Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

[Flivver]

And, of course, Doug Sr. was married to another early superstar Mary Pickford.

 

[klind65]

It's my understanding however, that Lassie was quite a discreet dog.

A book I read some time back brought up the suggestion that MGM arranged for Doug Fairbanks Jr. to marry Joan because it would clean up Joan's image.

Even though Fairbanks Jr., while married to Joan, was named in the alienation of affection suit drawn up Jorgen Dietz, Joan had been named in two such suits before their 1929 marriage.

Joan in the early days is just so much fun to watch on screen - softer and freer than the thick-browed, iconic Joan of later years . "Our Modern Maidens," a silent, is one of my favorites - sometimes you can catch it on TCM now and then.

Yes, I agree "Our Modern Maidens" is delightful - I have a video of it at home and watch it often, and she is great in it - electric I'd say. A companion silent to this film is "Our Dancing Daughters" which I also have. I can't recall now which one D.F.Jr. is in with her, but it is one of them - and of course he is devastatingly handsome in it as he always was.

Regarding the way they met...I read somewhere that Crawford attended a performance DFJr. was in and was so impressed that she set her sights on him and went backstage to meet him and ...that led to everything else.
p.S. Great photo, thanks!

 

[skyvue]

Yes, I agree "Our Modern Maidens" is delightful - I have a video of it at home and watch it often, and she is great in it - electric I'd say. A companion silent to this film is "Our Dancing Daughters" which I also have.

Don't forget the third picture in the unofficial trilogy -- OUR BLUSHING BRIDES (1930).

TCM airs all of them with some regularity, often one after the other.

 

[klind65]

Just getting back to Senior, if you haven't seen him as the original Zorro, or the Thief of Baghdad, or many others, you're in for a real treat. He did about three talkies before he died, but the best one is called Reaching for the Moon, from 1930, also featuring a very young Bing Crosby. He was just a fabulous presence on the screen, which was why he was one of the very first real super stars.

Sr. and Mary Pickford made "Taming of the Shrew" in 1929 which was all talking. Anyone have any ideas if this is available to buy or rent anywhere??

 

[klind65]

Don't forget the third picture in the unofficial trilogy -- OUR BLUSHING BRIDES (1930).

TCM airs all of them with some regularity, often one after the other.

Thanks for the tip. I looked it up on IMDB and it sounds good. The synopsis reminds me a little of "Three on a Match".

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sr. and Mary Pickford made "Taming of the Shrew" in 1929 which was all talking. Anyone have any ideas if this is available to buy or rent anywhere??

Came out on DVD a couple years ago -- you should be able to find it at Amazon or any other online seller. The print is the 1966 re-release, which included a re-dubbed musical score, so it isn't exactly as shown in 1929, but this was historic in itself in that it was the only re-release Pickford ever allowed for any of her films after her retirement.

And contrary to legend, it doesn't include the credit "By William Shakespeare -- Additional Dialogue by Sam Taylor"

 

[Haversack]

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is also considered the "father of the Beachjumpers" after his attached service with British commandos very early in the war. The Beachjumpers were a clandestine US Navy organization which engaged in Tactical Cover and Deception in Naval Warfare. Fairbanks combined his familiarity with Hollywood special effects with his recent experience in taking part in cross-channel commando raiding parties to create a unit designed to harass, deceive, and confuse enemy shorelines. The Beach jumpers existed at least up to the early 1970s.

Fairbanks is forever Rupert von Hentzau. Even when he was the host of the televised Gilbert & Sullivan operettas back in the late 1980s, that sardonic amused twinkle showed true.

 

[klind65]

Came out on DVD a couple years ago -- you should be able to find it at Amazon or any other online seller. The print is the 1966 re-release, which included a re-dubbed musical score, so it isn't exactly as shown in 1929, but this was historic in itself in that it was the only re-release Pickford ever allowed for any of her films after her retirement.

And contrary to legend, it doesn't include the credit "By William Shakespeare -- Additional Dialogue by Sam Taylor"

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I always think if DFJ as a "second rate" star for some reason. Just one of those guys who could've been bigger, but never quite won the public over. I've seen a few of his films and I thought he was a decent actor:

A Woman of Affairs (1928)
Our Modern Maidens (1929)
Party Girl (1930)
Loose Ankles (1930)
Union Depot (1932)
Love Is a Racket (1932)

He was best in Our Modern Maidens (1929). Never read his bio, but I do remember he was one of the first early film stars to die when I first became passionate about classic film.

 

[Widebrim]

We have a perfect venue to identify how good an actor Mr. Fairbanks, Jr., is. "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937; Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll) had Fairbanks portraying Rupert of Hentzau. He was perfect, stealing every scene he was in. The motion picture was remade, scene-for-scene, in 1952 (Stewart Granger, Debora Kerr). The fine actor, James Mason, portrayed Hentzau. The difference is astonishing, Fairbanks being so far superior in his portrayal it is embarrassing for Mason. I have no idea why he was not among the dominant action stars of his era.

Yes, I had forgotten how excellent he was in Prisoner of Zenda!:eusa_clap And the way he makes his final exit! A performance which, I believe, even topped his characterization in Gunga Din.