The Ten Commandments (1923)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

The ambitious first hour resembles the "silent epic" this is purported to be, with impressive scenes including the exodus from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, although those little toy Egyptians and horses floating around afterwards do kind of spoil the effect. The real surprise comes when the Holy Land epic fades out and a modern day parable fades in...it was all just a set up for a Bible lesson. It is the story of two brothers, one a simple carpenter, yes carpenter, and the other a rotten heathen who blasphemes God in front of their religious mother. Bad brother leaves home, declaring his intention to break all ten commandments on his way to fame and fortune. Years pass and he does indeed succeed, but at a terrible price, after all you can't break the commandments or they will break you. Let's see, his actions lead directly to the death of his mother, who is crushed by the walls of a falling church, he gets leprosy from his heathen girlfriend and dies while at sea in a boat named Defiance. Oh, the symbolism of it all!

The Boob (1926)

MGM
Directed by William A. Wellman
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

A country redneck who dresses like Tom Mix loses his girl to a city slicker. He's determined to get her back, with the help of his friends: Cactus Jim, an aging, drunkard cowboy, Ham Bunn, a black boy, and his dog, Benzine. They figure the city slicker is either a bootlegger or a detective, so head over to the "Booklovers Club" where he romances his girl while being entertained by floor shows. The trio get into various jams, some funny, like encountering a bull in a cemetery, others not so funny, like a dreamy car chase in the clouds. A 21-year-old Joan Crawford makes a brief appearance as a revenue agent for Uncle Sam!

Adventures of Tarzan (1921)

Numa Pictures
Directed by Robert F. Hill and Scott Sidney
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Serial Squadron)

Elmo Lincoln, the screen's first Tarzan, in his third Tarzan film, the first two have been lost. Tarzan tries to stop evil Europeans from reaching the lost city of Opar and stealing its gold. Jane gets kidnapped, many times over, but Tarzan always comes to her rescue. Tarzan's devoted "Bull Ape", Og, follows him around and helps out with the rescues. Tarzan can converse with Og, in ape language I suppose, and Og will listen attentively. They encounter a hostile tribe of cannibals, erupting volcanoes, earthquakes and other disasters, in other words your typical serial-style action, and quite satisfying. The Serial Squadron release utilizes all available footage, with restored intertitles, atmospheric jungle-style rhythms and sound effects, the best this serial will ever be on home video.

Othello (1922)

UFA
Directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Kino)

Othello, a successful general in Venice, snubs Iago as his lieutenant. Iago spends the rest of the film getting his revenge. Othello marries Desdemona despite objections from her father. Iago uses Cassio, who was selected as the lieutenant instead of him, to trick Othello into thinking that Cassio is having an affair with his new wife. Othello is driven to the edge of insanity with jealousy, leading to tragedy. Emil Jannings plays the role of Othello with flair and bombast, but it might be Werner Krauss as Iago who steals the show.

Tumbleweeds (1939)

Astor Pictures
Directed by King Baggot
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Entertainment)

The classic silent western turns out be a rather routine story about an aging cowboy who wants to settle down with a home and wife. The government is opening up the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma, causing massive numbers of settlers to descend on the area to stake claims. "Sooners" are actually cheaters who sneak in early, and if caught the other settlers don't hesitate to string them up! Hart is falsely accused of being a sooner, but he was framed by the brother of the girl he is courting. It all gets worked out, leading to a fabricated happy ending. The 1939 reissue from Astor Pictures features a poetic opening narrative by star William S. Hart, who bids the old west, and his fans, farewell.

The Toll Gate (1920)

Artcraft Pictures
Directed by Lambert Hillyer
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

William S. Hart leads a gang of bandits on their last run, a train robbery, but they are ambushed by the Cavalry. He is arrested but escapes, ending up as an outlaw in a dusty Mexican border town. He dons a mask and calls himself Black Deering, robbing some townsfolk at gunpoint. On the run again, he befriends a young  mother living in the middle of nowhere just south of the border. They instantly fall in love, and his will is tested when he assumes the identity of her missing husband to escape the posse. Hart's stoic performance hinders any kind of emotional involvement, and the plot is confusing. A poetic ending, with religious implications, falls flat. It's one of the most famous silent westerns, but certainly not the best.

