In this 1916 movie, while still working for Triangle and, essentially, D.W. Griffith, Doug Fairbanks initially plays another idle young man of the upper class, 'FRESH out of college', as the inter-titles point out - but by some small incident, he finds himself in a poor neighborhood one fine day; and falling in love with a poor girl who works as a bar dancer out of necessity (played by young Bessie Love, who soon was to become a big star herself)...
And so, without hesitation, he decides to leave his former surroundings - and, together with his faithful servant 'Pickleface' (wonderfully portrayed by Joseph Singleton), dressed in worker's clothes, goes to that bar to look for the girl he'd fallen for at first sight; and is hired as bouncer there! Which very soon gets him in trouble with the leader of the gas-house gang, who's also got an eye on pretty Agnes...
... And, of course, it gives Doug Fairbanks a LOT of opportunities to show his athletic stunts; that's undoubtedly one big part of the entertainment in this wonderfully unusual movie (especially for the female part of the audience...), another one are the many comical sequences; then there's the element of a very early 'pre-gangster movie' - and, maybe most important of all for the time it was made, the breaking down of the 'barriers' between the 'upper' and the 'lower' class; love conquers all!! In short: this is a GREAT movie and a GREAT time document, not to be missed by any real fan of classic movies by any means!
And so, without hesitation, he decides to leave his former surroundings - and, together with his faithful servant 'Pickleface' (wonderfully portrayed by Joseph Singleton), dressed in worker's clothes, goes to that bar to look for the girl he'd fallen for at first sight; and is hired as bouncer there! Which very soon gets him in trouble with the leader of the gas-house gang, who's also got an eye on pretty Agnes...
... And, of course, it gives Doug Fairbanks a LOT of opportunities to show his athletic stunts; that's undoubtedly one big part of the entertainment in this wonderfully unusual movie (especially for the female part of the audience...), another one are the many comical sequences; then there's the element of a very early 'pre-gangster movie' - and, maybe most important of all for the time it was made, the breaking down of the 'barriers' between the 'upper' and the 'lower' class; love conquers all!! In short: this is a GREAT movie and a GREAT time document, not to be missed by any real fan of classic movies by any means!