Synopses & Reviews
"The heedless ambition of youth. The triumphs of maturity, redefining our ideas of fame, fortune and international celebrity. The sad aimlessness of the aging male, stripped of his powers over his formerly adoring audience. It is the archetypal Hollywood story, maybe the archetypal American story. And Jeffrey Vance tells it with verve and compassion and admirable compression in his handsomely illustrated biography of Douglas Fairbanks. It is a book that restores his subject to his rightful place as the American movies' founding Big Brotherand#151;shrewd, playful, flawed and endlessly fascinating."and#151;Richard Schickel
"Over the years I have had an interest in Douglas Fairbanks' life and films before reading Jeffrey Vance's book. I was delighted to find that the research was admirable, the detail abundant, and the style devoid of pretense and heavy-handed scholarship. The book reads gracefully with a wonderful sense of 'and then what happened?' And a great deal does happen to the inimitable Doug along the way. His cinema world of high adventure, storybook romance, cloak and sword derring-do, and dazzling acrobatics against spectacular settings are all here in the text and in the abundance of extraordinary photosand#151;many quite rare. A first-rate book."and#151;Rudy Behlmer, film historian and author
"Douglas Fairbanks was one of the most important characters in film history, and this enthusiastic and well-researched book will tell you why."and#151;Kevin Brownlow, filmmaker and film historian
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and#8220;One of Hollywood's earliest megastars gets lavish treatment in Jeffrey Vance's Douglas Fairbanks. . . . A real treat for cinephiles.and#8221;
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and#8220;The research is impeccable, the writing engaging and illuminating, and the deluxe illustrations exquisite.and#8221;
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"A gorgeously illustrated, solidly researched new biography."
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and#8220;Lavishly illustrated, Vance's painstakingly researched, comprehensive and thoughtful work is a book for buffs to treasure . . . a riveting read.and#8221;
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and#8220;A beautiful book, extensively researched, a model of film scholarship, one of the best cinema studies of this or any year.and#8221;
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“A beautiful book, extensively researched, a model of film scholarship, one of the best cinema studies of this or any year.” Bill Thompson - Charleston Post and Courier
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"A gorgeously illustrated, solidly researched new biography." John Gallagher - Nat'l Board Of Review Of Motion Pictures
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and#8220;An ambitious book . . . it tells you a lot about its hero, and it's generously illustrated.and#8221;
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“A serious biography of one of the pioneers of cinema . . . magnificent photos.” Robert Gottlieb - New York Review Of Books
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“A generous new biography.” Heather Shaw - Foreword
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“Jeffrey Vance's biography ‘Douglas Fairbanks retells the story of the man who became one of Hollywood's first superstars.” Metro Newspapers
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“A handsomely produced, long-gestated biography . . . stunningly produced photographs.” Carolyn Kellogg - Los Angeles Times Book Review
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“Looks at the mad life and times of one of cinemas first superstars . . . brings a lot of freshness to the Fairbanks biography.” Jay Weissberg - Sight and Sound Magazine
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and#8220;Jeffrey Vanceand#8217;s glorified, and glorifying, picture book retrieves the memory and the glamour of one of the first superstars.and#8221;
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and#8220;Perfect accompaniment for home entertainment viewing of the silent film star arrives in the form of film historian Jeffrey Vance's gorgeously laid out biography Douglas Fairbanks.and#8221;
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“The book is an absolute must for any cinema buff.” Ben Terrall - San Francisco Bay Guardian
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and#8220;In the handsomely designed biography Douglas Fairbanks, Jeffrey Vance, with Tony Maietta, relates a charmed career with a doleful undertow . . . a well-researched study.and#8221;
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“A handsome work, with gorgeously reproduced photographs. . . . Highly recommended for film collections.” Bill Stamets - Chicago Sun-Times
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and#8220;A serious biography of one of the pioneers of cinema . . . magnificent photos.and#8221;
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and#8220;A generous new biography.and#8221;
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and#8220;Jeffrey Vance's biography and#8216;Douglas Fairbanksand#8217; retells the story of the man who became one of Hollywood's first superstars.and#8221;
