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| Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer | 
 enlarge | Director: Victor Fleming;allan Dwan;john Emerson
Actor: Douglas Fairbanks
Studio: Flicker Alley
Category: DVD
List Price: $89.99
Buy New: $66.96
You Save: $23.03 (26%)
New (10) Used (1) from $66.96
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 10073
Format: Box Set, Black & White, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 5
Running Time: 760
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 1.4
UPC: 617311674099
EAN: 0617311674099
ASIN: B001GOEYAG
Release Date: December 2, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Five Star Seller!!! New, factory sealed US Region 1 DVD. Item is 100% guaranteed not to be a bootleg or import. Item is shipped directly from our warehouse. Easy exchange if item defective or damaged in shipped.
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Product Description
Douglas Fairbanks came from Broadway to the movies in 1915 when high salaries were luring well-known stage actors to the new feature-length pictures. Although most of these performers failed to register on camera and returned to New York, Fairbanks quickly became a supernova. His energetic, optimistic character, his ingratiating smile, his graceful, acrobatic stunts (he did his own), clever writing, and accomplished staging rapidly made Fairbanks one of the most admired stars in the world. In 1917, Fairbanks established his own production company. In 1919, together with Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and D. W. Griffith, Fairbanks formed United Artists Corporation. Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer includes eleven of the joyful modern-dress comedies, westerns, satires, dream-fantasies and romances which, though mostly seldom-seen, made Fairbanks a tremendously popular hero. In addition to Fairbanks' unique talent, these ebullient films showcase his gifted collaborators including writer Anita Loos and directors Allan Dwan, Victor Fleming, and John Emerson. This Five-Disc DVD collection, produced by David Shepard and Jeffery Masino, includes the following films: Four Triangle-Fine Arts films HIS PICTURE IN THE PAPERS (1916), THE MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH (1916), FLIRTING WITH FATE (1916), and THE MATRIMANIAC (1916)Three Artcraft/Famous Players-Lasky Corp. films, produced by Fairbanks WILD AND WOOLLY (1917), REACHING FOR THE MOON (1917) and a new and complete restoration of A MODERN MUSKETEER (1917)Four United Artists films, produced by Fairbanks WHEN THE CLOUDS ROLL BY (1919), THE MOLLYCODDLE (1920), THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920), and THE NUT (1921) All of these films have been digitally mastered from 35mm or original-negative prints and feature engaging music scores created for these editions by Eric Beheim, Philip Carli, Frederick Hodges, Robert Israel (on a vintage Fotoplayer), Rodney Sauer, the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, and Franklin Stover. Included in the set s bonus material are galleries of rare stills from Douglas Fairbanks' personal collection at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as well as an audio commentary on A Modern Musketeer and an extensive booklet essay by Tony Maietta and Jeffrey Vance, authors of the biography, Douglas Fairbanks (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences/University of California Press, 2008).
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Douglas Fairbanks A Modern Musketeer December 27, 2008
Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer
I received this set this week and I can say that from what I have seen the transfers/restorations are good and the music fine on my computer. However, my review is linked to the actual discs. Three of these discs have compatability problems. Namely: Mollycoddle; A Modern Musketeer & Wild & Wolly. This is back to the old & similar problems in the diaper days of DVD when many discs would not play or only parts on many machines such as Pioneer models. I use exclusively current Panasonic equipment in standalone units and this is a long standing choice of mine. However, these discs play prfectly on my Pioneer DVD players in the computer. Flicker Alley are aware of the problem and are in talks with their replicator. All those abovementoned titles revert to the machine's logo & stop after trying to open. Press PLAY with Mollycoddle and the display jumps to 6.09mins. etc and there are broken frames, frames overlapping etc consistant with a damaged disc by corosion of which I had the experience in about 2001 with Disney's Pinocchio in Australian PAL edition and this appeared a few days after purchasing the item. There was an oil-like stain in from the center and each insert caused a different problem. It was replaced and the store owner told me that others had been returned with the same problem. The Fairbanks discs are visibly clean so this is not the problem of these discs. I await Flicker Alley getting back to me when they have found out what the problem is.
Absolutely Eye Opening. December 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
For years we have only known the Douglas Fairbanks of the swashbucklers which has done this true pioneer of cinema a huge disservice. Some of it can be attributed to Doug himself who embraced his new swashbuckler image and wanted nothing to do with his contemporary comedy character. That combined with the virtual disappearance of almost all Artcraft Pictures allowed Doug's original persona to slip into oblivion. Now, thanks to David Shepard and Film Preservation Associates, we have the opportunity to see these early films and to see what an influence Doug had on the comedians who were to follow especially Buster Keaton and Harold LLoyd.
