His Majesty, the American

William Brooks is a rich adventurer in New York City, fighting fires and chasing down bad guys. When the excitement in the city dries up, heads to Mexico for more intrigue. Then he is summoned to Europe, and finds himself in the middle of a kingdom in turmoil. There, he learns the truth about his lineage.

This film has some historical significance, being the first release of the "Big Four," that is, United Artists: Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and D. W. Griffith. Fairbanks introduces the film, saying "Gee whiz! - I hope you'll like it." He then winks at the audience (which actually made me wince). The film starts off with plenty of action, featuring Fairbanks rescuing several people (and a kitten) from a fire by swinging back and forth between buildings, a la Tarzan. These scenes, and the ones in Mexico, are enough to hold interest; however, I felt the film bogged down when the locale moved to Europe. There, Fairbanks still performs some great stunt work, but the story seems to drag on. Part of the problem is that some of the title cards were difficult, if not impossible, to read; so this confused me. Oddly, the romantic interest, played by Marjorie Daw, doesn't show up until very late in the film.

There is a cute reference, which involves Smith Brothers cough drops. And at the climax, when Fairbanks discovers he is related to royalty, he is very relieved to discover that Daw is not related to him in any way. Overall, this is probably good entertainment for fans of Fairbanks, but nothing to write home about. I found out after watching the film that Boris Karloff plays a bit role, but I wasn't that interested in running through the film again to spot him.