Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: The Mollycoddle (1920) / The Matrimaniac (1916) (DVD)

Only eighteen months after his debut in D.W. Griffith's The Lamb (1916), handsome, athletic, charismatic Douglas Fairbanks had established himself as Hollywood's third highest paid actor, behind only Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford. The mighty triumvirate of friends went on to found United Artists in 1919, and the studio's financial success was fueled to a great extent by Fairbanks' motion pictures. As the first president of the Motion Picture Academy Of Arts and Sciences, Fairbanks presented the very first Oscars in 1927. He is best known for his lavish swashbuckling adventures, most notably The Mark Of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922) and The Thief of Bagdad (1924). These two early comedies highlight the incredible acrobatic and comedic prowess that made him a star.

THE MOLLYCODDLE (1920): Richard Marshall's forefathers were all red-blooded American heroes, but he himself is a pampered playboy -- a "mollycoddle." The chance to prove his valor unexpectedly arrives while vacationing on a yacht cruise. He discovers that the ship's owner, Henry Van Holkar, is secretly running a diamond smuggling ring out of Arizona, using Hopi Indians as his unwilling accomplices. Richard decides to sneak onto the Indians' reservation and expose the smugglers himself. Up until now, however, Richard has demonstrated no bravery or athletic ability whatsoever, so he can't do it alone. Virginia Hale, a sexy female spy on the trail of the smugglers, reveals herself to help Richard find the courage that would do his ancestors proud - provided Van Holkar and his men don't kill both of them first!

THE MATRIMANIAC (1916): Jimmie Conroy is determined to marry pretty young heiress Marina Lewis. Her millionaire father, however, wants her to wed his hand-picked suitor. The couple try to elope on a train, but thugs in the employ of Marina's father snatch her away. Jimmie will go to any lengths to get his sweetheart back -- including evading police officers, scaling the side of a building, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, and even doing a tightrope act on some telephone wires!

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