The Cheerful Fraud (1927) / Sunny Side Up (1926) (Silent) (DVD)

Sir Michael Fairlie is a wealthy English nobleman who has everything he could possibly want in life, except love. On a rainy night, he bumps into secretary Ann Kent, and promptly falls head over heels. Wanting to know if she would love him without his money, the millionaire disguises himself as a butler at the home of Ann's rich employers. But the tables are turned when a cat burglar disguised as Sir Michael arrives, with plans to rob the estate!

Reginald Denny, the dashing star of The Cheerful Fraud, was one of the most popular leading men of the silent era. He first garnered notice playing a boxer in the Universal serial The Leather Pushers (1922). Denny's heavy British accent caused the actor some difficulty once sound was introduced, but he eventually found a niche playing supporting parts in films such as The Little Minister (1934), Anna Karenina (1935), and Rebecca (1940). Director William Seiter is best known for the Laurel & Hardy comedy Sons of the Desert (1933).

PLUS: Sunny Side Up (BW, 1926): Sunny Ducrow, a perpetually optimistic urchin, sings in the streets in hopes of raising money to marry her out-of-work boyfriend, Bert. During one of her impromptu street corner performances, the young woman's shapely figure is noticed by theater owner Stanley Dobrington, who promptly casts her as a chorus girl in his latest revue. Sunny's charms soon make her the star of the show and the toast of New York, with marriage proposals arriving daily, including from her boss. With fame and fortune beckoning, Sunny must decide whether her love for Bert outweighs her dreams of stardom.

Though he is best remembered for for his performances in classics such as How Green Was My Valley (1941) and National Velvet (1944), Donald Crisp was well-known as a filmmaker during the silent era. His most notable accomplishments include directing The Navigator (1924) with Buster Keaton and Don Q, Son of Zorro (1925) for Douglas Fairbanks. Considered "the greatest dramatic actress" by Erich von Stroheim, supporting player ZaSu Pitts had been the star of the director's epic Greed (1924). Finding the transition to talkies difficult (her scenes in All Quiet on the Western Front in 1930 were deleted), Pitts developed a spinster persona that served her well in comedy roles for decades in everything from Life with Father (1947) to The Gale Storm Show (1956-1960).

• silent