The Man from Painted Post (Silent)

Silent screen legend Douglas Fairbanks plays detective "Fancy Jim" Sherwood of Painted Post, Wyoming, who joined the side of the law after his sister was killed by notorious criminal "30-30" Smith. He is asked by the Cattleman's Protective Association to investigate reports of cattle rustling on the V-Bar Ranch. To keep from arousing suspicion, Sherwood pretends to be a "soft" city slicker who can't ride, rope, or shoot. Ironically, his sensitive pose attracts the affections of prim Jane Forbes, a school marm from out East. This causes trouble as roughneck "Bull" Madden is also interested in Jane. Sherwood soon learns that not only is Madden the cattle rustler, he's also "30-30" Smith - the man who killed his sister! Now "Fancy Jim" must discard his milksop act and leap into action to save the woman he loves and finally have his revenge.

A relatively rare entry in the filmography of Douglas Fairbanks, The Man from Painted Post sees the actor caught between his early romantic comedies like His Picture in the Papers and The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (both 1916) and his later stunt-filled box-office hits like The Mark of Zorro (1920) and Robin Hood (1922). Still, Fairbanks must have been doing something right in 1917, because that year he became Hollywood's third highest paid actor, behind only Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford. The mighty triumvirate of friends went on to found United Artists in 1919, and the studio's financial success was fueled to a great extent by Doug's motion pictures. The Man from Painted Post was photographed by Fairbanks' great friend Victor Fleming, later to become the Academy Award-winning filmmaker of Red Dust (1932), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939), and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941). According to Hollywood legend, director Joseph Henabery cut the picture while on a transcontinental train trip from Los Angeles to New York.