THE BLACK PIRATE (1926) – Fairbanks starred as the Duke of Arnoldo aka the Black Pirate in this high seas adventure that captured the feel of Rafael Sabatini’s novels and the look of Howard Pyle’s artwork of the Golden Age of Piracy. The seizing, plundering and destruction of treasure-laden ships has rarely looked so stunning.
While pursuing his career of piracy, our hero is simultaneously looking for revenge on the pirate captain who killed his father. The Black Pirate features some of Doug’s best action set pieces since his 1920 classic The Mark of Zorro – all manner of sword fights, including with two swords at once, swinging from the ship’s ropes, seizing a prize ship literally single handed and more. Continue reading
A MODERN MUSKETEER (1917) – This 68-minute film was released on December 30th, 1917, when Douglas Fairbanks was known for his comedies rather than for his later success as cinema’s first swashbuckling superstar. 
I’m not exaggerating when I say that that opening segment provides almost as many thrills and spectacular stunts as the entirety of Doug’s 1921 serious turn as D’Artagnan in 
THE MAN FROM PAINTED POST (1917) – Here is another Douglas Fairbanks movie from the years before he became the film world’s premier swashbuckler. Unlike the pure comedy of Fairbanks’ 
THE MYSTERY OF THE LEAPING FISH (1916) – Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog may remember that I’m a geek for Silent Movies. Last week’s look at 
The short’s comedic approach to cocaine, opium and more demonstrates the “anything goes” attitude before film codes were implemented to ban certain content from the big screen. In the pre-internet years, The Mystery of the Leaping Fish was a film that people refused to believe existed until you had them sit down and watch it with you.
THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920) – Douglas Fairbanks digs into his comedic AND acrobatic skills in this first screen adaptation of Johnston McCully’s masked hero of 1820s California (The Curse of Capistrano had just been published the year before and Fairbanks bought the film rights for United Artists.) 
Excellent fight choreography, heroic opposition to tyranny and the rousing, marathon chase and fight scene near the film’s finale make The Mark of Zorro an absolute must-see for anyone curious about silent movies. Nearly every frame of the film is a portrait.
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog may remember that I’m a Silent Movie geek. Last time around I took a look at the magnificent film poster for Douglas Fairbanks’ Thief of Bagdad. This time around it’s posters for one of my favorite underrated Fairbanks flicks, Don Q: Son of Zorro. 
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog may remember that I’m a silent movie geek, and have reviewed some of them in the past. Today, I decided to post this beautiful silent era movie poster for Douglas Fairbanks’ forerunner of modern-day special effects blockbusters – his 1924 version of The Thief of Bagdad.