Single Shot Parker (1923)

Exclusive Features
Directed by E.A. Martin
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Entertainment)

Silent western hero Tom Mix is a cowpunch who falls in love with educated easterner Texas Ryan. Her other admirers include a Mexican bandit and a state senator. The bandit proves the toughest to deal with, as Mix must track down the whole gang and almost gets himself killed. Comedy relief comes in the form of bar fights and Fourth of July celebrations.

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

Edison Film
Directed by Edwin S. Porter
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Entertainment)

Historically significant but otherwise forgettable 10-minute short about bandits who rob a train. Technical "innovations" include horizontal movement of characters and flashy editing such as cross-cutting, both taken for granted for over a century, so you probably won't even notice. However, there is that ending!

Le Capitaine Fracasse (1929)

Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Pierre Blanchar is a former nobleman living in poverty in his barren castle in southwest France. A troupe of actors happens by seeking shelter, the beginning of his transformation to a new identity: the debonair Captain Fracasse. He falls in love with young Lien Deyers, the ingenue of the company, and follows them to Paris. A selfish Duke, Charles Boyer, also falls in love with her, which leads to fighting, duels and kidnapping. Fracasse must rescue the girl and defeat the Duke, in the best swashbuckling tradition.

The Wishing Ring (1914)

World Film Corporation
Directed by Maurice Tourneur
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Laid back story of a well-to-do student expelled from college for misconduct. He hangs around at his father's estate and is mistaken for a gardener by the pretty parson's daughter next door. He lets the charade continue while courting her with flowers. She enlists the help of some gypsies to reconcile him with his father. Set in England, but filmed in New Jersey.

Piccadilly (1929)

World Wide Pictures
Directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

After the breakup of his star attraction, a dancing couple, nightclub owner Jameson Thomas decides to hire a dish washer as his next attraction. His personal relationships, both with the new dancer and the old one, cause much distress in all of their lives. Anna May Wong gives a convincing performance as the exotic Chinese dancer. Her character is complex: she is an immediate success, but uses sex with Thomas to get better treatment, and her relationship with her old Chinese boyfriend is also somewhat of a mystery. Gilda Gray is also quite good as the jilted ex-girlfriend, her jealousy adding fuel to the fire. It ends in a murder and a trial, offering two plausible solutions, leaving it up to the viewer to decide which one is true! Look fast for Charles Laughton as a very dissatisfied diner in the nightclub. As a side note, I would suggest turning down the soundtrack provided on the DVD release, the light jazz works in the nightclub scenes, but is completely inappropriate otherwise; a missed opportunity by composer Neil Brand.

M'Liss (1918)

Artcraft Pictures
Directed by Marshall Neilan
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Mary Pickford has a blast in this western comedy. She's the daughter of a scraggly old miner who sleeps with a bottle under one arm and a hen under the other. Mary decides to take up "larnin" and go to school, mainly because she is interested in the handsome new school teacher. Dad gets killed one day and the school teacher is framed for murder. A rigged jury convicts him, but a friendly deputy helps uncover the real killer. Sentimental and warm, but also hilarious at times, there are some one-liners just begging for sound!

Heart o' the Hills (1919)

First National
Directed by Joseph De Grasse and Sidney Franklin
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Another good Mary Pickford vehicle, this time she is a "mountain girl" living in the Appalachians. "Lowlanders" bribe a man to marry her mother, a widow, in an attempt to gain control of her coal-rich land. Neighbors discover the plot and don white sheets and masks, "ghost riders", for a midnight ride to his cabin. Shots are exchanged and Mary, one of the riders, is accused of murder. At her trial, she is framed by the lawyers, until the jury stands up and takes blame for the murder. She gets adopted by a rich colonel and moves away, only to return years later for one last showdown with her mother's new husband. Pickford, 27-years-old at the time of filming, plays a 12-year-old girl, which is a little disconcerting, but her "little girl" persona was well established in prior roles. The intertitles are particularly well-written, conveying Appalachian vernacular with ease.

