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Douglas Fairbanks
[1883-1939]
![still photograph of Douglas Fairbanks from "The Thief of Baghdad" [1924]](images/DouglasFairbanks_ThiefofBaghdad.jpg "still photograph of Douglas Fairbanks from \"The Thief of Baghdad\" [1924]") |
short profile
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
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"Indeed it is possible to stand with one foot on the inevitable 'banana peel' of life with both eyes peering into the Great Beyond,
and still be happy, comfortable, and serene – if we will even so much as smile."
"The man that's out to do something has to keep in high gear all the time."
— Douglas Fairbanks
"I had no particular desire to be a personality like my father, nor was I equipped to be one. I was determined to be my own man, "I was only saying to the Queen the other day how I hate name dropping." — Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
although having the Fairbanks name did make it easier to get into an office to see someone."
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Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. credits [1915-37] on Internet Movie Database
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Douglas Fairbanks received a posthumous Commemorative Honorary Oscar in 1940 He also received |
Movies of Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. credits [1915-34] on Internet Movie Database
browse Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. on DVD at Amazon
Douglas Fairbanks clips & shorts are featured on 1961 & 1963 volumes of
Robert G. Youngson's "Kings of Comedy Collection" documentaries
"The Golden Age of Comedy" [D.C.A. Dec 1957]
"When Comedy Was King" [Fox March 1960]
"Days of Thrills and Laughter" [Fox March 1961]
"30 Years of Fun" [Fox Feb 1963]
these & other Douglas Fairbanks content are available on
Magic Lantern's Robert G. Youngson [1917-74] Page
 | "Douglas Fairbanks Collection" DVD Box Set [2004]
Kino Video b&w DVD box set [2/2004] 5 disks for $89.99 contains "The Mark of Zorro" [1920] directed by Fred Niblo, with Noah Beery, Sr.; "The Three Musketeers" [1921] directed by Fred Niblo; "Robin Hood" [1922] directed by Allan Dwan, with Wallace Beery & Alan Hale, Sr.; "The Thief of Bagdad" [1924] directed by Raoul Walsh, with Anna May Wong; "Don Q, Son of Zorro" [1924] with Mary Astor; and "The Black Pirate" [1926] with Billie Dove & Donald Crisp; extras include outtakes, commentary, home movies, "The Making of ..." & other featurettes |
 | "Douglas Fairbanks: A Modern Musketeer" DVD Box Set [2008]
Flicker Alley b&w DVD set [12/2008] 5 disks for $80.99 contains 8 silent feature films, 1 featurette & 1 short film: "His Picture In The Papers" [1916] with Erich von Stroheim; "The Mystery of The Leaping Fish" [1916 short] with Bessie Love; "Flirting With Fate" [1916] with George Beranger; "The Matrimaniac" [1916] with Constance Talmadge; "Wild and Woolly" [1917 Western feature] with Eileen Percy; "Reaching For The Moon" [1917] with Eileen Percy; "When The Clouds Roll By" [1919] with Herbert Grimwood; "The Mollycoddle" [1920 featurette] with Wallace Beery; "The Mark of Zorro" [1920] with Noah Beery Sr. & Marguerite De La Motte; "The Nut" [1921] with Marguerite De La Motte |
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"The Lamb" [1915]
"His Picture In The Papers" feature [Fine Arts/Triangle Feb 1916] /tt0006809/
directed by John Emerson, starring Douglas Fairbanks, with Erich von Stroheim
"The Mystery of The Leaping Fish" short [Triangle June 1916] /tt0007108/
Supervised by D.W. Griffith; starring Douglas Fairbanks & Bessie Love
watch online for free at Internet Archive
"Flirting With Fate" feature[Fine Arts/Triangle June 1916] /tt0006688/
directed by Christy Cabanne, starring Douglas Fairbanks & George Beranger
"The Matrimaniac" [Fine Arts/Triangle Dec 1916] /tt0007047/
directed by Paul Powell, starring Douglas Fairbanks & Constance Talmadge
