''The Americano'' is a 1916 American
silent adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...
/
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film directed by
John Emerson and stars
Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
in his last production for
Triangle Film Corporation
Triangle Film Corporation (also known as Triangle Motion Picture Company) was a major American motion-picture studio, founded in July 1915 in Culver City, California and terminated 7 years later in 1922.
History
The studio was founded in July 1 ...
. Based on the novel ''Blaze Derringer'', by Eugene P. Lyle, Jr., the scenario was written by John Emerson and
Anita Loos
Corinne Anita Loos (April 26, 1888 – August 18, 1981) was an American actress, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. In 1912, she became the first female staff screenwriter in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood, when D. W. Griffith put h ...
who also wrote the film's
intertitle
In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...
s. The film was re-released by S.A. Lynch Enterprises on August 21, 1923. Three 16mm prints and one 8mm print of the film still exists. Set in a fictional South American country of Paragonia, it has been described as one of a group of films that supported
United States imperialism
American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conquest ...
by providing support to the idea of
manifest destiny.
Cast
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Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thi ...
as Blaze Derringer
*
Alma Rubens
Alma Rubens (born Alma Genevieve Reubens; February 19, 1897 – January 21, 1931) was an American film actress and stage performer.
Rubens began her career in the mid 1910s. She quickly rose to stardom in 1916 after appearing opposite Douglas F ...
as Juana de Castille
*
Spottiswoode Aitken
Frank Spottiswoode Aitken (16 April 1868 – 26 February 1933) was a Scottish-American actor of the silent era. He played Dr. Cameron in D. W. Griffith's epic drama ''The Birth of a Nation''.
Early years
Aitken was born 16 April 1868 in Edinb ...
as Presidente de Castille
*
Carl Stockdale
Carl Stockdale also known as Carlton Stockdale (February 19, 1874 – March 15, 1953) was one of the longest-working Hollywood veteran actors, with a career dating from the early 1910s. He also made the difficult transition from silent fi ...
as Salsa Espada
*
Tote Du Crow as Alberto de Castille
*
Charles Stevens as Colonel Gargaras
*
Mildred Harris
Mildred Harris (April 18, 1901 – July 20, 1944) was an American stage, film, and vaudeville actress during the early part of the 20th century. Harris began her career in the film industry as a child actress when she was 10 years old. She was a ...
as Stenographer
*
Lillian Langdon
Lillian Langdon (November 25, 1860 – February 8, 1943) was an American film actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 80 films between 1912 and 1928.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Langdon was a descendant of Montgomery Pike, dis ...
as Senora de Castille
*
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
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Tom Wilson as Hartod Armitage White aka Whitey
*
Marguerite Marsh
Marguerite Marsh (April 18, 1888 – December 8, 1925) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 70 films between 1911 and 1923. Early in her career, she was known as Margaret Loveridge.
Biography
Marsh was the el ...
*
Alan Hale Sr.
Alan Hale Sr. (born Rufus Edward Mackahan; February 10, 1892 – January 22, 1950) was an American actor and director. He is best remembered for his many character roles, in particular as a frequent sidekick of Errol Flynn, as well as f ...
Contract with Triangle Film
Although Fairbanks was receiving $15,000 per week during production of ''The Americano'', making him the third highest-paid actor after
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
and
Charlie Chaplin, he considered himself underpaid given his films made millions for the studio. He was able to end his contract with Triangle following ''The Americano'' by noting that one of its clauses required that Fairbanks' films be supervised by director
D. W. Griffith, which Triangle had not done for several of his last films.
References
External links
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Films directed by John Emerson
1916 films
1910s adventure comedy films
1910s romantic comedy films
American adventure comedy films
American romantic comedy films
American silent feature films
American black-and-white films
Films based on American novels
Films set in South America
Films with screenplays by Anita Loos
Triangle Film Corporation films
1916 comedy films
1910s American films
Silent romantic comedy films
Silent adventure comedy films
Silent American comedy films
1910s English-language films
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