Sappho (1921)

Directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Emphasis Entertainment)

A man is driven to the insane asylum, literally, by jealousy over his girlfriend Pola Negri. The man's brother falls in love with the same woman. They get along famously, until her old boyfriend's start popping up, with loaded guns, or worse yet recently escaped from the asylum. It's preposterously overacted melodrama, but Pola does look the part of a dark-haired, exotic beauty, which she would ride all the way to Hollywood.

Eyes of the Mummy Ma (1918)

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Emphasis Entertainment)

Emil Jannings keeps Pola Negri prisoner in a remote Egyptian tomb. She is rescued by an English painter, who takes her back to London and attempts to make her civilized. Meanwhile her old captor becomes a servant for an English prince, vowing to take revenge on her for some vague reasons. Their paths eventually cross again, but not before subjecting the viewer to boring melodrama. Only Emil Jannings as the mummy/captor manages to inject any life into this limp early effort from Lubitsch.

The Yellow Ticket (1918)

Directed by Victor Janson and Eugen Illes
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Emphasis Entertainment)

Pola Negri takes an assumed name to study abroad in Russia, avoiding discrimination because of her Jewish heritage. However, she lives in poverty under her real name, where her landlady forces her into the underground sex business. She excels in school, but one night is recognized at a "nightclub". Warsaw stands in for St. Petersburg, and there are some interesting location shots in the Jewish ghetto. However, rather than exploring the more interesting theme, at least to modern viewers, of racism, the plot instead opts to go in an entirely different, and melodramatic, direction.

The Italian Straw Hat (1928)

Directed by René Clair
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Rene Clair takes a simple premise, a man trying to replace a straw hat on his wedding day, and stretches it to nearly 2 hours. The hat was eaten by his horse on the way to the wedding. It belongs to the mistress of an Army officer, who were caught together by the side of the road. The officer follows him home and demands a replacement hat, not just any hat but the exact same style. This sets in motion the comedy of errors and manners, as the groom must keep the wedding party in the dark while searching for a hat. It's well done, it's clever, it might even be called "delightful", but it is too long, and dare I say too French, in the same way that Tati is "too French". You either get it or you don't, and like most comedy a lot of it depends on the culture in which it is set.

The Polish Dancer (1917)

Directed by Aleksander Hertz
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Emphasis Entertainment)

Teenage hellion Pola Negri leaves home and lives in a hotel with her boyfriend. She gets a job dancing, where a married man falls in love with her. They start an affair, which leads to tragedy for all involved. Other than her youthful exuberance and dancing, there is not much here to indicate Pola would go on to become a huge star in Hollywood.

The Clinging Vine (1926)

Producers Distributing Corporation
Directed by Paul Sloane
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Leatrice Joy is an executive's assistant at a successful paint company. She hires and fires people, advises on investments and generally runs the company while the old fogy executives work on their golf game. The gimmick is that "A.B", as she is known, dresses like a man, has a short hair cut and is basically a "sexless" business-type who has never known love. That all changes when the wife of one of the executives puts her in a dress and teachers her how to flutter her eyelashes and tell a man how wonderful he is during conversations. It works like a charm on the executive's son. The remainder of the running time is rather listless, taken up by some nonsense about an invention for beating eggs and a rare mineral. It seems to perpetuate the very stereotypes it wants to expose.

