Famous Broadway stage actor Douglas Fairbanks was intrigued by the new medium of film and journeyed to Hollywood early 1915 to transfer his acting talents on to the screen. Using his theatre resume to gain a contract with Triangle Pictures, Fairbanks was cast by producer D. W. Griffith for comedic roles, which the actor was somewhat familiar with.
The stage-turned-film actor's first movies were comedies. Fairbanks' movie debut as a lead was November 1915's "The Lamb," based on a popular 1913 Broadway play. His second movie came a month later, in Decembers 1915's "Double Trouble," which continued Fairbanks being pigeonholed in a comedic role, which is viewable on the internet today.
Born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman, Fairbanks assumed his last name after his twice divorce mother changed her son's surname to her first husband's name. Dropping out of Denver East High School at 15 after he was suspended in cutting the school's piano wires, Fairbanks' early love for acting led to summer stock and eventually road tours. His talents earned him a Broadway role in 1902 at 19 years old, and he remained in New York City gaining respect as a stage actor.
Marrying a wealthy industrialist's daughter in 1907, Douglas had one son in this marriage, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (1909). Moving to Los Angeles, he immediately signed with Triangle Pictures, where one of its producer/owners, director Griffith, supervised his early movies.
"Double Trouble" was typical of Douglas' first few movies in Hollywood. He plays a somewhat shy banker who gets knocked out by a couple of thieves while on a train during vacation and wakes up five years later as a changed man, one who strikes oil and becomes very rich and famous. It's amazing that in 1915 the producers were able to predict the Warren Harding presidency in a 1920 newspaper headline to set the timeline when Fairbanks wakes up from the knock on his head when Woodrow Wilson wasn't even through his first term. Movie studios, however, had a habit of quickly changing titles and static letters/news banners in their later issuances of their film prints. So this may be the case here.
Fairbanks' lasted just one year at Triangle before he moved on to Paramount in 1916 and met Mary Pickford, an event that drastically changed the actor's life forever.
The stage-turned-film actor's first movies were comedies. Fairbanks' movie debut as a lead was November 1915's "The Lamb," based on a popular 1913 Broadway play. His second movie came a month later, in Decembers 1915's "Double Trouble," which continued Fairbanks being pigeonholed in a comedic role, which is viewable on the internet today.
Born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman, Fairbanks assumed his last name after his twice divorce mother changed her son's surname to her first husband's name. Dropping out of Denver East High School at 15 after he was suspended in cutting the school's piano wires, Fairbanks' early love for acting led to summer stock and eventually road tours. His talents earned him a Broadway role in 1902 at 19 years old, and he remained in New York City gaining respect as a stage actor.
Marrying a wealthy industrialist's daughter in 1907, Douglas had one son in this marriage, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (1909). Moving to Los Angeles, he immediately signed with Triangle Pictures, where one of its producer/owners, director Griffith, supervised his early movies.
"Double Trouble" was typical of Douglas' first few movies in Hollywood. He plays a somewhat shy banker who gets knocked out by a couple of thieves while on a train during vacation and wakes up five years later as a changed man, one who strikes oil and becomes very rich and famous. It's amazing that in 1915 the producers were able to predict the Warren Harding presidency in a 1920 newspaper headline to set the timeline when Fairbanks wakes up from the knock on his head when Woodrow Wilson wasn't even through his first term. Movie studios, however, had a habit of quickly changing titles and static letters/news banners in their later issuances of their film prints. So this may be the case here.
Fairbanks' lasted just one year at Triangle before he moved on to Paramount in 1916 and met Mary Pickford, an event that drastically changed the actor's life forever.