A Modern Musketeer
A Modern Musketeer starts with Fairbanks’ first on-screen appearance in period costume, as the famed Musketeer D’Artagnan. Though the scene is only a few moments in an otherwise “modern” dress picture, it is significant because Fairbanks had always wanted to star in costume but had refrained because it was a risky departure from his traditional cheerful apple pie protagonist.
It wasn’t until three years (and twelve full-length films!) later that he would make his first all-costume picture, 1920’s The Mark of Zorro. A Modern Musketeer was his initial tentative step towards introducing audiences to the great Fairbanks persona that film swashbucklers have paid homage to ever since.
Filmed at the Grand Canyon, A Modern Musketeer features Marjorie Daw as the damsel in distress, and Eugene Ormonde as the blaggart set on forcing her into marriage. Frank Campeau makes a great show as the villainous Chin-De-Dah, an Indian chief with his sight also set upon the virtuous heroine. Directed by Allan Dwan, this fun cinematic romp is over 90 years old, and yet holds up remarkably well thanks to Fairbanks’ natural charm and athleticism.
Previously available only in fragments, A Modern Musketeer will be presented in a beautifully restored version generously provided by Flicker Alley, with live accompaniment by jazz-flamenco guitarist Robert Earl Longley.