Douglas Fairbanks' lasting image on the screen is one of a swashbuckling hero whose athletic skills, in which he performed all his stunts, has become unparalleled in cinema. The actor presaged his famous adventurer persona in December 1917's "The Modern Musketeer." This movie marked the first appearance of his sword fighting skills, appearing in a flashback prologue where Fairbanks, to protect the integrity of a woman's handkerchief, takes on all of the tavern's clientele in an action-packed opening scene.
"The Modern Musketeer" also showcases his tremendous physical agility behind a Grand Canyon backdrop. Director Allan Dwan, who wrote the scenario based on "D'Artagnan of Kansas," by E. P. Lyle, Jr., was able to use the canyon grounds just before the area was declared a national park two years later, where the United States Park Service disallowed filming future dramatic movies within its borders. Fairbanks' hand-stand on the edge of a canyon cliff still has modern audiences gasping for breath, as well as an earlier scene where he climbs atop a church steeple.
After a string of highly-praised and enduring comedy Fairbanks films with screenwriter Anita Loos, "The Modern Musketeer" marked the break between the actor and the scriptwriter and her partner's John Emerson's direction. Ms. Loos was offered more money by the Famous Players-Lasky Studio to work for its New York unit rather than Fairbanks' California subsidiary within the same company.
The actor capitalized on his sudden fame by writing a self-help book, "Laugh and Live," in 1917, which emphasizes the power of positive thinking and raising one's confidence through health (food and exercise), business opportunities and social contacts.