A Fool There Was (1915)

Box Office Attractions
Directed by Frank Powell
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Kino)

The title card dubs it "a psychological drama", but really this is more like a morality play. A successful businessman and husband is selected to be a government representative in England. On the trip over by boat, he is seduced by "vampire" Theda Bara. She has a long history of reducing wealthy men to waste, and poor Edward Jose, the husband, is next in line. Before long, he is living a hedonistic life in Europe while his American wife and child sit home and worry. Theda reduces him to an alcoholic who destroys her apartment not once but twice in jealous rages. His wife tries one last time to salvage the marriage, but he's beyond hope. Although Bara gets the most publicity for this film, Jose gives the better performance.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)

MGM
Directed by Fred Niblo
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, DVD, Warner Bros)

Silent version of the classic story tries to be reverential to the material, but instead is too serious and melodramatic. The acting here is some of the worst I can remember seeing in a silent film: long, drawn out scenes of emotional torment that ironically spark no emotional reaction. It is the story of a Jew who accidentally kills a Roman passing under his window during a parade, then becomes a galley slave who vows revenge on the childhood friend who arrested him. Their back story is completely absent, depriving us of the motivations that drive the entire film. Then there is the subplot of Jesus, almost an afterthought, who Judah wants desperately to make King so he can lead a rebellion against the hated Romans. Jesus is never shown, only his ghostly white hand healing lepers or raising a baby from the dead...again, emotionally distant. What's left is empty Hollywood spectacle: massive sets populated by hordes of extras.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1916)

Universal Film Mfg.
Directed by Stuart Paton
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Captain Nemo, with his white beard and pirate's costume making him look kind of like Santa Claus, pilots his submarine, the Nautilus, around the ocean attacking ships. The US government sends a warship after him, but they are captured and taken prisoner aboard the submarine. Meanwhile, a hot air balloon crash lands on a nearby tropical island. The survivors find a wild woman living there, sort of a female Tarzan. One of them takes a liking to her and dresses her in men's clothes. Anyway, the two plot lines eventually meet, though there is quite a bit of time wasted gazing through Nemo's "magic window". An epilogue explains it all, but it seems like it belongs to a different movie altogether.

Street Without End (1934)

Shochiku
Directed by Mikio Naruse
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

Naruse sets his story this time in a busy Tokyo cafe. One of the waitresses gets a proposal from her boyfriend. However, she is hit by a car driven by a wealthy man. The boyfriend disappears to the country during her hospital stay and the wealthy driver falls in love with her. They eventually marry, but living with his uppity mother and sister proves more than she can bear. Separated, he gets in a car accident, leading to the final confrontation between wife, mother and sister in his hospital room. Naruse relies too much on car accidents as a plot device, in this and previous films as well. The romance between the two leads was obviously ill-advised: they appeared greatly different in age, temperament and social standing, so it was not exactly surprising that the marriage failed. Still, an interesting glimpse into the daily lives of early 1930s Tokyo dwellers, including some behind-the-scenes movie studio locations.

Every-Night Dreams (1933)

Shochiku
Directed by Mikio Naruse
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

Naruse seems to be making variations of the same film over and over in his silent career. This time, a young mother working in a bar waiting on drunk sailors tries to adapt to the return of her long-lost husband. At first she is reluctant and skeptical, but she accepts him and tries to make it work. He's a bit of a loser and seemingly has no job skills. Hopes are raised when a neighbor promises to find work for him, but in the end they are dashed. He turns to robbery to raise money for his son's hospital rehabilitation after getting hit by a car, leading to more misery and tragedy. Naruse is still in love with the truck-in, close-up maneuver, there might have been ten in a row in some of the more dramatic scenes.

Apart from You (1933)

Shochiku
Directed by Mikio Naruse
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

Naruse sets his story in a typical lower-class Japanese family. Dad is a "drunken loafer", Mom works as a geisha and Yoshio, their teenage son, hangs out with the wrong crowd. His sort of girlfriend, the lovely Sumiko Mizukubo, lives far away in a fishing village but has similar problems. She tries to convince him to leave the street gang and take care of his mother, while she schemes for a way to save her sister. A fairly straightforward story, simply told, hampered by a weak ending.

