Here's Douglas Fairbanks in his very first film, so I guess we shouldn't judge it too harshly, though it's hard to restrain ourselves from voicing disappointment. As you might expect, Doug imagines he's still on a theater stage and overacts accordingly, but he's none too pleasingly photographed either. In fact, he looks too old for a spunky girl like Seena Owen. The plot is pretentious hoke and if you can't guess how it will all turn out after the first two or three minutes, you sure haven't seen many movies. As for the direction, it's pretty uneven. Director Christy Cabanne has two or three bright ideas – maybe they were written into the scenario? – but generally he is heavy-handed when what the play actually calls for is a light touch. So all in all, despite its curiosity value, this is definitely not one for Fairbanks fans. Available on an excellent Grapevine DVD.
Review of The Lamb
