The Americano (1916)

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,... See full summary »

Director:

John Emerson

Writers:

John Emerson (scenario), Anita Loos (scenario)

Stars:

Douglas Fairbanks, Alma Rubens, Spottiswoode Aitken

Cast

Cast overview:
Douglas Fairbanks	...	Blaze Derringer
Alma Rubens	...	Juana de Valdez
Spottiswoode Aitken	...	Presidente Hernando de Valdez
Carl Stockdale	...	Salsa Espada (as Karl Stockdale)
Tote Du Crow	...	Alberto de Castille (as Tote du Crot)
Charles Stevens	...	Col. Gargaras
Mildred Harris	...	Stenographer
Lillian Langdon	...	Senora de Castille
Marguerite Marsh
Tom Wilson	...	Hartod Armitage White - aka Whitey

Storyline

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...

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Plot Keywords:

latin america | geofiction | fictitious country | banana republic | mythical kingdom | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Following the successful telecasts of Othello (1922) and The Eagle (1925), New York City's WJZ (Channel 7), began a weekly series of Sunday evening silent film feature presentations, shown more or less in their entirety, which aired intermittently for the next twelve months. This feature was initially broadcast Sunday 21 November 1948, and, like the rest of the series, aired simultaneously on sister stations WFIL (Channel 6) (Philadelphia) and freshly launched WAAM (Channel 13) (Baltimore), an innovation at the time; the following week's selection would be The Pony Express (1925).

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Alternate Versions

The film was reissued in the 1950s with narration and commentary, and with the names of the characters simplified.

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Connections

Remade as American Pluck (1925)

User Reviews

Fairbanks Restores Order to Fictional Kingdom

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.)

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Release Date:

24 December 1916 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mr. Breeze

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fine Arts Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

61 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1