A Modern Musketeer

This will be one of the more enjoyable silent movies you'll come across - restored by the Danish Film Institute and of very good quality, and starring one of the greats of the silent era - Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. - as Ned Thacker, a man raised in Kansas being read the stories of D'Artagnan by his mother, and who grows up to be a modern day version of the musketeer, defending the honour of women at every step.

The movie opens with two really good fight scenes - a swashbuckling look back at D'Artagnan (also played by Fairbanks) as he fights to re-claim a woman's handkerchief, and our first look at Thatcher in a bar-room brawl as he defends the honour of a woman he thought was being treated poorly by her male companion. These were both fun scenes, and I enjoyed the unexpected humour as we got a glimpse of how Ned started his career as a chivalrous man by being arrested on a streetcar as he demands that a man give up his seat for two women, only to discover that the man was the chief of police! So the story had a good start.

If it lost its way a bit, it was in the decision to then focus exclusively on Ned's pursuit of Elsie Dodge (Marjorie Daw) - a young woman being forced by her mother into a relationship with a rich man in order to help pay bills. I thought the story might have been more effective if it had continued to be a series of vignettes of Thacker defending women in various circumstances. The move into the Grand Canyon, and the introduction of the bad Indian Chin-de-dah (Frank Campeau) - who fancies himself a king and decides he's going to kidnap and marry Elsie - struck me as an unnecessary diversion, which ended up as far more than a diversion - it becomes the story.

Still, if that goes a little too far, this was still a fun movie. There's no doubt about that. I enjoyed Fairbanks. Overall I thought both the movie and Fairbanks had the feel of something you might have seen remade by Bob Hope in the 1940's - a light, silly, Western-oriented comedy. A typical line, for example, that I could easily have seen put on Hope's mouth (which, of course, in this is simply a caption) comes as Ned and Elsie look at the splendour of the Grand Canyon and Ned says "Golly. A gully." That's the sort of light comedy I hear coming from Hope's mouth. This has a lot of that, and some good action scenes, and those opening fight scenes that really do draw you in. (7/10)

DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS was quite the swashbuckler of his era in the 1920s, especially during the time of his biggest triumphs in ROBIN HOOD, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, THE MARK OF ZORRO and THE BLACK PIRATE.

But this is an early relic from his silent screen career as early as 1917, and, of course, has to be judged by today's standards of film-making for any potential viewers outside of curious film buffs who want to see it.

Fairbanks was athletic and agile enough, but always looked middle-aged, even though here he's only 34. Furthermore, he looked husky rather than trim--unlike his son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., a much better looking man. But his physical prowess is amazing. He clambers over fences, cars, horses in a mere jump. He climbs up over anything in his way with the ease of a monkey swinging through trees, exuberantly smiling while he struts his way through whatever impediment is in his way.

And the film itself, for a relic that was filmed in 1917, is in amazingly good condition, fully restored and with a jaunty background score that is not jarring and obtrusive the way so many of the silent film scores were.

The story is really two stories that run concurrently: the D'Artagnan legend is illustrated in a few brief scenes of derring-do with Fairbanks rescuing a damsel in distress. The young Kansas man who desperately wants to leave his provincial roots (in a scene deliriously overplayed by Fairbanks) is also anxious to have a life of adventure and romance, like D'Artagnan. His father and mother give him their blessing and send him on his way--and the rest of the plot is predictable but fun to watch as he finds his own damsel in distress to rescue from a villainous man.

Fun, and thin on plot--but it does move as briskly as Fairbanks himself. Amusing to realize that only twenty years later, his son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. would be in a little swashbuckler called THE PRISONER OF ZENDA.

Douglas Fairbanks (Ned Thacker) was living with his parents in his mid-30's? He was a bit older than his character, but his athleticism makes up for him acting like a much younger man. This is Fairbanks before "The Mark of Zorro", "The Three Musketeers", "Robin Hood", or "The Thief of Baghdad" and it's his athleticism that makes this movie stand out. He's climbing church steeples, shimmying down street lamps and drain pipes, handstands on the edge of the Grand Canyon - all to save the damsel in distress Elsie Dodge (Marjorie Daw).

Ned can't help it though! His mother was reading The Three Musketeers and similar stories while she was pregnant with Ned and apparently kept reading The Three Musketeers until the time Ned left the home. Mr. Thacker (no name was given for this actor) bought Ned a Ford to leave home with. How do I know it's a Ford? There's an inter title stating, "After Fording (Fording is underlined) the desert, they reach the vicinity of El Tovar. Note:- Please pardon the pun." Ned meets up with Elsie, her mother, Forrest Vandeteer (aka Forest Barris and the richest man in Yonkers), and his driver in the middle of nowhere. Ned's ingenuity managed to drive his Ford and Vandeteer's car on deserted railroad tracks that conveniently go right past the El Tovar lodge near the edge of the Grand Canyon. Ned's ingenuity causes the French driver of Vandeteer's car to comment that this is why the Yankees will help beat the Germans.

Well, Ned doesn't beat the Germans in "A Modern Musketeer", but to avoid spoiling the fun of watching this movie, I won't mention who does beat in the end. And how!

Boyish adventurer Douglas Fairbanks (as Ned Thacker) imagines himself as an Alexandre Dumas-like "D'Artagnan of Kansas", but local town-folk aren't taken by his chivalrous "Three Musketeers" routine. On the road seeking greener pastures, Mr. Fairbanks meets sweet young Marjorie Daw (as Elsie Dodge). She is promised, however, to middle-aged millionaire Eugene Ormonde (as Forrest Vandeteer). Their love story takes a back seat to Fairbanks' athletic antics, with trusty Tully Marshall (as James Brown) providing his usual good support.

Tully comes in handy when Navajo nasty Frank Campeau (as Chin-de-dah) goes out looking for a "white woman" for sex - of course, she's also Fairbanks' choice for a mate. A Native American Indian, Mr. Campeau greets Fairbanks by saying "How," and ends up with egg on his face. The cast and crew stay at the El Tovar Hotel, with the backdrop of Arizona's "Grand Canyon" providing an exciting location for Fairbanks and company. "A Modern Musketeer" was missing a couple of reels until recently. Now, a full-length restoration is available.

***** A Modern Musketeer (12/30/17) Allan Dwan ~ Douglas Fairbanks, Marjorie Daw, Tully Marshall, Frank Campeau

Modern Musketeer, The (1917)

*** (out of 4)

Fun silent film has Douglas Fairbanks playing a man living in Kansas with his parents who dreams of a more exciting life. Ever since he was a child his mother read to him The Three Musketeers so as an adult he grows tired of his town and heads out west in hopes of romance and adventure. Until recently the second half of this film was lost but it was eventually found and the film recently premiered on Turner Classic Movies. A lot of lost movies that get found are usually big letdowns but this film here actually is pretty good and should keep action fans entertained. The film opens up with a wild, ten minute sequence, which contains just about every type of action you can imagine. We have wild fist fights, broken glasses and various other items. The lively action at the start of the film makes the movie slow down a tad too much in the middle but the movie ends with more great action as Fairbanks must battle Indians. Fairbanks is very energetic in his role and makes a great character here. Another bonus is a terrific wind storm that happens at the start of the film and the special effects here of the city being blown down are very good for their time. Future director Victor Fleming worked as the cinematographer.