"Wild and Woolly" Western feature [Artcraft Pictures June 1917]
directed by John Emerson, starring Douglas Fairbanks & Eileen Percy;
/tt0008775/; listed on the National Film Registry (2002)
"Down To Earth" aka 'The Optimist'
[Fairbanks/Artcraft Aug 1917 silent comedy feature]
 | A boatload of sanitarium patients are purposely stranded on a desert island so that they can overcome their problems and develop a healthy outdoor lifestyle. Produced, co-written by & starring Douglas Fairbanks; co-written & directed by John Emerson; co-written by Anita Loos; cinematography by Victor Fleming; musical score by ragtime-era composer George L. Cobb (modern recording by Frederick Hodges); also starring Eileen Percy, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Charles McHugh, Charles K. Gerrard, William H. Keith, Ruth Allen, Fred Goodwins, Florence Mayon, Herbert Standing, David Porter & Bull Montana credits at IMDb
Unknown Video DVD [11/2007] for $19.95 Extras on the DVD include "A Ten-Minute Egg" [1924 silent short] starring Charley Chase, and action excerpts from Fairbanks's "The Lamb" [1915] & "Wild and Woolly" [1917] |
"Reaching For The Moon" feature [Artcraft/Paramount Nov 1917] /tt0008498/
directed by John Emerson, starring Douglas Fairbanks & Eileen Percy
"Arizona" [Dec 1918] /tt0008845/
Produced, written & directed by and starring Douglas Fairbanks; also starring Theodore Roberts
"The Knickerbocker Buckaroo" [1919 lost film] with Douglas Fairbanks
![early screen logo for United Artists Pictures [est. 1919]](images/UnitedArtists-curlylogo.jpg "early screen logo for United Artists Pictures [est. 1919]")
United Artists Pictures was founded in February 1919 by screen stars Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and Douglas Fairbanks,
director D.W. Griffith, and lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo so that they could have more artistic control over their movies.
"When The Clouds Roll By" silent feature [United Artists Dec 1919]
 | A mad psychologist attempts to drive a man to suicide. Produced & co-written by and starring Douglas Fairbanks; co-written & directed by Victor Fleming; co-written by Thomas J. Geraghty; also starring Albert MacQuarrie, Kathleen Clifford, Frank Campeau, Ralph Lewis, Herbert Grimwood, Daisy Jefferson & Bull Montana
Alpha Home Ent. b&w DVD [9/2010] for $5.98 Grapevine Video b&w DVD [10/2011] for $16.95 full credits at IMDb movie entry at Wikipedia |
"The Mollycoddle" featurette [United Artists June 1920] /tt0011474/
directed by Victor Fleming, starring Douglas Fairbanks & Wallace Beery Sr.
"The Mark of Zorro" [United Artists Nov 1920]
 | El Zorro, masked champion of the people, opposes the oppressive colonial government in old Spanish California – he appears out of nowhere with flashing sword and athletic abandon, scarring the faces of evildoers with his Mark. Villainous Captain Ramon is in competition with wealthy but effete Don Diego and dashing Zorro for the affections of beautiful Lolita, and he decides to put the damsel in distress to draw Zorro into the open. Co-produced by & starring Douglas Fairbanks, directed by Fred Niblo; also starring Noah Beery Sr., Marguerite De La Motte, Robert McKim, Walt Whitman, Sidney De Gray & Tote Du Crow
Reel Enterprises b&w DVD-R [11/2006] for $9.95 A2Zcds.com Enhanced DVD [8/2009] for $14.95 Rialto Media DVD 'featuring original 1920 score' [12/2007] for $17.98 Image Ent. b&w DVD [1/99] for $22.49 Delta {shortened} DVD [11/2005] out of prodn/used United American Video b&w VHS [6/89] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb movie entry at Wikipedia |
"The Nut" feature [United Artists March 1921] /tt0012513/
directed by Theodore Reed, starring Douglas Fairbanks & Marguerite De La Motte
"The Three Musketeers" feature [United Artists Aug 1921] /tt0012752/
directed by Fred Niblo, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Lιon Bary, George Siegmann, Eugene Pallette, Adolphe Menjou & Mary MacLaren
"Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood"
[United Artists Oct 1922 silent feature]
  | The first movie to have a gala premiere, conceived by Sid Grauman for the opening of his new Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. When England's King Richard leaves for a Crusade to the Holy Land, he appoints his brother Prince John as regent. But John is a tyrant, and when the Earl of Huntingdon learns from Maid Marian of England's peril, he returns from the Holy Land to oppose John's schemes. Prince John outlaws Huntingdon and his followers, so they hide out in Sherwood Forest, calling themselves Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men . . . Produced & written by & starring Douglas Fairbanks; directed by Allan Dwan; also starring Wallace Beery, Sam De Grasse, Enid Bennett, Paul Dickey, William Lowery, Willard Louis, Alan Hale, Bud Geary & Lloyd Talman
Kino Video b&w DVD [2/2004] for $26.99 Kino Video b&w VHS [6/2000] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb movie entry at Wikipedia |
"The Thief of Bagdad"
[United Artists March 1924 silent feature]
"Don Q, Son of Zorro" [United Artists June 1925]
  | Don Cesar de Vega, son of the legendary El Zorro of California, studies at school in Spain; his rival for the hand of the lovely Dolores de Muro frames Don Cesar for murder, but Don Cesar escapes and adopts the masked persona of his father, albeit using a whip instead of a sword.
Produced by & starring Douglas Fairbanks; directed by Donald Crisp; loosely based on the 1909 novel "Don Q.'s Love Story"; also starring Mary Astor, Jack McDonald, Donald Crisp & Warner Oland
Reel Enterprises b&w DVD-R [3/2007] for $9.95 Kino Video b&w VHS [6/2000] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb movie entry at Wikipedia "Don Q's Love Story" [1909 novel] by Kate Prichard & Hesketh Prichard
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"The Black Pirate" silent feature
[United Artists March 1926]
 | A nobleman infiltrates a pirate band to avenge the death of his father; NOTE: filmed in 2-strip color Directed by Albert Parker; produced & co-written by & starring Douglas Fairbanks; also starring Billie Dove & Donald Crisp; listed in the National Film Registry (1993)
Image Ent. color DVD [8/99] for $26.96 Kino Video color VHS [6/96] for $24.95 full credits from IMDb |
"The Iron Mask" part-sound feature [United Artists Feb 1929]
 | D'Artagnan and his fellow musketeers set out to save the life of King Louis XIV, the rightful King of France, who has been imprisoned by an evil twin brother in a remote castle dungeon and forced to wear an iron mask. Produced & co-written by and starring Douglas Fairbanks; co-written & directed by Allan Dwan; co-written by Jack Cunningham; based on novels by Alexandre Dumas pθre; also starring Marguerite De La Motte, Nigel De Brulier, Ullrich Haupt, William Bakewell {dual role}, Lιon Bary, Tiny Sandford, Gino Corrado, Dorothy Revier, Vera Lewis, Rolfe Sedan
Digiview Prodns b&w silent DVD w/music [1/2004] for $7.48 Kino Video digitally-restored b&w DVD [6/2002] for $29.98 Cobra Ent. b&w DVD [8/2011] for $8.37 Kino Video b&w VHS [6/2000] for $5.00 full credits at IMDb movie entry at Wikipedia watch edited movie [2/2009 upload; 1:12:17] online at Internet Archive watch full movie [4/2010 upload; 1:41:51] online at Internet Archive |
"The Taming of The Shrew" talkie [United Artists Oct 1929] /tt0020479/
adapted & directed by Sam Taylor; starring Mary Pickford & Douglas Fairbanks
"Reaching For The Moon" musical [United Artists Dec 1930]
based on a story & music by Irving Berlin; starring Douglas Fairbanks, Bebe Daniels, Edward Everett Horton & Bing Crosby
"Mr. Robinson Crusoe" [United Artists Aug 1932] /tt0023243/
"The Private Life of Don Juan" [United Artists Nov 1934] /tt0025681/
"Ali Baba Goes To Town" [Fox Oct 1937] /tt0028566/
starring Eddie Cantor, with cameos at a movie premiere by Douglas Fairbanks, Dolores del Rio, Phyllis Brooks, Jack Haley,
Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Ann Sothern, Shirley Temple, the Ritz Brothers & Cesar Romero
Books by Douglas Fairbanks
 | "Laugh and Live" [1917 bestseller] by Douglas Fairbanks Dodo Press 9x6 Illustrated Edition pb [1/2007] for $10.99 Fredonia Books 8x5 pb [6/2003] for $24.95 Classic Books library hardcover [5/2000] for $48.00 |
 | "Douglas Fairbanks: In His Own Words" [2006] from the archives of The Douglas Fairbanks Museum, Foreword by curator Keri Leigh iUniverse 9x6 pb [6/2006] for $23.95 |
Works About Douglas Fairbanks
 | "Douglas Fairbanks: The Great Swashbuckler" [Kinetic 1975] 90-minute documentary, plus "The Three Musketeers" [1921 silent] & sequel "The Iron Mask" [1929: sound added] full credits at IMDb Delta 2-sided DVD [11/2005] for $12.99 |
 | "Doug and Mary: A Biography of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford [1977] by Gary Carey E.P. Dutton hardcover [1977] out of print/many used |
 | "LIFE: Great Romances, Volume 2" [2003] looks at couples Clark Gable & Carole Lombard, Douglas Fairbanks & Mary Pickford, Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall, Greta Garbo & John Gilbert, and Grace Kelly & Prince Rainier Volume 2: Madacy Records b&w/color DVD [1/2003] for $14.40 complete set on 4 disks Madacy Records b&w/color DVD set [1/2003] 4 disks - out of prodn/used |
 | "Douglas Fairbanks" biography [2008] by Jeffrey Vance Univ California Press 10x7 hardcover [12/2008] for $52.95 |
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"Douglas Fairbanks and The American Century" [2014] by John C. Tibbetts & James M. Welsh, Foreword by Kevin Brownlow, with A Personal Greeting by Vera Fairbanks
Kindle Edition from Univ Press of Mississippi [6/2014] for $45.00 Univ Press of Mississippi 9¼x6¼ hardcover [6/2014] for $45.00 |
 | "The First King of Hollywood: The Life of Douglas Fairbanks" [2015] by Tracey Goessel Kindle Edition from Chicago Review Press [10/2015] for $17.27 Chicago Review Press 9x6 hardcover [10/2015] for $22.76 |
his son Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. [1909-2000]
no browse/Amazon entry IMDb listing Wikipedia
search for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. videos/DVDs at Amazon
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Movies by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
 | "Wild Horse Mesa" [Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount Aug 1925 silent] When the ranch boss is ambushed & killed, a cowboy and his pard hunt for clues while trying to halt the rustlers stealing the ranch's horses. Directed by George B. Seitz, script by Lucien Hubbard, based on the novel by Zane Grey (published in 1928); starring Jack Holt, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Billie Dove & Noah Beery, with Gary Cooper & Tom Tyler 11"x17" color poster from Amazon for $19.42 full credits at IMDb |
 | "The Power of The Press" [Columbia silent feature Oct 1928]
A cub reporter discovers the daughter of the mayor at the scene of a murder; when he agrees to help clear her, he loses his job. Directed by Frank Capra; starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Jobyna Ralston, Mildred Harris, Philo McCullough, Wheeler Oakman & Robert Edeson; listed on National Film Registry (2005) video/DVD not available full credits from IMDb |
 | "Little Caesar" [First National Jan 1931] The story of a man who works his way up the ranks of the mob until he reaches its upper heights. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy; based on the 1929 novel by W.R. Burnett; starring Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glenda Farrell, Sidney Blackmer, Ralph Ince, Stanley Fields & Maurice Black; Oscar nomination for Best Script/Adaptation, listed National Film Registry 2000 Warner b&w VHS [5/97] for $19.98 full credits from IMDb |
