Cast overview: | |||
Douglas Fairbanks | ... | Blaze Derringer | |
Alma Rubens | ... | Juana de Valdez | |
Spottiswoode Aitken | ... | Presidente Hernando de Valdez | |
Carl Stockdale | ... | Salsa Espada (as Karl Stockdale) | |
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Tote Du Crow | ... | Alberto de Castille (as Tote du Crot) |
Charles Stevens | ... | Col. Gargaras | |
Mildred Harris | ... | Stenographer | |
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Lillian Langdon | ... | Senora de Castille |
Marguerite Marsh | |||
Tom Wilson | ... | Hartod Armitage White - aka Whitey |
Doug is an American mining engineer. Pres. Valdez of Paragonia (Aitken) wants him to reopen the country's mines. Doug is not interested ... until he sees the President's beautiful daughter, Juana (Rubens). Valdez returns to Paragonia, but is deposed by Generals Sanchez and Garcia and locked in San Mateo Prison. The Americano arrives. His company's local office has been ransacked, but he finds loyal caretaker Dan (Wilson) in hiding there. He is contacted by former Prime Minister Castille, now in disguise as a peddler... Valdez writes the mysterious date "23 Noviembre 1899" on scraps of paper which are then thrown from the prison window as garbage. Juana checks her father's diary. That date contains an account of a successful escape from San Mateo, using the secret tunnel! But Garcia demands that Juana marry him the next day or Valdez will die... Written by David Steele
In this Douglas Fairbanks vehicle, "The Americano", his last for Triangle, our American hero rescues a small Caribbean kingdom, Paragonia, from a military coup. The employment of the people of Paragonia appears to rest mostly on an American company's exploitation of their mines, and this is the source of the revolutions. Fairbanks decides to work there after he sees the Presidente's daughter. "The Americano" features more intrigue than the usual Fairbanks fare and less comedy, but it's still a decent entry in the star's oeuvre. The best part of this one is probably that it has so much plot, which isn't unusual for other pictures, but was for Fairbanks's comedies, especially when it wasn't driven by the main character. It is, however, similar to the scenarios for Fairbanks's later films "Reaching for the Moon" (1917) and "His Majesty, the American" (1919).
Unfortunately, Tom Wilson, a Caucasian character actor, plays a role in blackface, although it's not nearly the most offensive portrayal of this kind that I've seen (e.g. Wilson seems to have first worn blackface in "The Birth of a Nation").
(Note: I viewed a rather poor but viewable print, which included a few jumpy frames, and there was no musical accompaniment. Additionally, I assume "The Americano" originally had blue tinting for its night scenes, as that was the standard day-for-night strategy of filmmakers back then. The version I saw, however, was entirely black and white. Interestingly, for indoor night or otherwise dark scenes, the filmmakers used low-key lighting.)