In 1915, when he was already a very popular and sought-after Broadway actor, Hollywood producers and directors (and namely D.W. Griffith, whose work Fairbanks admired very much) persuaded him at last to try his luck in the still young métier of motion pictures. He agreed when he was reassured that every one of his films would be supervised by Griffith; and his first appearance was as "The Lamb", a role he'd already played on stage with great success. And it was to determine the roles he'd usually play during the first years of his career: the spoiled young weakling, the 'lamb', that turns into a lion to save his girl when real danger turns up...
It's simply hilarious to watch Doug - who would play the greatest and most fearless swashbuckling heroes just a few years later - in the beginning of the movie, walking around like a shy, scared little boy, and driving his girlfriend Mary crazy with his behavior - and into the arms of a 'real' Western hero; or so she thinks... Whilst her 'lamb' (the allusions used in the inter-titles referring to a real lamb, and to the old nursery rhyme 'Mary had a little lamb', are simply wonderful, by the way!) takes boxing and jiu-jitsu lessons in order to be 'ready' for the trip to Arizona and to show Mary how much he's changed - only that on the way he's being hijacked by some crooks, robbed and left in the middle of the desert...
BUT then an uprising of a Mexican tribe starts, putting his Mary in great danger - and THERE you can see how the 'lamb' turns into a 'lion' to save her!! A WONDERFULLY funny, entertaining, thrilling picture, which even after 100 (!) years has lost nothing of its freshness; a real enjoyment for every fan of classic movies (and a very good example for getting more people interested in silents) - and the beginning of a truly GREAT career!
It's simply hilarious to watch Doug - who would play the greatest and most fearless swashbuckling heroes just a few years later - in the beginning of the movie, walking around like a shy, scared little boy, and driving his girlfriend Mary crazy with his behavior - and into the arms of a 'real' Western hero; or so she thinks... Whilst her 'lamb' (the allusions used in the inter-titles referring to a real lamb, and to the old nursery rhyme 'Mary had a little lamb', are simply wonderful, by the way!) takes boxing and jiu-jitsu lessons in order to be 'ready' for the trip to Arizona and to show Mary how much he's changed - only that on the way he's being hijacked by some crooks, robbed and left in the middle of the desert...
BUT then an uprising of a Mexican tribe starts, putting his Mary in great danger - and THERE you can see how the 'lamb' turns into a 'lion' to save her!! A WONDERFULLY funny, entertaining, thrilling picture, which even after 100 (!) years has lost nothing of its freshness; a real enjoyment for every fan of classic movies (and a very good example for getting more people interested in silents) - and the beginning of a truly GREAT career!