), or "The Thief of Bagdad" (1924), or "The Black Pirate" (1926)--I found out that most of his films were quite different when I read Joe Franklin's great book, _Classics of the Silent Screen_ (which I will describe further in my next column). Franklin had this to say about Fairbanks' "When the Clouds Roll By" (1919) (he consistently referred to it as "_Till_ the Clouds Roll By"): "Bursting with energy and good humor, it zipped along at a fantastic pace, with Doug hardly still for a minute, hanging by his feet as he proposes to his girl, clinging to the side of a door and swinging himself back and forth gleefully as she accepts, bounding out of windows, and clambering over an entire building to avoid having a black cat cross his path." Well, that really sounded appealing, but I couldn't find it on video at first. In the course of searching, I did find several other top-notch early Fairbanks films, with the help of Video Yesteryear's excellently detailed catalog. I came to enjoy his style so much, that I purchased a Fairbanks autograph. I bought several books about Fairbanks and learned, among many other things, that he started in films at the same company as D. W. Griffith; that Griffith didn't care for Fairbanks' style and said, "He's got a face like a cantaloupe and he can't act." I found two books published under Fairbanks' name--actually ghosted by Kenneth Davenport, according to Gary Carey (related to Harry?) in his book, _Doug & Mary_ (1977). The books "by" Fairbanks are _Laugh and Live_ (1917), and _Making Life Worthwhile_ (1918). Davenport was a close friend of Fairbanks and, according to Carey, "in style and philosophy [the books] were pure Fairbanks." These common- sense, cracker-box philosophy books didn't provide me with any new insights. But his optimism and belief that each individual's personality is self-made, messages I also found in his films, increased my admiration for him. Some of those movies I've enjoyed: "His Picture in the Papers" (1916). Fairbanks plays Pete Prindle, son of a vegetarian-foods merchant. Pete doesn't endear himself to his father, because he prefers a meal of a nice, big steak. To help his father's business, he brags that he can get some kind of publicity to give Dad's business a boost. But he just can't seem to do it, though he crashes a car, wins a prize- fight, and gets into a fight with a cop. Scenario by Anita Loos. "The Matrimaniac" (1916). Doug (Jimmy Conroy) is eloping with sweetheart Constance Talmadge. (Talmadge was a highly popular actress, and appeared in a great number of films.) Her father sends a carload of detectives after the couple as they board a train. Conroy learns that in the next town, there is a minister who could marry them. As the train makes its stop, he runs to the minister's home, smiling all the way. The Rev. Tubbs is in the bath. He comes to the door in his robe. No time to get dressed, says Conroy. He grabs "Tubby" and drags him running to the train. Which they are thrown off, by the girl's detestable other admirer. The rest of the movie is a series of fun chases. Fairbanks seems to celebrate life with every leap, climb, and sprint. And the ending--aw, I just have to describe it. I don't think it'll spoil anything, but if you've already decided to get it, skip to the next paragraph. Fairbanks escapes the detectives by climbing on some telephone wires. He reaches a lineman, and asks him to call Talmadge at the hotel where she's being held captive. The lineman then patches in Tubby, who is in jail, and the marriage is performed over the phone. One of my all-time favorite scenes! (Griffith was wrong--Fairbanks can elope.) "Wild and Wooly" (1917). Another scenario by Anita Loos. Fairbanks plays Jeff Hillington, a Manhattanite who dreams of the good life out west. He's thrilled by the chance to make a business trip to Arizona. The people of the modernized town, learning of his misconceptions, make every comical effort to create the idealized type of wild-west environment (with shootouts, robberies, etc.) that he expects. Would it surprise you that some of the real thing then pops up? I purchased the above three from Video Yesteryear. I was very pleased with the quality. VY includes a nice card with each tape, full of details about the film. The descriptions on these cards are the same as in their catalog. VY does not give out free catalogs on request, but the $3.50 they ask for this highly informative, profusely illustrated catalog of close to 300 pages is very much worth it to the serious film fan. Write to: Video Yesteryear / Box C / Sandy Hook CT 06482. All right. Now for "When the Clouds Roll By." Fairbanks plays Daniel Boone Brown, who has a mania for superstitions. His safe is stocked with all the pins he's picked up, and a load of horseshoes. One of the movie's posters featured a painting of Fairbanks at this safe. Brown is the unsuspecting target of Dr. Metz (Herbert Grimwood), a madman who wants to drive Brown insane--to the point of suicide!! Brown's superstitious frame of mind makes him a vulnerable target, because he's already unstable. (Remember when "The Exorcist" first played? And all the loonies who believed the devil was possessing them, the first time some stray naughty thought popped into their minds?) The first part of this evil plan is executed by Brown's butler (one of Metz's cohorts), who urges Brown to eat strong foods at midnight. Brown downs onions, lobster, Welsh rarebit (shades of Winsor McCay!), and mince pie. We see each item, once it reaches his stomach, dancing fiendishly, like the old Alka Seltzer cartoon commercials. As he falls into an agonized sleep, he dreams. And the viewer is treated to some great--no kidding! - -special effects! An eerily-distorted man (Bull Montana) stands at the foot of his bed, reaching for him. Brown pushes him away; the creep bounces right back up. Ghostly white images of hands then reach for him, from all sides of the room. In terror, he runs--wraithlike, through the wall! Brown finds himself surrounded by lovely women, and he can't keep his pajama bottoms from falling down. (A common fear, and the subject of many nightmares among men.) Escaping that horrible situation, he is chased by the food he's eaten. He can only run and leap over hedges in slow motion; the demonic foods move unnaturally fast. Once Brown awakens, he faces real problems. The building's janitor is in on the conspiracy, and Dr. Metz himself lives across the hall from Brown. Leaving for work (two hours late), Brown is greeted by the doctor. Metz advises Brown, "You must not smile. That is the mark and expression of the idiotic." That's a hard swipe at Brown's self-esteem right there. At work, he tries to misdirect his employer's wrath by pulling a stunt which is so neat, I'm surprised I haven't seen it elsewhere: Fairbanks holds a coat draped over his head with one hand, a hat with the other. He crouches at a window, as if looking out. As he gradually stands up, he pushes the hat & coat higher, giving the illusion of a man growing freakishly tall. Words don't do this (and other incredible visuals in this film) justice. One more endearing feature to this classic. Brown meets Lucette (Kathleen Clifford), who is also superstitious. She is an artist, and lives in a Greenwich Village studio. He's quite taken by her, but how does she feel about him? He exits through the wrong door. Lucette, thinking he's left, blows some double-handed kisses after him (you have to see it; it's hard to describe). Brown actually went through a hallway and doubles back, in time to see her blowing the kisses. Startled, she tries to pretend she was exercising her arms. But Brown isn't fooled. Through his network of spies, Dr. Metz discovers Brown's new romance and plots to sabotage it. Lucette is tricked into believing that Brown is planning to swindle her father in Oklahoma. She calls off her marriage to Brown, and leaves on the west-bound train. At this point, Fairbanks' character is almost insane. Totally despondent, he finds the pistol that Metz had slipped into his pocket. I'd consider this the climax of the film--Brown's choice of whether to live or die. Of course, he decides to "Laugh and Live," in the process abandoning his superstitions (running purposely under a ladder). Getting rid of a set of false beliefs is never this easy in real life, but the message that it can be done, that a person has control over his own mind, is a refreshing one. He starts chasing after Lucette, swinging at the end of a rope to land on a boat, leaping onto and running along the top of the moving train that is carrying her away. (Meanwhile, what of Dr. Metz? I've given away enough of the story; I'll only say that his fate is _horrifyingly believable_ and _very much deserved_.) The train is caught in a flood. There are some great rescues, and... another marriage in the most unlikely of places. What a masterpiece. After searching for months, I discovered that Foothill Video carried it. The quality is fairly good, but I would really like to see this one on a crisp laser disk. Foothill also carries many other Fairbanks films. Foothill Video / PO Box 547 / Tujunga CA 91043. (I know of two other services that carry it, and I might