 | "Gunga Din" [R.K.O. Jan 1939] In XIXth Century India, three happy-go-lucky British sergeants and a native water-bearer stand off an army of Thugee rebels at Khyber Pass. Directed by George Stevens; story by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur, based loosely on the poem by Rudyard Kipling [1865-1936]; script by Joel Sayre & Fred Guiol; starring Cary Grant, Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & Sam Jaffe; Oscar nomination for Best B&W Cinematography, listed on National Film Registry (1999) Warner b&w DVD [12/2004] for $14.99 Turner b&w VHS [5/93] out of prodn/used full credits from IMDb |
"Morning Glory" [1933]
Katharine Hepburn won Oscar for Best Actress, co-starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & Adolphe Menjou;
Works By & About Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
"The Fairbanks Album" [1975] with Richard Schickel
"The Salad Days" autobiography [1988]
"A Hell of A War" autobiography [1993]
 | "When The Stars Went To War: Hollywood & World War II" [1994] by Roy Hoopes Random House 9½x6½ hardcover [12/94] out of print/many used Chapter 8 specifically addresses the service of eight movie stars who served in the military: Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Robert Montgomery, James Stewart, Sterling Hayden, Clark Gable, Henry Fonda, Tyrone Power & Wayne Morris – but other stars (male and female) are mentioned throughout the book. |
 | "Silent Stars Speak: Interviews With Twelve Cinema Pioneers" [2001] by Tony Villecco McFarland & Co. 9x6 pb [2001] for $39.95 interviewees include: child star 'Baby Peggy', Priscilla Bonner, Virginia Cherrill, Pauline Curley, "Our Gang" member Jean Darling, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Francis Lederer, Molly O'Day, Anita Page, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, David Rollins, and director Andrew Stone |
 | "Children of Hollywood: Accounts of Growing Up As The Sons & Daughters of Stars" [2005] by Michelle Vogel Drawn from interviews with celebrity offspring – sons, daughters & grandchildren of Eddie Cantor, Douglas Fairbanks, W.C. Fields, Ruth Hussey, Boris Karloff, Mario Lanza, Jerry Lewis & the Marx Brothers – who also provided never-before-published snapshots of Hollywood legends at home. McFarland & Co. 8¾x6 pb [3/2005] for $35.00 |
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Links
More Fairbanks Family
first wife (1907-1919), Anna Beth Sully [1888-1967]
their son Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. [1909-2000] (above}
daughter-in-law #1 actress Joan Crawford [1904-77] - married 1929, divorced 1933
daughter-in-law #2 Mary Lee Eppling Hartford Fairbanks [1911-88] - married 1939, died 1988
granddaughter Daphne Nancy-Beth Fairbanks [b. 4/1940]
granddaughter Victoria Susan Fairbanks [b. 1942]
granddaughter Melissa Louise Fairbanks [b. 10/1947]
daughter-in-law #3 Vera Lee Shelton Fairbanks [] - married 1991, widowed 2000
second wife (1920-1936), actress Mary Pickford Moore Fairbanks Rogers [1892-1979]
they co-founded United Artists Pictures in 1919 with Charlie Chaplin,
director D.W. Griffith & lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo
they built the Pickfair estate in Beverly Hills [1919; torn down in 1989]
Pickfair entry at Wikipedia
third wife (1936-1939), (Edith Louisa) Sylvia Hawkes Ashley-Cooper Fairbanks [1904-77]
great grandson Dominick Fairbanks-Weston
Fairbanks Productions, Ltd. [est. Oct 2010] - offices in London & Hollywood
L i n k s
Douglas Fairbanks entry at Wikipedia
browse Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. on DVD
search for Douglas Fairbanks {both} videos/DVDs at Amazon
Douglas Fairbanks Museum in Austin, Texas
http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/exhibitions/2009/kingofhollywood.html
http://www.fairbanksmemorial.org/
here on the Douglas Fairbanks [1883-1939] Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
top of page short profile movies of Douglas Fairbanks books by Douglas Fairbanks works about Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. more family links
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