Parvenus Américains

This is one of the movies that made Douglas Fairbanks, along with Mary Pickford, Gloria Swanson and Charlie Chaplin, the leading member of the new American aristocracy, the Movie Star. It is a pure star vehicle, with Fairbanks leaping gracefully over park benches and wire fences, leavened with a little social satire. True, his great production pieces of the 1920s -- THE THREE MUSKETEERS, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD and my personal favorite, THE IRON MASK -- lay ahead of him, but Doug puts out star power at megawattage, even in old, beat-up prints. If you don't know Fairbanks' work, you've got a treat ahead of you.