Of the new material, A MODERN MUSKETEER not only foreshadows Doug's costume adventures of the 1920s but also Keaton's STEAMBOAT BILL JR and Lloyd's HOT WATER which feature similar gags. It also gives us a wonderful glimpse into filmmaking before the 1920s when the Hollywood studio system and it's predictability began to undermine the creativity of films and what could be done with them. AS THE CLOUDS ROLL BY in particular shows the creativity that Doug put into his films and what was lost after the creation of United Artists when both Doug and Mary Pickford's films got bigger but not necessarily better..
To anyone interested in the early days of film, this set is invaluable. What Doug was doing before 1920 was truly eye opening and needs to be seen today to show us just how much of an impact he had on how American cinema developed. The set comes with 5 DVDs that show Fairbanks' development as a performer and a booklet with plenty of details on the history of his early films and how they influenced those that followed. The musical accompaniment by various performers is also first rate. This set belongs in every silent film collection and is yet another top quality release from Flicker Alley. Expensive yes, but well worth it.
Like buried treasure finally unearthed! December 1, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Receiving this very attractive 5-disc set really is like finding buried treasure of which perhaps only a small number of people were aware even existed. Although the name of Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. is familiar to many, his fame in our day has focused only on his immensely successful and popular 1920s action-adventure dramas such as Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers and The Iron Mask. This is about to change, thanks to dedicated silent film producers like David Shepard, and Flicker Alley whose DVDs are always of top quality. Now the modern world can finally see the real Douglas Fairbanks in a surprising and delightful variety of films which made him a superstar already back in 1916. Ten of the films in this selection are examples and highlights of his successful career from the years 1916 to 1921, and the eleventh film is a wonderful new digitally mastered version of "The Mark of Zorro" which began his legendary series of swashbuckling adventure films of the Twenties. A much better picture quality and superb new musical score than previous releases of "Zorro" already make this release worth getting, but there are many more treats in store for Fairbanks fans and general silent film enthusiasts alike, in particular "A Modern Musketeer", complete for the first time after the latter half of the film was presumed lost until recently.
With Douglas Fairbanks, what you see is what you get. Always full of exuberance and positive energy, the Broadway stage could not contain his spirit, and even motion pictures struggled to keep up with him. His dynamic style bursts out of the screen in every scene, and some of his athletic abilities are absolutely astonishing. For example, several scenes in some of these films show Fairbanks scurrying up buildings with the effortless ease of Spiderman, but without tricks or special effects. He learned various skills such as roping and riding in order to do his own stunts and always be himself in every scene, complete with his ever-present grin and irresistible charm. But he was even more than just a breathtaking on-screen persona because he was active in writing, producing and directing most of his films, and worked with the best cast and crew in the industry to achieve an ever higher standard. The themes, genres and stories in this selection are as surprising, intriguing and entertaining as the man himself, with a fast-paced, action-packed, Western ("Wild and Woolly"), a crime adventure with humour ("The Mollycoddle"), impressive special effects - for 1919 - in an unusual parody about psychology ("When the Clouds Roll By"), a satire about fame and vegetarians ("His Picture in the Papers") and a most bizarre black comedy about drug addiction and smuggling ("Mystery of the Leaping Fish"). While some of these have been available and even reasonably well-known among fans, this set also includes some rare gems such as "Reaching for the Moon", in which Doug the Dynamo plays someone much like himself, who cannot be contained in a dull button factory job and dreams of rubbing shoulders with kings. In fact, most of these films show a great deal of the real Fairbanks personality, and his genuine enthusiasm still flows and reaches out to the viewer nearly a century later with nothing lost in the passing of time. And those viewers familiar only with some of his famous action hero roles will be surprised to see Fairbanks as quite a brilliant and effective comedian in different styles of comedy and with various acting techniques. The films are immensely enjoyable on their own, but an excellent 32-page booklet provides background information on each one, and the producers have chosen the best silent film composers for each film, such as Robert Israel, the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra and Eric Beheim, to name a few. This first rate treatment gives due credit to one of early Hollywood's great pioneers and stars, and this set definitely belongs in any serious silent film collection.