No Blood Relation (1932)

Shochiku
Directed by Mikio Naruse
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

Convoluted family drama about a Japanese movie star who returns home from Hollywood to claim a child she abandoned years earlier. The little girl has been raised by her father's new wife, who refuses to give her up. So the wealthy actress kidnaps the kid and tries to force her love on her. Obviously this does not work out, but it takes the whole movie for her to make that realization. Comedy relief by some thugs who look like they came out of a Warner gangster movie does not work. Naruse uses a zoom technique, called a "truck-in" to a character close-up, to underscore dramatic moments, but after about the tenth time it loses its effectiveness.

Flunky, Work Hard (1931)

Shochiku
Directed by Mikio Naruse
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

In this early Japanese silent short feature, an insurance salesman living in near-poverty with his wife and young child has a brush with disaster. While trying to convince a neighbor to buy one of his policies, his kid goes missing and is hit by a train. Is it justice for his earlier cruelties? Will the boy survive and get his toy airplane? It's too brief for any real character or plot development, but interesting as a glimpse of a great Japanese director at the start of his career.

Stella Maris (1918)

Artcraft Pictures
Directed by Marshall Neilan
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Paralytic Mary Pickford is sheltered from the world by doting relatives. She falls in love with frequent visitor Conway Tearle, unaware that he is unhappily married to an alcoholic. His wife secretly adopts an orphan to help keep house, but it's not long before she is arrested for child beating. Tearle takes care of the orphan and falls in love with Mary, who has an operation which cures her. However, when his wife is released from prison she refuses to let him out of the marriage. It is up to the orphan girl to salvage everyone's happiness. This poignant melodrama is well-acted: Mary has a dual role that is a revelation. Her performance as the orphan girl Unity is one of the great achievements of the early cinema. The fact that it is silent lends it a quality not unlike reading a Victorian novel in the tradition of Charles Dickens. It is wonderfully photographed by Walter Stradling, his framing in particular shows a master's touch.

Phantom (1922)

Directed by F.W. Murnau
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Meek city clerk and aspiring writer Alfred Abel gets run over by a mysterious woman on his way to work one day. He immediately falls in love with her. A trusted friend tells him that his poetry is good enough to be published, so he dreams of fame and wealth. He manages to get a large loan from a wealthy aunt, with the help of a "friend" who uses the opportunity to line his own pockets. However, it all turns out to be "phantoms". Unable to get the girl, he settles for another one that looks like her. His poetry turns out to be trash and his aunt wants her money back. He goes to jail, atones for his sins and marries a book dealer's daughter. It's hard to empathize with Abel, he's just so pathetic and gullible. Murnau's expressionistic flourishes are mostly missing in this odd love story.

J'Accuse! (1919)

Pathe Freres
Directed by Abel Gance
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

The first two parts of this film deal with a romantic love triangle between a married woman and a poet. It can get quite convoluted at times, and the end result seems to be that she is in love with both men, which they more or less accept. War first intercedes on their relationships when she is captured and raped by invading Germans. She has a child in secret, not telling either men the truth until much later. The men, once bitter enemies, go off to war. In the third, and epic, final part of the film, they become friends in the trenches. The war scenes are haunting, incorporating some real footage. They both survive but end up together in a hospital. The poet is shell shocked, and sent home a raving lunatic. He has visions of the dead returning to life to demand respect from the living for their sacrifices. The poet lays final blame on God, in a long rant against the sun which ends the film.

The Life and Death of King Richard III (1912)

Directed by Andre Calmettes and James Keane
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Kino)

Frederick Warde murders his way through the cast on the way to the throne of England. He takes care of the reigning king with a sword, his successor with poison and the two young princes by hiring thugs to murder them in their sleep. He takes the name Richard III and his first action is to make inappropriate advances towards a young princess. She calls for help from the Earl of Richmond, who travels from France to deal with the evil Richard. This static production, with only minimal camera movement and no close-ups, is given new life through a score by Ennio Morricone. Suddenly, it's atmospheric and grim, with even a hint of suspense coming through after 100 years. The aged print gives it an organic quality, the blasted-out contrasts of the background breathing on their own, adding further menace to the proceedings. Credited as the "earliest surviving American feature film", at just under an hour.

