Slipping past Mary Pickford in 1917, #1 box office star Douglas Fairbanks was up to his usual antics in "He Comes Up Smiling". The film was previously seen by millions fewer as Mr. Fairbanks starred in the 1914 Broadway play. But nobody expected anything stage-bound from Fairbanks, and he is literally all over the screen. Only a fifth of the film's approximately 50 minutes survives, but it contains representative highlights. Fairbanks' athleticism is on full display. He and director Alan Dwan also demonstrate their use of film as an art form by cinematically identifying Fairbanks with the once pent-up canary he sets free...
In the story, Fairbanks (as Jerry Martin) begins as a "caged" bank clerk who happily tends to the boss' bird...
When the canary "Agamemnon" escapes, Fairbanks goes off on an exciting pursuit. Along the way, he meets up with a hobo crowd. Both man and bird enjoy the free and easy hobo lifestyle. But, when Fairbanks goes skinny-dipping, his clothes disappear. This leads our hero to don the clothing and identity of a well-heeled stockholder. In this guise, he falls in love with Marjorie Daw (as Billie Bartlett). Although the footage is missing, all is resolved by the end. The surviving minutes can be seen on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Flicker Alley's excellent compilation "Fragments: Surviving Pieces of Lost Films" (2011).
******* He Comes Up Smiling (9/8/18) Alan Dwan ~ Douglas Fairbanks, Marjorie Daw, Herbert Standing, Frank Campeau