just gamble and buy a copy from one or both, to see if the quality is better. They are: Sinister Cinema / PO Box 4369 / Medford OR 97501-0168; and Grapevine Video / PO Box 46161 / Phoenix AZ 85063. Though I've never ordered from Grapevine, their catalog has an excellent selection of silents. Catalogs from either company are worth writing for.) It's one thing to admire an actor for his acting ability alone. But it's even better when I find someone whom, from the evidence available, I would actually enjoy meeting, and visiting with for hours. For me, Douglas Fairbanks was just such a person. Fairbanks deserves to be remembered, and not just vaguely as some swashbuckler, swinging from a rope or a chandelier, leaping into the midst of his enemies, ready for a swordfight. Movies of Douglas Fairbanks The following list was compiled from various sources, but mainly from _His Majesty the American_, by John C. Tibbetts & James M. Welsh, 1977; and _The Fairbanks Album_, introduction & narrative by Richard Schickel, 1975. The inclusion of "Intolerance" is from Franklin's _Classics of the Silent Screen_, where he lists Fairbanks as an extra. Unfortunately, when I developed my database system for cataloging movies, I did not think it important to include more than the year for the release date; consequently, movies for any one year might not be listed in the order of release within that year. 1915 - Lamb, The 1915 - Double Trouble 1916 - His Picture in the Papers 1916 - Manhattan Madness 1916 - American Aristocracy 1916 - Matrimaniac, The 1916 - Reggie Mixes In 1916 - Intolerance 1916 - Good Bad Man, The 1916 - Flirting with Fate 1916 - Mystery of the Leaping Fish, The 1916 - Half Breed, The 1916 - Habit of Happiness, The 1917 - Man from Painted Post, The 1917 - Americano, The 1917 - Down to Earth 1917 - In Again, Out Again 1917 - Wild and Wooly 1917 - Reaching for the Moon 1918 - Say! Young Fellow 1918 - Headin' South 1918 - Modern Musketeer, A 1918 - He Comes Up Smiling 1918 - Arizona 1918 - Bound in Morocco 1918 - Mr. Fix-It 1919 - When the Clouds Roll By 1919 - His Majesty, the American 1919 - Knickerbocker Buckaroo, The 1920 - Mark of Zorro, The 1920 - Mollycoddle, The 1921 - Nut, The 1921 - Three Musketeers, The 1922 - Robin Hood 1924 - Thief of Bagdad 1925 - Don Q, Son of Zorro 1926 - Black Pirate, The 1927 - Gaucho, The 1929 - Iron Mask, The 1929 - Taming of the Shrew, The 1931 - Reaching for the Moon 1931 - Around the World in 80 Minutes 1932 - Mr. Robinson Crusoe 1934 - Private Life of Don Juan, The If you enjoy movie posters, several catalogs have been published for Christie's (New York) Hollywood Posters auctions. Many beautiful posters for silent films are included. These full- color catalogs are available from: Bruce Hershenson / PO Box 874 / 1 Court Square Deck / West Plains, MO 65775. Trivia question! Do you like trivia questions? If so, I'm going to throw one in every now & then. Only thing is, I'll only do so if I find a real doozey--the kind that'll hit even the most hard-core silent- film fanatic with the force of a sack of flour smacking one's face. So here goes: In the Tibbetts & Welsh Fairbanks filmography mentioned above, there is listed, playing The Soothsayer in "Thief of Bagdad," an actor named Tote Du Crow. Listed as playing Bernardo in "Don Q" is Tote du Crow (notice the inconsistency). Anita Loos, in her memoir _Kiss Hollywood Goodbye_ (1974), lists someone named Lote du Crote, starring in "The Americano" (1917). (Tibbetts & Welsh list no such person for "The Americano.") And--Carey lists Tote DuCrow (no space in last name) under "The Americano" and "Thief of Bagdad." The question is, what was the real name of this--er, person? And you might think, "Well, now, all we have to do is go to the source itself! The credits for the movies!" Maybe--not. My copy of "Thief of Bagdad" has no credits; I don't have "Don Q"; and the opening credits for "The Americano" list, playing Alberto de Castille...now get this spelling...Tote du Crot. Oh, yes. Another feature of my trivia questions is, that I won't always know the answer myself. Such is the case with this one. Interesting title I recently came across: "Believe Me, Xantippe" (1918) starring Wallace Reid. Interesting actor name: Harry Ham. Rodney Schroeter / Box 37766 / Milwaukee WI 53237-0766 579-1716@mcimail.com 1-13-95 Entire contents of this column copyright 1995 by Rodney Schroeter. Permission is given by the author to freely distribute this article, if kept intact & unchanged. Such permission may be withdrawn in the future--from specific individuals, or from the general public.