The Mark of Zorro (1920)

United Artists
Directed by Fred Niblo
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Fairbanks' foray into swashbuckling is a fair to middling effort. He plays the ultra-wealthy but socially inept Don Diego Vega. When local socialites are ruined by a corrupt governor, they set Diego up with their daughter as a way to regain their wealth. Unfortunately, at their first meeting she asks, "are you a man or a fish?" Not to worry, as his alter-ego is none other than Zorro, whose crusade is to save the oppressed from their oppressors. She instantly falls in love with Zorro, making one wonder about the purpose of keeping the pathetic Diego personality. Well, girl and family are eventually kidnapped by a gang of thugs, and it is up to Zorro to rescue them. He succeeds, of course, ditches Diego and marries the girl.

The Nut (1921)

United Artists
Directed by Theodore Reed
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Fairbanks' last comedy before he turned swashbuckler, and I think it's his best. He's a nutty professor-type who falls in love with his upstairs neighbor in NYC. She's got a theory that she can save "slum kids" by keeping them in a "respectable home" for an hour a day. He goes on board and tries to convince wealthy New Yorkers to take in some kids, mainly to impress the girl. The comedy routines include impossible impersonations of historical figures and a running gag involving mannequins.

The Mollycoddle (1920)

United Artists
Directed by Victor Fleming
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Another formulaic Fairbanks vehicle from his pre-swashbuckling days. Here he plays an uptight American on vacation in Monte Carlo. He befriends some young Americans, and before you know it he is chasing a diamond smuggler from Amsterdam to Arizona. Ruth Renick plays an undercover Secret Service agent and is the love interest. Fairbanks' transformation from wealthy bore to wild west hero is a tad too much to ask. He saves an entire Indian tribe from a rock slide in the Big Action finale.

When the Clouds Roll By (1919)

United Artists
Directed by Victor Fleming
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Fairbanks is being manipulated by a psychologist who implants hypnotic suggestions. He is hyper-superstitious and it almost ruins his life. He meets a girl in the park and after a short romance they get engaged. However, her former boyfriend happens to be the same guy Fairbanks is working for, and he's got a plan to use Fairbanks in  a crooked land deal involving her father. She finds out and calls off the engagement, which sends Fairbanks on a tear to make things right. Somehow, it all ends with a flash flood and a marriage on a floating church. The film overuses special effects, and some of the early scenes depicting the events in Fairbanks' mind are just plain silly.

A Modern Musketeer (1917)

Artcraft Pictures
Directed by  Allan Dwan
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Fairbanks is the "D'Artagnan of Kansas", a chivalrous fellow who can't wait to get away from his windy hometown. After a brief synopsis of his past, including a bit where he is the real D'Artagnan, he takes off for the Grand Canyon. Along the way, he picks up a snobbish man and his socialite girlfriends. He sets out to win the girl, after all, he is D'Artagnan of Kansas. Most of the film takes place at the Grand Canyon, where Fairbanks gets to put his prowess for stunts on display by scaling cliffs and such. An Indian chief sets his sights on the girl as well, and he must rescue her from both men. There is the usual happy ending.

Reaching for the Moon (1917)

Artcraft Pictures
Directed by John Emerson
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Fairbanks works in a dreary button factory in NYC. He buys a self-help book which teaches him to visualize success. He uses it to daydream about becoming a king. He stalks a real-life prince visiting the city, who tells him that he is the long-lost heir to the throne of Vulgaria. They cross the ocean by boat, pursued by spies who want to kill him. In Vulgaria, he is promised to a princess who turns out to be an ugly duckling and more people try to kill him. Don't worry, it was all just a dream and he wakes up happy to report back to work at the button factory. It ends, like most Fairbanks features from this era, with a marriage. The muddled point-of-view seems to be don't reach for the moon, it will only get you in trouble! Somewhat of a precursor to Fairbanks' costumed swashbucklers, which were still a few years away.