A Revelation November 24, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Another stellar offering from David Shepard and Flicker Alley. What an age we live in, where more and more silent classics are available on DVD.
I would pay full price for this, and did! November 23, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
It's unjust to rate this set by cost alone. Is it comparatively more expensive than other DVD sets? Perhaps. Does it provide more entertainment pleasure than most DVD sets? For lovers of silent film and the incomparable Doug, absolutely yes.
Fairbanks' historical advanture films of the 1920s have been readily available since the late 1990s, thanks to the quality work of Kino. His earlier work has been less well-represented and accessible; when obtainable, his pre-1920 movies have been mastered from shoddy source elements and usually accompanied by wholly inappropriate music. This boxed set of eleven remastered and restored films from Flicker Alley does a great deal to remedy this oversight.
Flicker Alley continues to provide rare historic films that are of remarkable picture quality and feature marvelous scores.
This set is being released in tandem with film historian Jeffrey Vance's biography of the great star and adventure film pioneer. Doug's costume swashbucklers are generally excellent, but his screen persona before he donned a cape and picked up a rapier is equally fascinating.
1916's "His Pictures In The Papers" features Doug as the meat-loving son of a vegetarian food magnate who finds love with an equally carnivorous young woman. It is also a wry and prescient commentary on fame and the lengths some will go to in order to achieve it. Also from 1916, "The Mystery Of The Leaping Fish" is probably the most unconventional film Fairbanks ever appeared in, as it features him as the cocaine-addicted detective "Coke Ennyday." It was co-scripted by Tod Browning and features a flair for the bizarre he would put on ample display when directing "Dracula" and "Freaks" in the early 1930s. "Flirting With Fate" also features some darker-hued humor in its story of a depressed artist who arranges to be killed just before finding good fortune. The final film from 1916, "The Matrimaniac," co-stars Constance Talmadge in a comic tale of the lengths a young couple will go to in order to tie the knot. Both "Flirting With Fate" and "The Matrimaniac" were available from Kino on VHS but not DVD.
Fairbanks' screen personality develops more fully in the three films he made for Artcraft in 1917 and 1918. They are all notable for dealing with the theme of having one's expectations for an idealized life being challenged. The delightful "Wild And Woolly" has the Wild West-obsessed Doug finding that the Old West does not require as much taming as he once surmised. Similarly, "Reaching For The Moon" chronicles Doug's realization that the life of a European monarch is not the fairy tale he once believed it to be. It is also an interesting comment on America's perceptions of World War I-era Europe with its depiction of a continent dominated by an unending number of assassination plots and murky counterplots. "The Modern Musketeer" demonstrates the limits and the advantages of living life according to a naive sense of chivalry exemplified by D'Artagnan. Its 17th century prologue provides a window into the sort of costume roles Doug would be playing in the years ahead.
"When The Clouds Roll By" from 1919 is notable for its more surreal elements including an incredibly original and complicated dream sequence. 1920's "The Mollycoddle" and 1921's "The Nut" offer two final opportunities for Doug to display his athleticism in a modern setting. "The Mollycoddle" is almost a prototype of "North By Northwest" with Doug as a foppish American "corrupted" by the soft life in Europe who is mistaken for an American agent by a gang of ruthless smugglers. "The Nut" is an amusing film featuring Doug as an eccentric inventor whose efforts to help a young woman in her reform campaign go awry.
The final film in the set, "The Mark Of Zorro," was shot prior to "The Nut." Its overall success with critics and moviegoers convinced Doug that he should focus his efforts on producing similar period adventures. It is a film that has been widely available for years, but this is the finest print of the film that I have ever seen.
A previous reviewer gave mention to the current economic turmoil our country is trying to negotiate. In a world where multiplexes are populated by heroes such as Batman and James Bond who seem motivated more by a grim sense of duty and self-loathing than honor, it is a tonic to watch a performer who takes delight in overcoming adversity and fairly dares the viewer not to share his sense of joy. The films of Douglas Fairbanks champion the concepts of hard work, optimism, and ingenuity; the very traits we will have to exhibit in order to rise as a nation once more. Because the demand for this set is probably not large, I very much doubt that it will be available elsewhere for significantly less. Is 90 bucks a lot of money to part with? Sure, I'm not independently wealthy. But as a fan of Fairbanks', the good humor he continues to give me is a source of inspiration that cannot be assessed in mere dollars.
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