Double Trouble (Silent)

Silent screen legend Douglas Fairbanks is Florian Amidon, a mild-mannered banker struck on the head while strolling home from church. He awakens five years in the future, his memory a blank. To his shock, he has spent the intervening years in the identity of Eugene Brassfield, a conniving businessman and womanizer. Brassfield has just won the mayoral election, so it's the timid Florian who gets sworn into office. The nebbish must also deal with Brassfield's flock of sexy love interests, all of whom want a piece of him...or rather, his alter ego. Without his other personality's brashness, Florian is in way over his head...and hoping for another concussion...

A comic tale of split personality, Double Trouble is Douglas Fairbanks's rarely-seen second major motion picture. He made his screen debut the year before in The Lamb (1915). Upon first arriving in Hollywood, Fairbanks worked under the supervision of D.W. Griffith. But a few months after the release of Double Trouble, Fairbanks would begin a successful association with director John Emerson and writer Anita Loos. The husband-and-wife team emphasized his athleticism in a popular series of romantic comedies that included His Picture in the Papers and The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (Griffith was much more interested in Fairbanks's potential as a serious dramatic actor.) This led to lasting immortality as the movies' first big action star, starting with The Mark of Zorro (1920). Long thought lost, Double Trouble offers us a rare glimpse of this early stage of Fairbanks's career.

BONUS: From Leadville To Aspen: A Hold-Up In The Rockies: This 1906 Biograph film depicts a daring hold-up on a train traveling through the Rocky Mountains, and was made to show conductors what to do in the event of a robbery. Directed by Francis J. Marion, Wallace McCutcheon.

• silent