Wild and Woolly (1917)

Artcraft Pictures
Directed by John Emerson
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Fairbanks is the son of a wealthy railroad owner in New York. He spends his time romanticizing the wild west. He jumps on an opportunity to go to Arizona, but the residents there learn about his western "hobby" and fabricate an old western town to win his favor. The heart of their plan is to fake a train robbery. However, a real outlaw finds out and, with the help of some drunk Indians, tries to steal the town blind. It's up to easterner Fairbanks to save the day. A fake ending worked on me!

The Matrimaniac (1916)

Triangle Distributing
Directed by Paul Powell
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Fairbanks and his girlfriend try to elope, but encounter many obstacles along the way. She is engaged to someone else, who along with his father try to stop them with an injunction. They escape by train, well, at least she does, as Fairbanks is left behind, with the Reverend in tow. They have a series of misadventures trying to catch up with the train, while she has some at the hotel up ahead. Eventually they are reunited, but not before dealing with more problems. Doug has more stunts than usual, including many on the train, climbing buildings and walking along rooftops, and a final one where he walks on some telephone lines. It ends with a marriage by phone, probably a cinema first.

Flirting with Fate (1916)

Triangle Distributing
Directed by Christy Cabanne
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Douglas Fairbanks is a starving artist who falls in love with a high society girl. He fakes his way into a party with the help of a friend, and she falls for him as well. However, when he is caught practicing his proposal to her with her best friend, she rejects him. Despondent, he hires a hit man to kill himself. Typical nutty Fairbanks comedy, but lacks the edge of some of his other material.

The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)

Triangle Distributing
Directed by John Emerson
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Douglas Fairbanks plays "Coke Ennyday", a scientific detective, who uses cocaine to fight his enemies. This is Fairbanks totally unhinged: he wears a loud checkered costume, with a matching car, a huge mustache and crazy wig. The belt around his waist is loaded with syringes, with which he frequently shoots up with the coke. At one point, he eats a jar of opium and literally hops through the end of the movie. A reverse film gimmick makes him jump out of water and onto the ceiling. The plot is thin and it is just too silly to be anything more than a very interesting curio.

His Picture in the Papers (1916)

Triangle Distributing
Directed by John Emerson
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Douglas Fairbanks tries to get his name and picture in the newspapers to satisfy the demands of his father-in-law to be. The Prindle family, of which he is the eldest son, are famous vegetarians, portrayed as a bit kooky. Fairbanks purposely tries to distance himself by eating meat and drinking large quantities of beer. Anyway, his attempts at fame are thwarted every time. He drives his jalopy off a cliff, partakes in pugilism and beats up cops in Atlantic City, all to no avail. Only when he saves a train full of people from the Weazel gang does he finally get attention. Fairbanks does a fair amount of zany physical comedy in this enjoyable romp.

Young Romance (1915)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by George Melford
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Two New York City department store employees independently plan a getaway to a swanky hotel under assumed names. They inevitably meet and fall in love. The girl is kidnapped and taken to a deserted island, but of course is rescued by you-know-who. The vacation ends, but it doesn't take long for them to recognize each other back at work in the store. It has a happy ending. Quaint, but entirely too predictable.

Tol'able David (1921)

First National Pictures
Directed by Henry King
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

A rural Virginia family has their idyllic life interrupted by a series of unfortunate events. It all starts with the arrival of the Hatburns, three country hicks on the run from the law. They shack up with a cousin down the road from the Kinemons. David Kinemon is the youngest son and a mama's boy, living under the shadow of his older brother, a delivery driver for the mail. One day a sadistic Hatburn kills his dog and gravely injures his brother. His elderly father dies of a heart attack shortly afterwards. The family is forced to move to town where David gets a job in the local store. Eventually he gets his chance at delivering the mail, leading to a showdown with the Hatburns. It's essentially a variation of the old Hatfield and McCoy feud, briskly paced on real Virginia locations.