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and#8220;A handsomely produced, long-gestated biography . . . stunningly produced photographs.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Looks at the mad life and times of one of cinemaand#8217;s first superstars . . . brings a lot of freshness to the Fairbanks biography.and#8221;
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and#8220;The book is an absolute must for any cinema buff.and#8221;
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and#8220;A handsome work, with gorgeously reproduced photographs. . . . Highly recommended for film collections.and#8221;
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"Fairbanks was born in 1883, and to coincide with his 125th birthday, an ambitious book Douglas Fairbanks, by Jeffrey Vance with Tony Maietta has just been published. At times it approaches hagiography, but it tells you a lot about its hero, and it's generously illustrated crucial for a performer whose impact was so overwhelmingly physical." Robert Gottlieb, The New York Review of Books (read the entire New York Review of Books review)
Synopsis
This deft amalgam of biography, film history, and analysis is a superb portrait of a true pioneer who was critically important to the creation of cinema as the defining art form of the twentieth century. Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939) was one of the first film superstars, a screenwriter, a major independent producer during the early studio era, a cofounder of United Artists, a founder and the first president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and much more. The optimism, energy, and huge success during the 1920s of his best-remembered films
The Mark of Zorro, Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood, The Thief of Bagdad, and
The Black Pirate made Fairbanks a popular hero throughout the world and showcased his talents as a creative producer whose work set the standard for excellence.
Douglas Fairbanks takes the full measure of Fairbanks's remarkable life. Jeffrey Vance, who had complete access to the star's personal and professional papers and scrapbooks, also incorporates 237 photographs, some unseen for more than seventy-five years. Extensively researched, engagingly written, and sumptuously designed, the book goes behind Fairbanks's public persona to thoroughly explore his art and his far-reaching influence.
Copub: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Synopsis
"The heedless ambition of youth. The triumphs of maturity, redefining our ideas of fame, fortune and international celebrity. The sad aimlessness of the aging male, stripped of his powers over his formerly adoring audience. It is the archetypal Hollywood story, maybe the archetypal American story. And Jeffrey Vance tells it with verve and compassion and admirable compression in his handsomely illustrated biography of Douglas Fairbanks. It is a book that restores his subject to his rightful place as the American movies' founding Big Brother--shrewd, playful, flawed and endlessly fascinating."--Richard Schickel
"Over the years I have had an interest in Douglas Fairbanks' life and films before reading Jeffrey Vance's book. I was delighted to find that the research was admirable, the detail abundant, and the style devoid of pretense and heavy-handed scholarship. The book reads gracefully with a wonderful sense of 'and then what happened?' And a great deal does happen to the inimitable Doug along the way. His cinema world of high adventure, storybook romance, cloak and sword derring-do, and dazzling acrobatics against spectacular settings are all here in the text and in the abundance of extraordinary photos--many quite rare. A first-rate book."--Rudy Behlmer, film historian and author
"Douglas Fairbanks was one of the most important characters in film history, and this enthusiastic and well-researched book will tell you why."--Kevin Brownlow, filmmaker and film historian
About the Author
Jeffrey Vance is a film historian, producer, and lecturer as well as the author of an acclaimed trilogy of books on the great triumvirate of silent-film comedy: Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema, Harold Lloyd: Master Comedian (with Suzanne Lloyd), and Buster Keaton Remembered (with Eleanor Keaton).
Table of Contents
Prologue
A Bad Case of St. Vitusand#8217; Dance
The Machine for Escape
Doug: Hero and Popular Philosopher
Pickfair
United Artists
Making His Mark: The Mark of Zorro (1920)
The Great Leap: The Three Musketeers (1921)
Scaling the Heights: Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (1922) 123
Apogee: The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
The Son Also Rises: Don Q Son of Zorro (1925)
and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
Derring-Do: The Black Pirate (1926)
Darkness Falls: Douglas Fairbanks as The Gaucho (1927)
Hail and Farewell: The Iron Mask (1929)
Sound and Fury: Taming of the Shrew (1929) and Marital Strife
Sliding Downhill
Notes
Douglas Fairbanks Filmography
Douglas Fairbanksand#8217;s Broadway Appearances, 1902and#150;1915
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index