Regeneration (1915)

Fox Film Corporation
Directed by Raoul Walsh
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

A poverty-stricken New York City youth grows up to become gangster. A social worker devotes her life to saving lives like his, at the expense of her own. She establishes a "settlement house" in the bowery, where rudimentary education and a sense of self-worth can be found. Naturally Owen, the boy, falls in love with the social worker, but it is not clear if she will return it. When the old gang comes calling, he saves her from the clutches of their new leader. However, she later dies and Owen must decide on which side of the tracks he will live his life. An interesting early attempt at a gangster drama is surprisingly graphic and filled with grotesque, deformed characters. Way, way ahead of its time.

Moran of the Lady Letty (1922)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by George Melford
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Socialite Valentino is shanghaied by ruthless Captain Kitchell and his crew of thugs. Valentino, who has a yacht, adapts rather quickly and turns out to enjoy the experience. When they find a burning boat at sea, Valentino rescues an unconscious girl while the Captain and crew loot it. Valentino and the girl become fast friends, while Kitchell tries to rape her in her bedroom cabin. Valentino stops him just in time, but not before a fight. In Mexico, Kitchell tries to sell the girl to an outlaw and plans to do away with the crew. A friendly Chinese cook overhears his plan and informs the crew. Another fight follows, with Valentino the hero. It's all good fun for the most part, with interesting locations and a happy ending.

Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)

Directed by G.W. Pabst
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Kino)

Louise Brooks is the daughter of a creepy pharmacist, he has affairs with the maids and takes pictures to prove it. One day his assistant takes advantage of poor Louise when she passes out for some reason. They give the baby up to a midwife and send Louise to a reformatory. It's hard to believe, but life there is even worse than at home. A sadistic nun and her bald crony run the place like a prison camp. Louise escapes, but life on the streets leads her to take up prostitution. She lives comfortably servicing local wackos for awhile. She gets news that her father has died and she stands to inherit a fortune, but instead gives it to her father's mistress and their bastard children. Luckily for Louise, a rich Count marries her and she tries to use her wealth and influence to save other girls in the reformatory. Soap opera plot goes on and on, and supposedly this is only half of the screenplay. The film's final message is that "love" is all that is needed to solve all of these social problems; it didn't work, then or now.

A Society Sensation (1918)

Universal-Bluebird Photoplays
Directed by Paul Powell
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Carmel Myers is a fisherman's daughter in a coastal California town. Her father believes they are related to a wealthy family and thus belong in "high society". They send her to a swanky country club for her society debut. She rescues Valentino from the ocean, who just happens to be the son of a wealthy matron. They fall in love, but when her pedigree turns out to be false she returns home. Valentino shows up in his yacht and wants to marry her anyway. Only an edited version survives, highlighting the scenes with Valentino, and the plot suffers from underdeveloped characters and has no real momentum.

Stolen Moments (1920)

Select Pictures
Directed by James Vincent
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Flicker Alley)

Valentino is a Brazilian scoundrel who woos pretty Marguerite Namara in the Deep South. They exchange amorous letters, but he refuses to marry her. Back in Brazil, he takes up with another woman. Later, he returns to America, where his old girlfriend is now married. He uses their love letters to blackmail her, not for money but for sex! One night she refuses his advances, leading to murder. However, not all is what it seems, leading to a twist ending. Only an edited 3-reel print survives of what was originally a six reeler... a decent romantic murder mystery.

The Knockout (1914)

Mutual Film
Directed by Mack Sennett
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Mackinac Media)

"Fatty" Arbuckle tries to impress a girl by agreeing to a professional fight. He steps into the ring, but Charlie Chaplin as referee steals the film. He gets knocked around like a rag doll. Eventually he starts fighting back a little by kicking them when they aren't looking. Somehow Fatty gets a gun and the place clears out. A chase across rooftops ensues. Typical early Keystone comedy, Chaplin's talent is evident, he stands out like a sore thumb.